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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 26, 2007 13:20:26 GMT
I am looking to wrap one of my handles in cord and leave it without leather. Has anyone done this or can anyone point to any good posts on any forums? (Razor inspired me)
- I want to know what cord is best: Hemp, Cotton or Nylon? - Also how to do risers? - Does epoxy over the cord make it slippery?
Thanks guys.
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Post by rammstein on May 26, 2007 13:24:51 GMT
Only advice I can give you...
Hemp looks cool but can be a little abrasive in the hand.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 26, 2007 13:59:57 GMT
Yeah, thats what I though. It would look very 'ye olde' but abrasive. The recreated Conan Atlantean by Albion is apparently cotton so that must be ok.
Apparently Clyde uses Nylon on the Gen 2 Brian Boru for less stretch and better durability. But I wonder if it would be more slippery as it is plasticy. Also I wonder if the Nylon would not grip the Epoxy as well as a natural fibre?
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Post by rammstein on May 28, 2007 15:06:11 GMT
Well for historical accuracy...
I wouldn't use cotton for the grip of a medieval sword, if that's what you're planning. I don't know bout other cultures but cotton is a pretty bad material for doing anything in the middle ages. For one, it was hard to get. But it also (I believe) becomes too flexible when wet meaning that the strength of the grip can change dramatically. Or so I've heard.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 15:43:17 GMT
True. Cotton does deteriorate after wetting. Its for my Narnia Sword. I'm of two minds: If I keep it shiny I would go nylon which is super neat and shiny. I could also go red to match the red leather on it now.
I also have this urge to antique it. It has a really polished blade and nickel plating on the cross (steel) and pommel (brass). I would like to pick all the nickel off and give the blade a salt/ vinegar bath.
If I antique it I'd go jute or hemp.
I just bought another new Narnia sword which reduces my guilt in antiquing this glitzy piece. What would you do, shiny or antique?
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Post by rammstein on May 28, 2007 15:55:31 GMT
I actually would prefer the shiny look, just because the entire sword screams luxury to me.
Why not use just use some leather decorations? Nylon seems too plasticy for an apprpriate sword grip if you ask me. With some leather customizations, you'd could have a nice glossy finish with the durability and texture that leather gives.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 16:13:20 GMT
I havent seen too many examples to give me ideas of what to do with leather. One reason i wanted to cord wrap it is to add some girth to the grip and some risers to help control it. Its a bit narrow standard. Any pictures of grips you like, to give me some ideas?
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 16:37:46 GMT
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Post by rammstein on May 28, 2007 16:50:02 GMT
What about some really REALLY tightly wrapped thin cord with leather over it to give a uniform bumpiness to it. Then you could add some thick leather risers wherever you'd want them (My opinion would be two big ones adjacent to each other right where that gold grip ring used to be. You'd have to take the hilt almost from scratch though, meaning taking off everything from the handle except for the wood. In my opinion, that's the prettiest style of grip. Chris has a guide on making this, by the way. If you haven't seen already, it would come out a little bit like this - www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/nextgen/grips.htmonly it should have even more texture. And the hemp wrap underneath the leather will add some girth that you like.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on May 28, 2007 17:00:07 GMT
Both mine and cs76cs thread used cord and leather to wrap are handles, in case you have not seen cs76cs here it is. /index.cgi?board=swordcustom&action=display&thread=1177176194
I'm going to do another leather handle but I'm not going to cord wrap it and I'm going to stitch it .
Maybe you can wrap it with a cord and if you don't like the leather wrap look you can stitch it instead. That like it has a nice handle already. I don't think just having cord around would look as nice, I would finish it with leather.
How thick is the handle of your sword?
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 17:00:32 GMT
Cool, I'll consider it. I'd be taking off those gold rings. They aren't very functional. I could always start with just the Cord job and add the leather if it's too garish. I'll get into it tomorrow.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 17:15:39 GMT
How thick is the handle of your sword? At the main grip it is 26 x 22mm. Or 1" x 7/8". It feels a bit fidly, not solid enough I reckon.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on May 28, 2007 17:20:36 GMT
Cool, I'll consider it. I'd be taking off those gold rings. They aren't very functional. I could always start with just the Cord job and add the leather if it's too garish. I'll get into it tomorrow. That is a good idea. What I did was every step I did on my cord wrap I swung my sword around to see how it felt until I like how it handled and thin I wrap it with leather.
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Razor
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Today is tomorrow but not yet yesterday
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Post by Razor on May 28, 2007 17:23:01 GMT
How thick is the handle of your sword? At the main grip it is 26 x 22mm. Or 1" x 7/8". It feels a bit fidly, not solid enough I reckon. Is that across or around the handle?
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 17:35:47 GMT
Thats accross the main part of the handle which is oval shaped.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on May 28, 2007 17:42:14 GMT
could you take a picture where the handle meets the cross guard?
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 28, 2007 18:07:04 GMT
What do you have in mind?
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Razor
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Today is tomorrow but not yet yesterday
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Post by Razor on May 30, 2007 3:24:37 GMT
That's a good pic Brenno, it's exactly what I wanted to see. You said you wanted to thicken the handle and I wanted to see how much room you have to work with, it look like you have more then enough room to work with.
What do I have in mind? Lets see. You might be able to wrap the the cord around the handle with out taking the existing leather off, but I would do a dry run with the cord with out any glue first.I would defiantly finish the handle with leather ,because your sword is too nice to have only a cord wrap around it.You could wrap the leather the same way as cs76cs and I both did ,which I would use a very thin piece of leather just like Albion does or you could use thinker piece of leather and stitch it, (I just finished making a sword belt and my next project is going to stitch leather around a wooded handle, I'm going to post both projects here on the forum .) and if you can grind off the triangles off the brass ring you might be able to use that as a riser.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on May 30, 2007 12:48:05 GMT
For better or worse i dived in. Check here for the results: /index.cgi?action=display&board=swordcustom&thread=1180548096
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