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William C Champlin
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 Posted: Sun 22 Jul, 2007 2:55 pm Post subject: My new scabbards |
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Here are my new Tritonworks scabbards. Custom work for an off-the-shelf price. If Russ doesn't mind, I'll post a review later.W
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tweetchris
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Sun 22 Jul, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work.  I should be getting a scabbard from Russ when my OlliN sword is sent to him to do the work: The sword has to be finished first. 
Like the swords: The Albion Prince and Reeve I think ?
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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William C Champlin
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| Posted: Sun 22 Jul, 2007 8:14 pm Post subject: new scabbards |
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Jean, yes those are a Prince and a Reeve. They're both great swords with very different handling characteristics. The Reeve feels like it was designed primarily for cutting. I've handled an antique type X and this sword feels identical. I have small hands and it has a very comfortable grip.
The Prince has a balance that makes it feel almost like a fencing sword; light with great tip control. It also feels very well suited to my small hands. The Prince is also a great cutter as well as being a real beauty.
I'll post a review of the scabbards soon,W.
tweetchris
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Mon 23 Jul, 2007 7:29 am Post subject: |
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Ironically I posted the reviews of these swords to my site last night:
http://www.tritonworks.com/reviews
Been meaning to get off my duff and do that up for a while.
Of the two the Prince was definitely my favorite although I completely admit to personal bias and taste in the matter and this in no way reflects the quality or workmanship of the Reeve. 
William feel free to post your reviews, if they are positive then... Yay!
If they are not, well... sometimes the best way to learn, is by having someone tell you what you are doing that they don't like, however painful that is...
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Jared Smith
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| Posted: Mon 23 Jul, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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I love the finishing work on the leather at the mouth of the scabbards.
I am guessing the leather is turned inward and sewn so that there are no exposed cut edges? I'd love to read an explanation of what was done and what was involved (fitted and wet formed with the sword in place?) I suspect that touch is not fully appreciated by those who have not tried to make their own.
Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Mon 23 Jul, 2007 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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Looks pretty nice. How do the rigs hang when worn? I only ask because the suspensions look like they're farther down the length of the blade than you normally see.
By the way, Russ, you still have an incorrect spelling of Jody Samson's name on your website. There's no "P" in the last name.
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 24 Jul, 2007 6:31 am Post subject: |
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| Jared Smith wrote: | I love the finishing work on the leather at the mouth of the scabbards.
I am guessing the leather is turned inward and sewn so that there are no exposed cut edges? I'd love to read an explanation of what was done and what was involved (fitted and wet formed with the sword in place?) I suspect that touch is not fully appreciated by those who have not tried to make their own. |
Thank you Jared, that was very kind of you to say. They are constructed pretty much as you hypothesized as you noted having raw leather ends at the throat looks kind of rough and so I try to do it this way. These two scabbards are from my basic Maelstrom line so they don't have some of the refinements (nor of course the price tag) of my higher end scabbards. In this case William did not even want any decorative elements I think he was wanting a more utilitarian look. Even so, however the Maelstrom scabbards do benefit from some of the techniques that were developed for other lines, because I am trying to provide a good value for the money.
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 24 Jul, 2007 6:46 am Post subject: |
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| Chad Arnow wrote: | Looks pretty nice. How do the rigs hang when worn? I only ask because the suspensions look like they're farther down the length of the blade than you normally see.
By the way, Russ, you still have an incorrect spelling of Jody Samson's name on your website. There's no "P" in the last name. |
A good question, and one I'll have to let William answer for him. The idea on these very simple suspensions that he requested was to allow the scabbards ride nearly vertically but slightly canted forward... and that's what they did for me. It is always a little dicey on the fit of the belt and the hang since I don't have the person there to custom fit only the sword. I therefore try to strike a happy medium, fit it to me and make it adjustable hopefully enough to handle the customer's particular body type and preferences. I have had to redo two or three suspension systems over the years but all in all it typically works out okay.
Also fixed the spelling, thanks.
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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William C Champlin
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| Posted: Tue 24 Jul, 2007 5:04 pm Post subject: new scabbards |
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I chose, for various reasons, to commission two scabbards from their Maelstrom line which is the lower-end or budget line.
The Reeve scabbard is the more utiliarian of the two. I would describe it as a more "weapons grade" scabbard with the only extra feature being a mild steel chape or drag. The wool lined leather covered scabbard is in Russ' standard brown which closely matches the grip of the Reeve in Albion's standard brown color. A fairly thick brown belt is attached and has a mild steel buckle that goes well with the fittings of this sword.
The scabbard for the Prince is a bit more elegant which is fitting for a sword of this quality. It is a custom color, very close to the magenta (described to Russ by me as oxblood) grip. The belt is made of a finer leather than that of the Reeve, is custom dyed to match and fitted with an antique finish brass buckle. The buckle matches the patinated bronze pommel of the Prince perfectly.
