[Daniele Trentin]

Good afternoon everyone! I am making a prototype scabbard for my sword, XIII Century style. Pics here [url] https://postimg.cc/gallery/1Pzrdk3 [/url] (hope it works).

I followed the instructions found on the bok "Covering the blade" by Marquita Volken.

Basically, I started by wrapping the blade with parchment, gluing it together, which has become the lining. I then outlined the blade (obviously with its parchment cover) on two slats of poplar I have riven from a log, carved the recess and then glued everything together. After, I glued 1.3 mm thick vegetable tanned calf as the final cover, which I will stitch on the back using saddle stitch. The scabbard will be dyed black using vinegaroon, and a goatskin belt will be applied.

My problem here is the mouth. As you can see on the pictures, I kept both the lining and the calfskin cover longer than the slats and glued them together. Now I need to shape the flaps and stitch...but I have those two spots lf wood that are still visible, and I'm not sure I can hide them with the stitching. On the book the author cuts two triangular recesses on the cover which, they say, will hide the wood, but I really can't understand how.

Do you have any suggestions for a nice and clean work?

[Greyson Brown]

Probably the easiest way to hide the wood is to use another piece of leather. The way I have done this is to cut the existing flaps into the shape I want, then fold those so that the top of the scabbard is flat (looking down from the top, this will make a circle or diamond shape). A really easy way to template the piece you need to make is to fold the flaps out as mentioned, turn the scabbard upside down, and press the opening onto a piece of paper. You can then trace around the flaps and cut out your template.

Once you have a piece of leather cut to match the flaps, it is just a matter of punching holes and stitching it together. A whip stitch seems to be very common for this, but any stitch will work. (You can glue the piece in place prior to stitching if desired. That will help keep it covering the wood, but isn't required.) Once stitched in place, you can cut a hole or slit in the center of this new piece to allow the sword to pass through. I would be cautious about removing too much material as it is easy to cut an opening that end up revealing the wood. Personally, I would cut a slit and then rely on stretching the leather out of the way of the blade rather than trying to remove the perfect amount.

You can see this approach used on the scabbard pictured below (conveniently showing the new piece in red).:


Photo credit: Patrick Kelly (see original review on page 2 of this thread: http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=37240)

Edit: Another view of this scabbard can be found on the maker's web site (https://artofswordmaking.com/gallery/musee-de-llarmee-sword-ca-1300):

Photo credit: Maciej Kopciuch (Maciej K. on here)

[P Ullrich]

Might be too late but here are the notes I use for scabbard build

https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/support-files/leatherwrapascabbardcore1.1.pdf

[Daniele Trentin]

[Greyson Brown]