[Gabriele Becattini]

i have recently bought a depeeka celtic "la tene" sword,

at the price point i have paid it i was nor expecting very much, the blade is decent enough, the hilt looks pretty easy to modify

but the real weak point is the scabbard, it is simply wrong with nothing in common with a La tene scabbard.

this afternnon i was looking at it and i was wondering if i could make it better i'm not particularly crafty but i have access to a professional Smith workshop, as the owner is a good friend of mine,

the scabbard is made out of an iron sheet about 1 mm thick, in stead of an historically correct 3 pieces construction the sheet has been folded and then soldered at one side, the chape appear to be glued in place with some kind of expoxy

i was toying with the idea to remove the chape and reshape it and even to cut in half the scabbard to make it in 2 pieces
,
it is feasible? or it is a project the require a very advanced skills? what do you suggest?

[Harry Marinakis]

[Carl Goff]

I got one of these intending to remove the hilt and replace the blade with an Albion Bare Blades Celtic longsword after making some minor adjustments so the new blade will fit.

I can't speak for the scabbard, but if you intend to make any modifications to the hilt that would require removing all or part of it, the hilt is much, much, harder to modify than it looks.

That brass cap in the center of the pommel, directly above the tang, is epoxied (possibly welded) in place. There is epoxy along the entire length of the tang -- pommel, grip, and guard. If you intend to make any modifications to the hilt, you will need to C-clamp the blade to a solid surface and use vise grips to get the cap off (which I learned after I'd chewed through it to the tang with a cobalt drill.) Then repeat that process to get the pommel off...then the grip...and then guard. Be prepared for something to crack. In my case, it was the grip, but it wasn't bad enough to justify discarding it.

Look up the Kelticos forum...someone there had detailed instructions on how to get these hilts off.

[Gabriele Becattini]

they are both good advices guys, thank you for your answers

i need for sure to take of the hilt and i was already aware of the problems, looking at the kelticos forum, on my sword the pommel cap looks secured by some sort of glue, i do not think that it is welded , but i'll soon discover it!

i believe that in the end i'll leave the scabbard as it is, or i'll try only to reshape the chape, cutting the scabbard in two pieces require a level of skill that for sure i do not have and it is more than likely that in the end i'll only ruin it