[Quinn W.]

Hello all,
I've taken in so much helpful information on making my own gear but I've never really taken the time to show off any of the results. I play the role of a late 14th century leather worker at Camlann Medieval Village in Washington state and I've spent the past couple of months attempting to put together a wide enough variety of objects to give the public a good idea of the craft.
Since this is for educational purposes, it would be great if I could get some feedback on what is and isn't period appropriate so I can be aware of any shortcomings in my presentation.

First, the scabbard.
It's for an Albion Crecy with aged furniture and dark brown grip.
I used the carved core method on some poplar ($17 for two 1/4" slats at Home Depot) and chisled it down, then hit the ouside with a belt sander. It's laced up the back with a typical X-stitch.
One really odd thing I experienced was with the fit. When I glued it together I discovered that it was much to tight - I could draw it, but it took some serious effort. Then while stitching the leather I heard a little crack and then it instantly got quite loose! Not rattling, but I couldn't hold it upside-down any more. By the time I finished stitching it seemed to find a nice middle ground and is now perfect. Is this at all normal?

Anyway, the late 14th century is a really tricky period to get info on. Too late for the laced style of suspension you see on 13th c stuff but to early for the knotted style that's so common in 15th c examples. I did manage to find a few examples of lockets, but my metalwork abilities are iffy so I tried a leather alternative. I don't know if there is a precedent for this but the design was simple and it functions in about the same way. The rings are a little too big but they're what I had on hand and I can always switch them out later.
No chape yet, but I'll either buy or make one soon enough. I used antique gel instead of my normal dye method, and the result was a little more extreme than I expected, but it's cool and interesting in its own way.
I don't see a lot of examples of tooling on period scabbards, but I couldn't help myself so there you have it
Vine work was inspired by the some of the borders on the lutrell psalter.
Next up is the belt for it! Shouldn't take long but I may need to order some period buckles.

[Quinn W.]

Next, two knife scabbards, a water bottle and a pair of shoes!
Shoes are a direct copy of an example from 'Shoes and Pattens' and the more intricate knife is a copy from 'Knives and Scabbards,' although I don't know if the original was dual-colored.
The other scabbard is for a cheap stainless knife I bought at a ren fair. It's not inspired by anything in particular but hopefully would fit in with more period stuff.
The water bottle is 3 layers of leather (Two sides and a middle lining around the edge) and sealed with beeswax on the inside. I'm less sure about this one historically. I know of a few 14th c examples but nothing from my period. Does anyone have any period examples or artwork for leather bottles like this? The instructions I also found online. The site said it was accurate but I didn't check to confirm.
The design on the front is just improvised freehand to match the scabbard.

I've had some experience with leather before but this has been my first intro into period designs and methods. Demonstrating for the public is a fun challenge as well since I can't use paper stencils or anything like that. It's a lot harder to record measurements for shoes when your character isn't literate!

I just want to thank again those who contributed their knowledge on leather and scabbards here in the forum. The DIY section was a great source of courage to stop drooling over other people's stuff and try it out for myself!

Cheers,
Quinn

[Bjorn Hagstrom]

The only two sources I know for leather bottles (or costrels) is the Mary Rose example and images from Gastons "Livre de Chasse" (I have made repros of both) outside of your time period and of different design, though. But great work nonetheless.

I see a lot of leather bottles at markets that have that gourde-shape, and I have always wondered if it is a reenactorism or what the sources are for them. Would love if someone could chip in on that.

Edit: Indeed there is a Mary Rose bottle with that shape as well as the "horisontal tubular" shaped one. Check that out!

http://sevenstarwheel.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/mr-81a12218.jpg

The shoes looks very nice indeed!

[Bryan Heff]

Your Crecy scabbard is excellent. I love that ever so slightly mottled brown color you have. Looks great. I have found that when building the wood core, its a very fine line to get the tightness correct, and once fully glued together I have found it is tighter than when test fitting, which I suppose makes sense. Don't know if there is a tried and true method that gets you great results every time on fit. My "cheat" method is I line the core with wool felt. It gives just the right amount of spongy material inside to cushion and grip the blade, nice and firm and super snug without having a perfectly sized inner core. I have had good results with the lining method personally. Plus you get the added bonus of a really smooth draw.

[J. Hargis]

Quinn,

Looking good, thanks for the photos. Without a doubt you're on your way. Nice work, keep at it.

Jon

[Quinn W.]

Thanks Bjorn, I wasn't sure about the bottle but it seemed like a worthwhile project even if I can't use it for my 14th c kit. It was my first time sewing through three layers of thick leather so it was a learning eperience if nothing else. Nice to know there's at least some basis for it, though.
Bryan, I'm probably going to make a scabbard for my Chevalier next, so I may give the lining trick a shot. Sounds fancy! Although I know it's tough to find historic info on that sort of thing since linings probably tend not to last as well.

[Matthew Bunker]

Something you might want to look into, to add depth to the character, is the fact that to be doing that sort of fine work you would have been a guild member. If you weren't then, as a leatherworker, the Guild of Cordwainers would have paid you a visit.
As a member of the Guild of Cordwainers, you would have made shoes, scabbards, sheaths etc but wouldn't have made belts (including sword belts) as that was reserved for members of the Guild of Girdlers. You wouldn't be allowed to make gloves either.
You'd only have bought your leather from members of the Guild of Leather sellers and they in turn would only have been able to buy their tanned skins from members of the Guild of Curriers.

Very important stuff in the high medieval period, the Guild system.

[Quinn W.]

That's really interesting! I'll have to tell people my belt was outsourced, then. So would the guild system have been pretty universal? Would it also apply to smaller villages or is that more for cities and proper towns? Or perhaps being a craftsman sort of necessitates living in a place large enough to support a guild system. That's an angle I haven't spent as much time considering so thanks for the heads up!

[Dean F. Marino]

I have two FREE PDF tutorials available... one on Making a Scabbard Core with a Router, one on Wrapping a scabbard core. You CLEARLY don't need the second one (in fact, I wish an expert of your level would WRITE a far better tutorial than mine ).

Making a poplar core....

http://findlithui.deanandsandy.dyndns.org:808...ter1.2.pdf

[Johan Gemvik]

The sword scabbard and the knife sheaths are just excellent!

[Harry Marinakis]

So when can you get me into your work queue for a scabbard for my Albion Landgraf?

[Matthew Bunker]

[Quinn W.]

That makes sense, Matthew. So guilds wouldn't be common in smaller villages... but then again neither would skilled craftsmen, so it's a moot point really. I'll have to make sure my character is consistent so thanks again for bringing that up!