[Paul Watson]

Jaromír Kožiak wrote:

I don't want to be rude... I am sorry...it is not such a bad work - but it is not a good work either. One of the leather straps is not cut straight.

I had a good look on the Albion page and the alleged uneven strap is deliberately tapering in width. You can clearly see that it gets narrower as it is wrapped around the scabbard to be tied into a knot at it's termination.

Sweet work Aaron, looks awesome.

---

I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, but that which it protects. (Faramir, The Two Towers)

[Addison C. de Lisle]

Very nice work Aaron! Look great!

[Jean Thibodeau]

Aaron;

Good work and glad things seem to be working out, try to give us some news when / if you can find some time to post: You are missed.

[Patrik Erik Lars Lindblom]

What a beauty!
Good job ½Carlsson

[Herbert Schmidt]

I really do like the scabbards of Albion. I also think they are historically accurate. I would buy one without hesitating.

BUT it is true that the edges are not cleaned, something that is no secret and was well known to every leather workman. I also suspect the leather not beeing top quality due to the wrinkels the straps show just where it is bending. But this is an assumption.

Historical accuracy is one thing - good workmanship another. If something is considered good workmanship today because it gives more live to a product and it is easily available then you can be almost sure they did it back then also when they wanted to make a good product. As Albion without doubt wants to make a good product the point of Jaromir is well brought up and should be considered. I personally find it better to have smoothed edges which are the same colour as the rest of the leather. This is better, possible and shows good workmanship. Not doing it is a shortcut - period.

Herbert

[Jonathan Blair]

I think this scabbard rocks. I too keep hoping to see Aaron posting here again.

[Jared Smith]

I at least agree on the preference for better finishing of edges, and the back (flesh side) of straps. I would still not expect these surfaces to look perfect, but they probably would have been given some type of burnishing and finishing given that many scabbards cost more than the swords themselves.

Beveling edges, burnishing the edges and backs of the straps so that the flesh side looks similar to the hair side (when newly polished the grain can lay down and look fairly slick) is not difficult at all and really only adds a couple of minutes effort to the job. This can be done with period bees wax (or modern carnuba cream finish) and some rough linen or canvas cloth. For a job that may easily have taken more than 40 hours of loving craftsmanship (showing in most all other aspects), I like to think that the medieval craftsman would have taken that little extra bit of time.

Quality of the leather is subjective, as the effort of weaving the integral straps and then subsequent wear and bending of the straps will cause that distressed look to occur with good quality vegtable tanned leather. In terms of period tanning and finishing methods, a strap without distress marks simply looks "unused" or "fake" to me.

[Kel Rekuta]

[Chad Arnow]

Jesse Bailey, a scabbard maker and part of a Norman reenactment group with pretty strict accuracy requirements has stated that surface dying was done on belts. That would leave the edges and back undyed.

The bottom line is that we don't know for sure how things were, since there are so few surviving scabbards. The thought that an expensive sword would only be housed in the most finely and completely finished scabbard assumes that scabbards lived as long as the sword itself. We know that's not necessarily the case. Today, a scabbard can cost as much as the sword because labor and materials are more expensive. Do we know the ratio of average scabbard cost to sword cost from the 13th through the 15th centuries? Today, we buy scabbards as once-in-a-lifetime purchases, since they often don't see the same use today as in period. "Back in the day" I'd guess a sword could see more than one scabbard in its lifetime. I'd also guess that scabbards of that era would have been in a different price range than swords. I'd love to see data either way, though.

Allan has mentioned armour strapping that wasn't finished, so I'd think scabbard belt strapping could be similarly done also.

The only thing that should be avoided in these discussions are statements that talk in absolutes.

[Bob Burns]

Aaron, that is a gorgeous scabbard to be proud of and there is nothing amateur about it, though I am no leather craftsman, one of my very best friends ever "Joe Wheeler" is the most respected maker of bullwhips in this country and I know quality when I see it, because Joe has taught me what to look for and that scabbard is very professional!

In Ref. to Joe, his website and email. http://www.masterwhipmaker.com/ jcraftsman@aol.com

(When viewing website keep in mind Joe makes all kinds of whips which some do not reflect his personal interests, it's merely part of his business, he is a "Western" enthusiast.

By the way, Joe has remarked to me his admiration of the scabbards made at Albion and how artistically done they are!



You should be proud Aaron!

Sincerely,

Bob

[Joel Whitmore]

I think our detractor here has some assuptions that are not correct. First his assumptions that medieval scabbards were highly decorated is unsubstantiated. There are very few surviving medieval scababrds and those representations found on effigies belonged to important and rich people. This is not to say that medieval scabbards weren't richly decorated as a common rule, but to assume they were I think is going too far.

The "uneven" leather strap is cut that way intentionally for this type of suspension. Oakshott has a drawing of one of the few surviving deerskin suspensions in his Archeology of Weapons p241. In the same text one can see a medieval scabbard in plate 9c from the tomb of Ferdando de la Cerda (ob 1270). In that same plate you can also the see the famous Sword of St. Maurice in Turin in its scababrd. Neither scabbard shows any sign of ornimentation or leather working with incised lines or objects.

If Jaromir dislikes the scabbard work then that is his opinion. Having said that, I don't find his work any more apealing (less so as a matter of fact since I don't like the suspension system). However, I will not resort to calling his work "amatuerish" or use any other childlike derogatory remarks on here. As far as the edges of the leather are concerned, finishing them could have been a buyer preference. I know f ra fact that if I were to wear this sword overe a cloth surcoat, having the back of the lether belt "fuzzy" helps to hold the whole suspension where you want it. This is not a consideration if worn directly over armor.

Personally the only "beef" I have of scabbards in general today, is the cost. I know they are one-offs and custom fitted for the swords, but I don't see a reason that a scabbard for a production sword ( meaning one where the swords of the same type do not vary much at all from one to another ) has to cost nearly twice what you pay for the sword itself (with belt and fittings). But that's just me and I am cheap HAHA. Aaron's scabbards in the flesh are elegant and graceful and historically accurate as far as we can tell. If you want to make your own and coat it with Elmer's Glue and glitter then please do so. Just be fair in criticisms of things that are not to yoru taste.

Joel Whitmore

[Joel Whitmore]

[David McElrea]

Umm... While I don't want to detract from the great work Aaron is no doubt doing there, it's not actually a new installment in the Albion scabbard range per se (unless I am missing something)-- I think the "new" bit is in relation to its being offered for the Duke as well as the Albion. See here: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...n+scabbard

David

[Nathan Robinson]

[David McElrea]

Fair enough, Nathan. Your initial post said:

[Kevin Iseli]

Hi all. To be fair, all the leather work is new (from a new maker, that is) but the buckle and belt end are still from the same batch of castings that I carved over a year ago. So it's "mostly" new. It definately has a distinctly different look though.

Congrats Aaron!

[Nathan Robinson]

[Kevin Iseli]

Don't get too excited. I started carvinging waxes and making molds for some of the "big seller" scabbards just before I left Albion, but they only covered a few scabbards. I'm not sure what the current situation is, but everyone agreed that it was the right route to take so I'm sure Albion is still persuing it. I also know, however, that Aaron has a pretty full plate. All that being said, I wouldn't think that it will lead to a price break but it may lead to a quicker turn-around time. Any way that's just my guess.

Best,