[Sean Flynt]

I made a couple of quick snaps of my little family of swords last evening. The hanger will make a nice addition, and the Kern axe, burgonet and dudgeon dagger will round things out pretty nicely. The close view of the rapier rear shows the area that is giving me the most trouble. You can see the scratches and other flaws here and contrast them with the finish in more accessible areas of the hilt. It's a work-in-progress. The blueish tinge of this shot is the result of shooting outside after sunset. Digital is amazing, but not magic. The group shot is from only a few minutes previous, but the sun slipped over the horizon in the interim.

You know, it's only been a week and I'm already getting too fussy about the finish. A spot of rust! A fingerprint! I may be going back to the dark side. Or maybe I'll just let them age naturally and see how that works out. As you can see below, the backsword cleaned up pretty well considering the serious antiquing I did with the blade. It almost looks more antique now that it's been scrubbed clean.

Note that the point of the rapier is jammed into the dirt of my back yard to a depth of a few inches, so the relative heights you see here are not accurate. The new backsword grip wrap is cord and leather, with three risers that fit perfectly between my fingers. It's amazing how a custom grip can change the feel of a sword.

[Patrick Kelly]

Nice looking group Sean!

That grip does wonders for the Backsword.

[Sean Flynt]

Thanks! I felt a little sheepish when I started that new wrap because I was afraid it would just bring me back around to the original MRL wrap. Not even close. The cord and custom positioning of the risers, not to mention the lack of that awful MRL seam, make a huge difference. Here's a better view. This is my best grip to date, though still not perfect. The risers look off-kilter because they are. I gripped the piece while the risers were still wet so they'd match the space between my fingers.

[William Goodwin]

Terrific Trio there Sean!

Thanks for the pics. The backsword grip is grand. Wanna do the grip on mine?

Bill

[Sean Flynt]

cord
dye
wood glue
chamois
shoe polish/brush
beeswax weatherproofing
buffing cloth

You should try it, Bill. It's very satisfying. Assuming you have everything except the chamois, dye and cord, you're looking at an initial cash outlay of around $20, with enough chamois and dye left for around 6 more grips, and enough cord for many more (I've made five cord grips, with no end in sight for my spools of hemp cord). It's a fast project, too. Maybe two hours of actual hand work. The rest is just waiting for stuff to dry. It's a Saturday project, start to finish. Materials are cheap enough you can practice on a dowell.

[William Goodwin]

looks & sounds challenging & fun. Have really been considering wrapping the grip on my Darkwood
side-sword, but it hasn't worn off the newbie effect on me yet. Some day though.....

Cheers,
Bill

[Bruce Wilson]

Sean,

I apologise if this has been covered elsewhere (I did do a search of the forum for this subject but didn't find anything specific) - what are the basic steps to re-covering the grip and what did you use for the risers? I'm tempted (maybe...) to do a re-grip on my Towton but I'm a little wary and not sure where to start.

Feel free to re-direct me to a different thread if there's one I've missed somewhere!

Thanks,
Bruce

[William Goodwin]

Bruce, try this link. It's a feature article Sean did on his antiquing wizardy.

www.myArmoury.com/feature_antique.html

Bill

[Sean Flynt]

Yep, as far as I know that's the only formal description around. I pieced together my technique from bits and pieces of advice and trial-and-error. It really is surprisingly easy. Almost too easy, really, because I've changed backsword grips like some folks change hairstyles. This sword is on its fifth grip! You could do it once a day, easily.

I will emphasize again that I now use wood glue exclusively. It seems perfectly secure, allows you more time to work and encourages you to get the glue all over your hands and fingers, which I find helps the cord stick (you're running it through your gummy hands as you wind it onto the glue-smeared surface of the grip).

[Bruce Wilson]

Thanks, guys - I'll take a look. I had a feeling there would be an article somewhere that I'd overlooked!
Not sure about FIVE grips though - I'll be happy if I manage to do just the one!!

Now I need to think about what sort of combination of cord and risers will look right on the longer grip of a XVIa...

[Sean Flynt]

One of the nice things about this process is that you can do the basic cord wrap, then experiment with the risers a bit so that they feel and look right before doing the leather wrap. The glued cord is secure enough that you can even just leave the wrap off for a while and train with the sword to fine tune the riser placement. If you decide you don't like the risers where they are, just peel them off and try again.

[Bruce Wilson]

If I ever get that far, I'll post some pictures. I quite like the stock version of the grip on the Towton with it's slight hollowing and the big riser half-way down. I know what you mean about the cheap, shiny leather though. I guess I'll keep basic shape and the big riser but I may add some slimmer custom risers that match my fingers to the single-handed part of the gip (would that technically be the "upper" part of the grip?). A deep burgundy/ox-blood colour might be nice too...

Thanks for your comments Sean!

B