[Aaron Schnatterly]

I had initially thought of posting this as a continuation of my Scabbard project for the Next Gen Knight thread, but decided to start a new one, as they are different projects. Though they start off much the same, they will branch out in their own ways.

The wood core's construction was quite simlar to that of the core for the Knight, though the process went much more quickly and smoothly. I started out with two 1/2 x 4 x 4 poplar slats which I picked up at the local Lowes. Using the center line I marked on each piece, I traced out the profile of the blade. Using a dremel, and the Vinland itself as a constant reference, I was able to approximate the interior of the scabbard in a fashion similar to the core for the Knight. As this is also a lenticular blade with a fuller, I chose to have the mouth follow the contour of the blade. The fuller risers extend down into the scabbard core approximately 1 inch. I left a looser fit than I did with the Knight's core, as the suspension will be a baldric rather than a belt, and I wanted a slightly easier draw. Once roughed out, I test fit the blade to each half, and noted high points. A second pass with the dremel cleaned this up nicely. Now satisfied with the fit of each half, I mated them and secured them with clamps for a fitting and draw test. Results were great. Separating the halves again, I sanded the interior smooth by hand, and finished it with a couple of coats of linseed oil, and glued the halves together.

Next, I drew the midline and blade profile on the outside of the scabbard core. I then allowed for a 1/4 inch thick wall along the edges, and drew lines parallel to the bulk of the blade. As the blade curved in, I drew two more lines per edge to approximate this change in profile. The results can be seen here:





The scabbard was then shaped to this profile with a benchtop disc sander with 60 grit. I traced the outline of the guard at the mouth to help guide me in my shaping of the core:





Using this as a guide, I roughed in the bevels on the faces with the disc sander, then used a 60 grit belt sander to shape and thin the sides.







The walls are a consistent 2.2 - 2.5 mm thick. I touched up any rough spots with a 120 grit belt, then 150 grit by hand. Once done with the shaping, I sealed the core with a couple of coats of linseed oil. Total work time was approximately 8 hours.

Here's a pic of the Vinland in the scabbard core:





And one of the Knight in it's core, the Vinland in it's core, and the Landgraf in Albion's Campaign Line scabbard.






I will be away for work for the next couple of weeks but hope to have the leather to finish the outsides upon my return.

Also, I posted smaller pictures in this thread in order to facilitate loading time. Larger pictures are located in my album here on myArmoury: Vinland Scabbard Project Album

[Aaron Schnatterly]

Well, I got the leatherwork done on the scabbard. Now, I have to work the chape, band, and baldric fittings, as well as do some engraving on all metal parts. Huge learning experience, but I'm pleased.

[Anton de Vries]

What are you trying to do? Get all of us to make our own scabbards?
It will come to that you know, if you keep this up.
They look good, and you make it look easy. Which it probably isn't....

I could use a scabbard or two myself.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[G. Scott H.]

Aaron, man, you're making me wish I'd paid more attention in woodshop as a youngster. Beautiful work! For me, the nicest features of your scabbards is the mouth of the scabbard matching the cross section of the blade; that's really cool. Where do you get the leather for these projects? Is there a good online source?
BTW: I was wondering if the bottom sword in Anton's photo was a Squire 15th C. Bastard. Apparently it is. Nice!

[Nate C.]

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[G. Scott H.]

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[Anton de Vries]

[J. Padgett]

Nice work, Aaron. You keep this up, and people are going to start asking if you take comissions.

[Patrick Kelly]

Very nice work so far Aaron. I'm eager to see the finished product.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

Thanks everyone, both for the compliments and encouragement.

Patrick - whatever stage it happens to be in, I'll bring it to Atlanta. Definitely interested in your hands-on impression.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

I found what was probably the steepest part of the learning curve for this project over the past couple of days... but I think I made it through!
I finished hammering, welding, and cleaning up the chape!

I started with 22-gauge carbon steel plates, 2.5" x 4", and traced the outline of the scabbard tip, then drew in some contour lines where I felt they would go. Looked kind of like a topo map. Worked pretty close to one, too! Anyway, I started hammering them out cold, thinking the metal would be thin enough to behave. I was sadly mistaken. Add a bit of heat with a propane torch, however... and this is what I got:



A bit more hammering, a pile of welding, too much grinding and polishing, and this is what I ended up with:



It isn't perfect, but it's as good as I can get it - this time. I'll do more of this type of work in the future, and might even get good at it one day. I've only tried shaping metal once before, with horriffic results, but I was like 14. I have never welded before. I say this to encourage everyone to take a chance - if you decide ahead of time that you can't do something, then you can't. Keep an open mind, some patience, and just maybe you can!

I may engrave the chape and clip to match the Vinland, or I may just leave them be. I'm kind of liking the plainer look, but the engravings could add a little something special. The baldric is next - but you'll have to wait for pictures.

Thanks for taking a peek!

[Steve Grisetti]

Very nice work, Aaron.

[Jean Le-Palud]

Hi Aaron,
I'm very impressed by your work because I'm making a scabbard for my own Vinland . I could work with wood and leather but feel unable to work with metal (and have nothing for the welding job), so I ordered chapes from The Moat of Albion to complete the scabbard.

[Aaron Schnatterly]