#scabbard making

[lawnegnome]

Part 3: painting and tooling

Ok! So finishing up the scabbard itself is not that much of a deal. Got some leather dye, a sponge, and plastic gloves. You don't want this on your hands or clothes. It's gonna be there for a while if it stains.

Also - cover your work surface, especially if the work surface doubles as your dinner table since you don't really have a workshop because you live in a two-room apartment.

Got some red for this build. A really strong red that the photo doesn't give any justice for whatsoever.

There we go! Scabbard done and colored. Don't forget to rub in some leather fat into the leather after dyeing, otherwise it's gonna dry up as the dye sets.

Now a short break where I try to do a mockup of a Wisby plata for Battle of Wisby 2023. That's gonna take a bit to finish up. Oh well.

After that comes the question of a belt. I looked around for historical inspiration, and found this on The Landsknecht Emporium:

Number two seems kind of simple. It's an over-the-shoulder type solution for carrying the sword, not a hip-belt, but that is fine. Should be able to do that.

You can find it in some illuminations which is nice. Don't think carrying it around your neck like that is the beat way to go about it though, but whatever floats your boat.

Got 3m of a 1,5cm wide belt strap to work with. Wanted to try to knot it around the scabbard in that way people do it so nice-like, and as luck would have it, Tod uploaded this video one the same day I decided to try:

Thanks Tod!

Not as hard as it looks, to be honest, but it looks real good. Next up, the belt.

Found a nice leather tool to use, so two hours of hammering and making the neighbors love me made this lovely belt.

Have a nice hard surface to work on while you're tooling. I found a piece of marble while thrifting, have heard from others that it's a good thing for working leather like this.

Keep the part of the leather you're working on wet so you can make an indent. Strike hard and sure with the hammer, and be ready for a sore arm before you know it.

Love it. Stoked to see it all completed.

Next up, we're gonna decide on how to put it all together.

[lawnegnome]

Part 2: wetworks, gluing and sewing

How do we get the leather to stick?

On earlier builds I've used woodglue on wet leather which worked out fine. This time however, I tried contact glue instead. It sets even harder, but you have less time to work, so you'll have to be quick. I started with the front, using a whalebone to do a first press on the zigzags before the glue hardened. The whalebone is also used to sort of rub the leather in place on the edges around the wood core, so it stays even.

Then I glued the back, leaving a bit of the leather unglued so I could have some room for both cutting a straight line down the back of the scabbard to make it even and to be able to sew the back together.

The point is always a tricky bit, so I always leave it to be cut for last. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of the process.

With the leather glued on, now for the fun part: forming the leather!

I have not yet sat down to learn how to properly cut leather and to do pretty patterns, so right now I work with risers under the leather covering, trying to do nice things with those. Also I'm terrible at sketching and drawing, so we'll see how it turns out the day I decide to try. :')

Aaaanyway, time to get wet!

Here we go! Using a wet sponge to dab the leather bit by bit, only on the places I am working, I got great results. Did a few passes back and forth to fix som happy accidents here and there, but overall I'm really happy with it. Leather is realy nice to work with, and the whalebone can help with undoing some minor mistakes, just rub it gently over the leather to even it back out if you haven't made too many hard dents in it. It stands out real nicely. As the wet leather dries off, it will set even tighter around the wood core.

Next for the sewing.

For this crosstitch, I am using two needles and waxed linen thread which is strong and sturdy, starting at the top, going all the way down sewing crosswise. With one needle in each end of the thread, I alternated every hole just as when you lace up your shoelaces.

This also adds some nice texture to the scabbard I think. You can just glue it down completely as well, but this way it stays in place even better.

The main issue is always the tip of the scabbard. I always try to get it as snug to the scabbard core as I can. It can get a bit muddly when looked at close up, but if the end result is good, no problem. If you plan to cover the tip in a chape, then noone will ever see the messy stitchwork. Sometime I might try to make a chape out of brass plate, but not for this project. I don't have the tools. :(

This is it for part 2. I ran out of image space. I decided to divide things even more, so no coloring or metalwork this time. Stay tuned for part 3: Some splash of color!

[maerenundlobebaeren]

Prayer for a good sense of proportion

I hope so much, that I've got the length of the scabbard straps right today. It was really a mess, trying to measure it. Not enaught hands, not enaught mirrors to see how the sword hangs. And the plate armor was hindering my movements.

The problem is: there are three straps holding the scabbard in place. But only one of them can later be adjusted via a buckle in front of the belly. This strap is used to adjust the horizontal angle of the scabbard, e.g. how far it's tip sticks out to the left.

The other two straps are there to balance the sword so that it doesn't tip over the handle. The scabbard should hang slightly slanted and parallel to ones side and beneath the breast plate, so it doesn't always ding it. And after all, one should be able to grasp the grip and draw the sword.

That can be a real challenge, if the sword hangs too low or sticks out to the false side. And above all else, the breast plate restricts the movement of ones arm!

All these things considered, I cannot have gotten it right...