[Greyson Brown]

Since I have several projects that I am working on, or intend to do in the not too distant future, I thought it might be a good idea to start a general topic that covers all of them, rather like the one Russ Ellis has for updates to his site. Thus, I will be reviving this thread from time to time as I undertake new projects.

Most recently, I finished up another scabbard. This one is for my Albion NextGen Agincourt. I used the same wood and leather from my Poitiers scabbard project. The shaping on this one went a little faster because I got smarter about it. I carved the general outline for the interior of the scabbard, and then went back and marked the desired thickness on the core. That way I knew how much material I needed to remove. In the picture, the information written on the scabbard is the total thickness of the blade in millimeters (the spots with check marks have been carved to the desired depth). It was easier to use total thickness, as I had recorded it that way previously, and that allowed me to reference my notes more easily.

As I mentioned in the Poitiers scabbard thread, I have to have a safety class before I can use the on-post wood shop, and that class is not offered again for a couple of weeks, so the outside of this piece was shaped entirely with hand tools. I used my 1 inch chisel, a bastard cut file, and some sandpaper in order to do all of the shaping. The scabbard ended up a little thicker than it really needs to be (the scabbard walls are .1 - .125 inches thick), but not too terrible.

The leather work went fairly well. I did a two needle stitch so that the stitches form an X. I wanted to continue that motif around the front on the flap at the mouth of the scabbard, but I failed to lay out my stitching well enough, and had some trouble with the leather (because of the way I had to lay this one out, the leather at the mouth is just a bit thinner than the rest). The result was hideous! I ended up redoing the flap, and went with a single X in the top middle of the flap, and simply looped the stitching over the edges like on my other scabbard. I did not change the back to match, and am still undecided as to whether or not I will. Also, I slit the sides just a bit too much and the corners of the wood core show. At this point that is the thing that irritates me the most.

The work isn't the greatest, but one of the guys who looked at it was impressed enough that he might have me make a scabbard for him. I guess I can't complain about that.

-Grey

[Geoff Wood]

Getting rather good at this aren't you! Have you decided on a chape?
Geoff

[Greyson Brown]

The entire Agincourt sword reminds me of the one on Sir Reginald Cobham's effigy (they are both Type XVa's and that is about all they really have in common, but I still find myself associating the two), so I will probably do something similar to the chape on that one. It is also a chape style that seems to be pretty common for these pointier swords. What I want to do is essentially a variation on the U shaped chape where the bend is tighter and the sides of the bottom half of the chape touch, but there is space at the top. I might weld the touching bits together, or I might just be content with letting them touch. It will kind of depend on what the material wants to do, the tools available when I get to that point, and what is required to get a good fit.

As for getting good, that kind of depends on how you look at things. Getting different might be more accurate. I am reminded of the line from Jurassic Park: The Lost World. Mr. Hammond says, "We won't make the same mistakes this time," and Jeff Goldbloom's character responds by saying, "No; you're making all new ones." I guess I should take some solice in the fact that I screwed up different things.

-Grey

P.S. Looks like one of my pictures didn't post.

[Bruno Giordan]

It does look like a real one indeed, do not worry.

[Steve Grisetti]

[Bruno Giordan]

I like that back stitch too, Grey, it is a nice looking detail that adds character;

May I ask you how you did it?

[Greyson Brown]

[Greg Griggs]

Having had the opportunity to see these two scabbards this weekend, I can say that Greyson did an extremely nice job on them both. Personally, I couldn't find anything about them that wasn't pleasing to the eye, both were that well done. I think you will be very pleased when you finally get to place the swords within the scabbards, Grey - it makes a world of difference.

I also want to say that Greyson is a super nice guy and was a pleasure to meet. I don't know how you put up with all of us "crazys". Be well and best of luck!

-Greg

[Patrick Kelly]

Ditto on all of Gregs comments. It was a pleasure meeting Greyson and seeing his work.

[Greyson Brown]

Well, it was a little painful to do, but I rewrapped the grip on my SL Knightly sword yesterday. I am fairly happy with the result, but it is not perfect. I had a slight bulge in the leather right at the seem which resulted in a bump which I ended up cutting off with a razor after the fact. I should have trimmed it before doing the external cord wrap. The seem is also highly visible because I did not thin down the edge of the leather enough. I also had one riser partially "collapse" on me where the twisted hemp cord I used for the risers decided it did not want to be twisted any longer. I might also have put just a touch too much beeswax on the leather. Still, it is very comfortable, and the pictures actually make it look a bit uglier than it truly is.

I think the argument could be made that, even when viewing the ugly side, this grip is still aesthetically on par with the original one. The stock grip on this sword was just fine, but a friend of mine noted that it certainly won't be flying out of ones hand with this new grip on it. I have some practicing to do if I intend to rewrap the grip on my NG Sherriff (I'm seriously considering it, but I am still very hesitant), but this was a satisfactory effort.

One interesting discovery; when I took off the original leather, I discovered the word "Knight" written on the grip core. I'm not sure why I've found this surprising. I have draw lines and notes on nearly every grip core that I have done, and I have wondered what one might find under the leather on other swords. I am curious, though, whether this indicates that the SL Knightly sword and the NG Knight use the same grip core (entirely plausible), or if it was simply an abbreviation for Knightly. It doesn't really make a difference, it is just one of those interesting little side notes.

Anyhow, the pictures are below.

-Grey

[Joe Fults]

Changes the character of the piece, much to my suprise.

Nicely done!

[Pamela Muir]

Hi Grey,

Very nice, as usual.

What type of leather do you use? Where do you get it? You mentioned thinning the edge of the leather, how do you do that?

Thank you for the help and inspiration!

[Greyson Brown]

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[Al Muckart]

[Nathan Robinson]

Thanks for the links, Al. I think I'll pick up a "saftey beveller" from Tandy and see how it works for narrow, long edges. I've been using a knife very similear to the "French" knife shown in your last link. They work very, very well.

I also like the half-round skiving knives but the ones Tandy sells are too thick, in my person experience. You can spend time grinding and sharpening the heck out of it and it will work better.

[Al Muckart]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Not a specialized leather working knife but the new Spyderco Captain might be a good knife to use for this as the point shape looks as if it could do the job.

http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/spyderc/images/111n.jpg

I've already sent an e-mail to a Canadian Knife dealer I've been buying from for more than 10 years to find out about price and availability. srknives@rogers.com

Just mentioning them as they have given me good service and prices. ( A little bit of haggling or being a repeat customer can mean a better price. But their customer service is good and they will order stuff for you: I purchased my first Albion though them " Gaddhjalt " in 2002 or 2003. )

Sorry for the semi off THE topic post: But it's a really cute knife and I also have a collection of Spydercos and other Quality brands of folders. Hopefully the fact that it might be a useful knife for leather work makes it semi ON topic.

[Al Muckart]

[Nathan Robinson]