[Alex Oster]

ok,

so I woke up yesterday, and suddenly it clicked that I was going to make a scabbard for my Del Tin 2156.

I went out and bought a nice pice of poplar cut it in half, and began to trace and chisel away.

Questions that arose while I spent the day perched over my project.

1) will I ever be able to sit up straight again? (my back is still tense tonight)

2) is there really a better or more preferred wood for scabbards? asthetics aside. (side note: I am so glad I didn't go with the oak! This wood is tough enough!)

3) I always see leather covered wood cores... What kind of leather is used? Is there a particular kind I need to track down that stretches or forms better?

4) considering the effort involved I wonder how many historic swords had wood scabbards?

5) I included a resivour tip for excess oil, but should I line the inside also or seal it with something in particular?

6) anyone know of any web sites that show the process in detail? (I'd hate to forget a step)

Thanks for any info, and kudos to those who are willing to make them for others (for money or not). Anyone who balks at the cost of one should try it themselves, and then they can appreciate the labor involved.

[Alex Oster]

[Russ Ellis]

Let's see if I can address this point by point...

1) will I ever be able to sit up straight again? (my back is still tense tonight)

Lol possibly, if not I hear that there's a bit of a demand for hunched over lab assistants for mad scientists and that sort of thing...

2) is there really a better or more preferred wood for scabbards? asthetics aside. (side note: I am so glad I didn't go with the oak! This wood is tough enough!)

Poplar or linden is a great wood for scabbards, although not exactly the same as the linden used historically it's so close as to not make any difference as far as I can tell. I know that Mr. Evans and Mr. Mchugh are big proponents of basswood. I think that this has to do with their construction methods though. The way I build them it makes little difference and basswood is significantly more expensive.

3) I always see leather covered wood cores... What kind of leather is used? Is there a particular kind I need to track down that stretches or forms better?

A light weight leather works best. Vegetable tanned is the very best, but not mandatory. I use stuff that is ananline dyed so it is also mildly water proof.

4) considering the effort involved I wonder how many historic swords had wood scabbards?

It's hard to say. We have some very nice examples of preserved wooden scabbards but there are only very few of them. Their construction does not lend itself to them surviving and a sword would likely go through multiple scabbards during its working life.

5) I included a resivour tip for excess oil, but should I line the inside also or seal it with something in particular?

With poplar it is not necessary but it is nice to line them with wool or felt. I've had bad luck with the felt so I stick with the wool. I suppose you could even use something like quilt batting if wool was not available although you would not get the benefits of the lanolin.

6) anyone know of any web sites that show the process in detail? (I'd hate to forget a step)
No.

[Thomas McDonald]

Hi Alex

I can't think of any site that has a detailed, ie:step by step, look into scabbard making, either ?
(Big help, right ;-)

Anyway, Vince Evans has an album on dirk construction which feature several pic's of how he makes wood-cored/leather wrapped sheaths ..... might be of interest to you ! Here is the link:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=99...uid=550150

Good luck, Mac

* A shot of Vince working, "in the field" , on a scabbard !

[Lee Watts]

hey alex
i dabbled with making a scabbard a couple of years ago and the truth is (in my opinion) unless you are really talented its not worth the hastle just get albion to do one for you instead.

i did find this on the albion site if you still want to give it a go http://albion-swords.com/swords/scabbards/makingof.htm

[Alex Oster]

Thanks for all the info guys!

I started glueing the two pieces together tonight, and will be hand planing the fit and contours tomorrow... then I got to track down some leather that is sold in such big sizes...then its getting down to whether or not I'll make my own chappe (sp?) for the end... never did much soldering like that.

As I said I respect the effort and craftsmanship involved, but if I had $300-$800 to spend on a scabbard I would spend it on a sword first.... My wishlist is good sized and I havent gotten discouraged by this attempt -yet.

I started this project out of a need to protect everything around the sword while transporting it (remember its the BIG del tin), so I don't know if I'll make more (maybe one more), but yea, I definately would pay someone to do a professional job had I the money to spend and no more swords to buy. Albions scabbards are art unto themselves, and if Christian Fletcher did "walk-ins".... but for now its just something fun to do.