For having tried chamois before I got my hands on a cheap veg tan leather supply, I know that it can be tricky to handle.
There is something I want to try at some point...maybe not orthodox but it might work to bring out the pattern of a grip or tooling in leather...or even out colour between different leathers. I used to paint miniatures, and I used a technique called ink wash to bring out details in a model (basically a heavy dilution of a slightly darker colour than the base colour). I wonder if that could work on leather but that could potentially bring a bit of depth as the darker colour sets only in the recesses. Just something to think about and try at some point.

Julien,

That’s fantastic, especially for a first attempt. I can’t wait to see what number 20 looks like. Do you have any plans for the scabbard yet?

Hey Ryan,

Thanks mate!

Yes I do, I always have some scabbard design in mind especially when I'm sitting in the office :)

I want the all thing for that one: tolled leather, metal throat (steel), metal shape (steel), home made steel buckles too. I started on a poplar core, and once it's done, I'll test the balance of the sword against my hip making it hang from cords before deciding for a final design. It is not a long nor heavy sword, so a single suspension point from below the scabbard mouth might be enough, if not, I'll make another anchorage point in the middle, with a metal bracket. It's going to be red to match the grip, that I'm sure of.

Cheers,

J

Julien,
your sword is looking great .
Thanks for the write up , I am always amazed at the results that can be achieved in a week of damned hard work.
At the end of the class I give an option of finishing (as in handle assembling the sword) and most people do just that. Julien had a very specific sword in his mind at the begining of the class and decided to come and spend an extra day or two getting it rite and I think he has .
I'll post up some pictures of the class and if any more pictures come in .
Achieving something like this as a first sword is quite a feat julien you should be proud .

I find this class incredibly satisfying to teach. It brings together my knowledge as a craftsman as well as calling on the ability to gently coerce the near impossible out of people which I learned working as an engineer on scrap heap challenge (UK junk yard wars).It was a fun week of hard graft !!!

thanks to all the students for a great week .
All the best Owen

Wow, Julien, and everyone else, your swords look great. Owens course is looking more and more tempting.

Just finished a poplar scabbard core for the sword.

Once I have a design in mind, I'll move on to leather work. I want metal lockets for this one (a single one below the scabbard throat with a ring on each side, as the sword is not very long nor heavy). I'll probably mix influences from earlier scabbards (with a round end at the guard, extending above the wood core, a feature typically found on XIIIth and XIVth century scabbards, but with mountings and belt suspensions belonging to the XV century. I have seen this configuration on occasions on period art and I think it should fit this sword well.

At last a project in the works! Made significant progress on the scabbard these past 2 days. Leather has been cut to size, molded, added a riser, and cut sideways to produce a "roping effect". Cut the piece of leather for the inside of the flap and sewed back and around.

I'm happy with it so far, and I'm getting ready for the most extensive tooling I've done so far (I want this scabbard to be decorated in the knife sheath fashion, with dragon beasts, Gothic arches and so on. Now it's all very good, I've got my design on paper...but the more tooling the more chances to mess it up (especially since I'm working with virtually anything but leather carving tool since I can't manage to work with regular swivel knives, it just does not work for me. So anything goes, ranging from clay wooden tools, nails scissors, mostly wax carving tools and more often than not ending up grabbing the first thing at hand, which often is the tip of a kitchen knife.. Leather is not a very forgiving material to say the least...it will remember the slightest mistake.

As a matter of fact I was two steps away from stripping the core back to bare in a moment of rage. Had just finished spending 4 hours cutting the leather and stitching the back, forming a nice raiser and then proceeded immediately to ruin it with these uneven and messy incisions on the top raiser. I blame my tools (and the fact that I need better bloody glasses these days)! as I can't get around using a common swivel knife (the ones with the U end, to rest your finger on it). Eventually after overworking the leather, sanding it (!) I managed to achieve a result likely to come out well after dying and polishing...but it came very close to a complete disaster. If was not fully satisfied with this raiser, I'll change my design, will remove the cord and get rid of it, and make a metal mount with a ring on each side to cover it instead of using a leather strip to hang the sword. Both work well aesthetically on paper.

Pictures attached below. Let me know what you think!

I think it's great, i love thin wooden cores
looking forewards to the leather work

Lovely start Julien, it is already a damn good scabbard and if it gets drenched in the level of decoration I suspect you will do it will be a stunner.

To be honest I hate swivel knives and most of my tools are dental or surgical rather than leather.

Give me a call and we can arrange an evening for you to come up and I will show you the metalwork side.

Tod

Absolutely stunning work all around, Julien.

Thanks Einar!

Cheers Tod. That's an offer I will find very hard to turn down!

You can bet I'll be in touch soon :)

Beautiful! And I was going to use that exact same design on a scabbard chappe! You beat me to it!

Lovely and impressive!

Wow. The trip of a lifetime and you got a new toy out of the deal! Good for you! Thanks for sharing the journey here. Very very interesting.