Hello. I’m new to swords and this forum. I like most swords but Renaissance swords in particular. I have a custom smallsword on order with Arms & Armor but won’t see it for several months. To hold me over, I bought a Cold Steel smallsword which arrived today. While not perfect, I’m extremely happy with what I got for so little money. Anyway, it has one little issue I’m hoping you might help with. The sword won’t fit all the way into the scabbard by about ½ inch. It’s really tight at the throat. The scabbard appears to be fiberglass with leather turned inward. It’s finished very well but it’s way too tight. Should I just remove the leather inside the opening? I don’t really want to do that but can’t think of an alternative. Can someone offer any advice? Thank you.

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You might rub a little Neatsfoot oil or other leather conditioner on the inside, then take a hair dryer to it for a few minutes. When it gets good and warm, put the blade in good and firm as far as it will go. Let it sit until it cools off, or overnight, then remove the sword and clean the blade WELL. That's all I've got. I had to do that to a Windlass sword/scabbard once. It worked pretty well. :) .....McM

The heat sounds like a good idea. It's almost undoubtedly all synthetic, so I doubt the neatsfoot will have much affect except as lubrication. If it's only tight at the throat, it should be easy enough to isolate where you're heating it up. But it also could cause the glue to release and de-laminate the layers. So it's a bit of a gamble.
Usually mass produced scabbards are too loose, but I think we'd all be interested in the route you choose and the results.
-Terry

Thanks for your responses. I think a little bit of heat might help. I won’t go overboard. I’ll likely wait to see if any more ideas are posted. I’m thinking worst case I could remove the fabric, which is likely some type vinyl, and open the throat slightly with a dremel tool. I’d have to find some fabric to replace what I cut out. . .

If you bought it from a reputable dealer and the scabbard doesn't fit, have them replace it.

I thought about trying to replace the scabbard. Since it’s such an inexpensive piece, I’d rather fix it myself. It looks great and the replacement might not.

Problem solved. I concluded the material is some type of vinyl. I used a little 3-in-One oil inside the scabbard throat. I then applied moderate heat with a hair dryer and repeatedly inserted the sword with a slight twist each time I inserted it. It worked great and fits perfectly. Happy camper! Thanks for your help.

Glad you got the problem fixed. :) Now---how the heck do I fix the P.O.S. scabbard on my H/T Norman? :lol: I know...look up Bryan Heff or Christian Fletcher. ;) .....McM

...or get some basic woodworking tools and look up Ye Old Gaffer's tutorials. :)

Just glue a piece of leather inside, for the HT scabbards it works like a charm and is a 5 min fix.

Nah, Julien....The problem with my H/T scabbard is waaay deep in the middle. The blade gets hung up about half way. I'm thinking of harvesting the fixtures and tossing the rest. Looking to dress up the sword a bit also. Maybe some oxblood red leather...I love oxblood. :D .....McM

This is such a SIMPLE issue....what could it take for Hanwei to make this go away? Sorry to be hi-jacking on a thread here, but REALLY....world class sword, piece-of-junk scabbard? I don't want to pay several hundred dollars to a custom maker--(Even though I know it would be excellent...) for $200+ sword, even though the sword is worth, in my opinion, twice that. Yeah...I could get venturous and make a nice wood-core in some 'super-dope' oxblood....but why? Step up, Hanwei...... ;) ....McM

On an unrelated subject---- I recently saw on the SBG forums, that the Hanwei Sword of St. Maurice has been re-designed and re-introduced to the market. No more leather washer gappy-thingy. ;) :lol: ......McM