Recently I finished my first attempt at a metal La Tene period scabbard. I did it as a proto-type and learning project for an upcoming custom order for one. The first two chapes that I made were not pretty, but by the third one I moved to heavier stock and made a form that I can attach to my anvil. All work was done by cold forging alone. Decorations were kept simple following a similar example which also had a cut-out dragon pair riveted onto it.

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Finished grinding the Owslebury lenticular blade and it is currently out for heat treatment. Coming in over 2.25 inches wide this one is a big boy. When it comes back I will be starting the waxes for its hilt fittings which will be cast in bronze.

http://www.ironagearmoury.com/piggot_type_iv.htm

I’m starting to work on hilting a new double fuller La Tene III blade that Mark from Ollin Sword Design made for me. With this one I wanted to explore one of the examples which feature the straight guards. There seems to have been a few styles of straight guards based on the different types of metal fittings found that range from bands to plates. After studying these I noticed that one type found at Port, Alesia, and even Britain that seems to be the same shape as the bottom section of a crown hilt. So this hilt will take on a sort of proto-Hod Hill look about it. Still unsure of what extent of carving I will choose to do on the wood, but right now I am considering some sort of lobed design or something similar to the crown guards tops. Thinking that I might try using some olive that I have for this ones hilt, but not set on it yet.

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Shane Allee

Iron scabbard looks nice - I'm curious as to how the joints are made.

The double fuller blade looks great as does your sketch for the crown-guarded hilt.

Thanks Steve,

The throat re-enforcement, suspension loop, and dragon pair were riveted in place with very very short rivets. The back of the scabbard then just wraps around the front pannel and holds it on. The chape slides over the end and is a friction fit. One of the things that shocked me most about this scabbard is that the blade slides in and out very easily, but the sword will not fall out when the scabbard is upside down.

I did decide to go with apple for the double fullered sword's hilt. Since it has just a straight iron guard plate it won't really qualify as a true crown hilt. The Owslebury will have a true bronze crown hilt.... one that as far as I know is based on the biggest of the crown hilts found in Britian.

Shane

The scabbard looks great and I love the double fullered blade. I really like the finish on the metal of the scabbard. Is it steel? How much does the scabbard weigh? I'm curious to see the thickness of the metal. Any possibility for a shot of the mouth of the scabbard without the sword in it?

Fascinating. I've honestly never seen one of these before; never heard of an all metal scabbard, either. I am assuming the chape is simply decoration, then?

M.

To reading I go. Never got around to that review; always absorbed in the others.

M.

The scabbard is construsted with a 22 gauge core, the chape and fittings are 16 gauge. Weight for it comes in exactly at one pound. The chape does two things, holds the tip of the core together as well as balancing it when the sword is in the scabbard. It would be difficult to fold over the back without getting creases in it around the tip. The other thing that I found out was that I folded it over a bit too far down where it started to curve and it pushed the front plate up slightly. I didn't realized it until after the fact that it moved the front face up about 1/8" on me.

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Mark does a great job with the double fullered blades. When he mentioned that he had made this other one as a sample for the heat treaters I jumped on it and said that I wanted it if everything went well. Snapped an inprogress picture since there is a bit of interest in it. The wrought iron guard is finished and the guard roughed to shape. Since the apple has such character I'm thinking that I probably won't carve any on it. I'm checking into doing a small diamond shaped iron peen plate. I know that I have seen smaller examples of these, but need to check on when in the la tene these are found and where. Not looking forward to working the bone grip sections tomorrow. The stuff smells so bad and lingers even with my air filter running.

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Shane