I got my first sword this month! I wanted something appropriate for my 11th century reenactment, and my research suggested that the Hanwei Tinker Norman might be the best value for my money; I was really happy with it when I took it out of the box (I ordered through Kult of Athena). But it was boring, and I didn't like the mirror finish on the pommel, the black chrome-tanned leather, or the fiberglass sheath. So I decided I'd try my hand at giving it a makeover.

I gave the hardware a satin finish, put a smoother finish on the blade (it looked very machine-made, as some of the reviews said), replaced the leather on the handle, and made a new scabbard.

Here's the original, and what I ended up with:

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And for fun, here are some of the progress pictures:

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(wrapping the scabbard in linen before the leather cover)

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It was a fun project! I could have done a lot of things better than I did. The new grip wasn't as clean as I would have liked, and the dye was darker than I expected. Some of the little details are off, though they don't all show in the photographs. But it turned out better than I dared to hope when I started, and I learned a ton through the process.

NIce one Andrew.

I did a rewrap of this one that I posted here a while ago, stripped the scabbard but sold the sword before I got a chance to complete it.

It is a great piece for the price and perfectly suited for upgrades, as it easily looks like a piece worth twice the price with very little efforts.

I personnaly would have chosen a butted seam at the back of the scabbard, and might have saved more leather above the scabbard mouth to extend the shape further above the guard.

In any case that's a nice job, especially for a first attempt (you managed the carving especially well).

J

edit: should you want better definition on the grip work, you should choose a thinner leather (less than 1mm thick). If you choose dark colors, you can easily butt the edges and die the leather in either black or dark brown and fill the seam with shoe polish that you will apply to the grip as well. It makes an invisible seam very easily though it does not work with clearer tones.

Thanks for the tips, Julien!

This is awesome! Great job with the details :)

Really nice work! I really like the scabbard.

I too have a Hanwei/Tinker Norman sword that I am working on giving a make over too. The leather on te handle is glued on rather well. Any suggestions on how to get it off with out tearing it up so tha tI may use it for a pattern to cut a new wrapping from?

Thanks for any help

Well done, Andrew. First shot at all of this? Excellent.

This seems to be a popular sword here, I have one as well, I also have the H / T Single Hand sword.

A certainly agree with Julien:

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It is a great piece for the price and perfectly suited for upgrades, as it easily looks like a piece worth twice the price with very little efforts.

I haven't started any modifications yet, but would first like to know what Andrew or others here did about toning down the shine.
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I assume most used a grey ScotchBrite pad, or equivalent. And since it's considered best to go 'with the grain', which on the shiny Norman pommel can be difficult to determine, did most of you simply move in a side-to-side direction? With the H / T Single Hand, which has a round pommel, a circular motion would obviously be preferred and can be taken apart with an allen key vs. the peened Norman.

Any tips?

Thanks for your thoughts.

- Jon