[Jamison L. Morin]

Last week I received my first european based sword; a MRL 15th Century Longsword. Among other things, one thing I noticed in particular was the fit of the scabbard. The blade rattles loosely inside it. Since then, I've done a bit or research into how a scabbard should fit the blade of european swords similar to it and how to construct my own wooden core scabbard to replace the current one. Many if not most of my questions about the initial making of the scabbard have been answered, but questions about he fit of the scabbard are still a mystery to me. This is my question; how exactly should a wooden core scabbard fit the blade of a sword like my MRL. Thank you.

[Eric McHugh]

In an ideal world, I like to see a sword fit securely in the scabbard. What I mean is that the sword should be able to be pushed into the scabbard with one hand and not require a lot of force to do it, but once seated, it should not move until you desire to remove it from the scabbard. In addition, the sword should slide effortlessly into the scabbard until the last few inches, then it should require some pressure to seat it. This kind of fit, can be achieved by the careful use of wood chisels to remove a small amount of wood at a time, with frequent test fitting inbetween passes.

But...

A fit like that is difficult to maintain because of wood shrinkage. The wood can shrink or expand, and your perfect fit is no more. This is very frustrating but very common. This is where a modern sealer would help to seal the wood and help it resist shrinkage or expansion.

Again, the fit of the sword should be a secure fit. You should not feel the sword move excessively in the scabbard (if at all).

[Jamison L. Morin]

Thanks Eric, looks like this is going to be a gradual process.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

Jamison-

Eric gave you some really great info. You can manage with some patience. Spend a lot of time test-fitting, as Eric suggests. It is always easier to take more off than to put it back, you know?

The issue with the humidity of the wood is a significant one. If you choose wood that is properly dry, like the craft woods found at Home Depot or Lowes, it won't shrink up on you if it dries a little. Seal it once you get a good fit, and it should retain a fit that is pretty close.

Good luck!

[Cole Sibley]

I made a Japanese-style sword with a solid 'scabbard' (what's it called when the hilt and scabbord are identical, creating illusion of a single 'stick"? Forgive my ignorance). To make the sword stay in Tight, I did my best to carve a good fit, but I also added small tabs (or patches) of leather, both at the tip and near the mouth of the scabbard. These were of good thick leather, and hide glued into 'notches' carved into the sword channel. This made for an excellent tight fit, but I must say that now (15 years later) I'm not sure if the leather patches are still helping because the sword still fits very tightly but quite possibly due to a slight memory set the sword is taking, as opposed to the leather patches. I'm not sure of the leather patches longevity; I know they are still in there, but whether they wear down, become permenantly compressed, are totally useless to begin with, or are still holding things tight I couldn't say.


This may or may not be historic; no evidence at all, so likely not period.

[Jared Smith]

I have made a few scabbards. As long as you do not insist on all original materials, a snug fit within the last few inches of insertion is not that difficult. I don't particularly care if there is extra room down near the sword tip (such that you can hear it rattle if you shake it hard) as long as the sword is easy to insert blind folded, and stays put (should be able to hold scabbard upside down and shake gently without the sword dropping out) and withdraws with a reasonable amount of force (say around 5 to 7 lbs.) What has worked well for me is a "spring" effect at the mouth.

When shaping the wood core halves, close fit within the last 3 to 4" of the mouth is needed. Place sand paper (self adhesive medium grit paper cut to match the sword profile works good) on the sword blade (about 6" down the blade from the guard) and grind it in and out of each wood core half. Frequently test fit the sword by clamping the two halves togather, but don't clamp within 6" of the mouth. When finished, I like to see a small amount of separation (visible daylight or crack, thinner than a sheet of paper) of the halves caused by insertion of the sword.

Glue and firmly clamp the scabbard wood halves togather, but not within 6" of the mouth. Cover the sword (wrap and tape wax paper over oiled sword and guard to minimize rust problems) and insert it into the glue up assembly to guarantee alignment is still good. The mouth area of the halves should be sprung apart a small amount (like a clothes pin.) This will cause wood glue to fail and split the assembly over the course of repeated insertions if nothing else is done. Test it when dry, after removing the sword, wax paper, etc. If you like the fit, then insert the sword and wrap model airplane fiberglass cloth around the mouth area and cover with 30 minute epoxy. This will form a slightly flexible but durable bond around the mouth area in it's "sprung" state. The epoxy actually shrinks, but has a small degree of flexibility. If the initial glue up fit was too snug, you can still sand as far as 8" into the scabbard by reaffixing sand paper to one side of the blade and gradually working in and out of the glued assembly. When you get it the way you want it, then laminate (epoxy fiberglass) around the last 6" near the mouth area.

I don't know of anyone who is sure what the original materials and tricks were, but on an auction site (about 6 months ago) I saw an offering of a partially surviving Roman spatha scabbard that described a bone chip and cloth insert to create a similar spring effect at the mouth (no blade to go with it.) Similiarly, leather covering could have been "shrink fitted" around the cores, and may have enabled a similar spring like effect. With the exception of the Eastern areas (excellent fish hide glues, mostly used in conjunction with laminating wood and skin), durable wood to wood bonding glues were not common in medieval Europe. I suspect the classic leather covering may have facilitated a similar flexibility to the scabbard assembly, but have no actual proof.

Jared Smith

[Petri Peltola]