Both suspensions fit comfortably and snugly and allow me to easily draw either blade from the scabbard. The swords fit very well and will only slip out if fully inverted. I can't yet say how these will feel after a full day walking around the renfaire but I can walk and run without feeling encumbered.
To answer Chad's concern, I find that these relatively short blades are easy to draw. Being relatively short myself, I'd probably have a hard time drawing a 36" or longer blade from a similar suspension.
The only negatives that come to mind are: 1 The place where the leather meets the chape initially looked a little crude, but after a few minutes, this didn't bother me. and 2 On both belts the less finished edge of one part on each is on the upper side. It would be more estheically pleasing if these had been put on the lower edge of all parts.
These scabbards are as different as the swords they house. I am very favorably impressed with the workmanship, artistry and value of both. In the future, I'm sure I'll commission more work from Tritonworks although I'll probably want somthing a little fancier for my Laird. W
tweetchris
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Wed 25 Jul, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: Re: new scabbards |
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| William C Champlin wrote: | I chose, for various reasons, to commission two scabbards from their Maelstrom line which is the lower-end or budget line.
The Reeve scabbard is the more utiliarian of the two. I would describe it as a more "weapons grade" scabbard with the only extra feature being a mild steel chape or drag. The wool lined leather covered scabbard is in Russ' standard brown which closely matches the grip of the Reeve in Albion's standard brown color. A fairly thick brown belt is attached and has a mild steel buckle that goes well with the fittings of this sword.
The scabbard for the Prince is a bit more elegant which is fitting for a sword of this quality. It is a custom color, very close to the magenta (described to Russ by me as oxblood) grip. The belt is made of a finer leather than that of the Reeve, is custom dyed to match and fitted with an antique finish brass buckle. The buckle matches the patinated bronze pommel of the Prince perfectly.
Both suspensions fit comfortably and snugly and allow me to easily draw either blade from the scabbard. The swords fit very well and will only slip out if fully inverted. I can't yet say how these will feel after a full day walking around the renfaire but I can walk and run without feeling encumbered.
To answer Chad's concern, I find that these relatively short blades are easy to draw. Being relatively short myself, I'd probably have a hard time drawing a 36" or longer blade from a similar suspension.
The only negatives that come to mind are: 1 The place where the leather meets the chape initially looked a little crude, but after a few minutes, this didn't bother me. and 2 On both belts the less finished edge of one part on each is on the upper side. It would be more estheically pleasing if these had been put on the lower edge of all parts.
These scabbards are as different as the swords they house. I am very favorably impressed with the workmanship, artistry and value of both. In the future, I'm sure I'll commission more work from Tritonworks although I'll probably want somthing a little fancier for my Laird. W |
Excellent, thanks for the feedback William. Your impression of the two scabbards exactly matches my own, it's weird but it's almost like they build themselves and when it's all said and done I'm sometimes just as surprised as anyone else. I have noted your concerns about the belts (thinking about just biting the bullet and upgrading those across the board like what I do on the Trident line stuff anyway) and the chape scabbard juncture. I'll try to make sure that those are cleaner in the future. A question, for you personally would you have been willing to pay say another 30 dollars (each) for an upgraded belt on those scabbards or would you rather the price point stayed about where it was and keep that sort of belt (albeit with the raw edge reversed)? As a very recent customer I think you have some particular insight there so I would love to know! It's always a balancing act on the Maelstrom line between keeping them cost efficient and doing all the upgrades that could be done...
Yes, PLEASE let me do something fancier with the Laird! That sword is just screaming ideas at me and I haven't got to work on one yet.
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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William C Champlin
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| Posted: Thu 26 Jul, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: new scabbards |
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Russ, please put me in line for my Laird and a sword to be named later. My criticisms were the director/ scene designer in me speaking out. I wanted something basic and you far surpassed what i expected. I guess that I would in retrospect go for the upgrade on the belts. At that time I was expecting to pay for some custom work that I thought was ready (still waiting). I'll be on the lookout for decorative elements for the Laird. (something like the ship on MacDonald lord of the isles crest and kiltpin) W.
tweetchris
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Fri 27 Jul, 2007 6:32 am Post subject: |
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Hey William,
Thanks for the insight that's another nudge towards the idea of eleminating the folded and sewn belts entirely. I've been thinking about doing it anyway, but have refrained because it keeps the price down, plus using the same leather makes the color match VERY easy. Hmmm... maybe I'll just give people the option as a standard thing. Yeah I'm doing this on the fly here... As for the other please check your messages... Nathan gives us a lot of latitude, but I'd rather not abuse his patience by conducting business in the open forum.
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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William C Champlin
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| Posted: Thu 09 Aug, 2007 2:10 pm Post subject: My new scabbards |
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Here's a couple of shots of me wearing the scabbards. It's been a while since we've had enough daylight for photography. Sorry for the poor quality of these but they should show how the scabbards hang.
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tweetchris
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This is a standard topic