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Post by Dan Davis on Feb 4, 2008 11:21:25 GMT
That sounds too easy Dan, is that the trick? I might try that, a few Qu's:
*What types of wood do you recommend? Wood needs to be low-acid, low-oil/wax, air dried and without obvious splits, cracks or checks. Otherwise you can use whatever you want. I use poplar (same as for shirasaya) when I am going to wrap a scabbard and whatever attractive hardwood I want when I am doing a natural wood scabbard. Sawmill Daren may be a better person to ask as he is far more expert at woods than I am. This only really works well with thin slats. 1/8 inch (3-4 mm) is about right, anything else and you start needing steam to warp it to shape. Dry it low and slow, otherwise you run the risk of warping the wood (with your blade in it). Again, Daren may have better answers than I do, but I typically dry it between 70-80F. I've never found it necessary; just use a lot of clamps and the wood will actually turn out and lay flat at the blade edge. This is also why I recommended pre-trimming the slats as close to the blade shape as you can reasonably guess; so you can get the clamps pretty close to the blade edge. I suppose so, but I prefer carpenter's glue. There's no rush to get this done and when you rush you screw up. It sucks to find out you got a big gob of glue into the scabbard and now your blade doesn't fit. Trust me on that one. I make my throats and chapes with a hammer and anvil
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Post by Dan Davis on Feb 4, 2008 11:25:19 GMT
Dan that sounds like fantastic advice! When I finally decide on what type of western sword I want I'll definitely put it to good use.
Do you find that the swelling of the wood and subsequent shrinkage makes the fit a bit loose or does it dry nice and snugly?
Cheers I find that the wood dries and tightens up a bit but I have never been able to get one so tight it doesn't fit. Also, when you remove the layers of plastic wrap and wax from the blade it gives you a bit of extra room. The first few times you sheath the blade you can put in a good coat of paste wax and it will work out fine.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2008 1:49:05 GMT
2 questions
I'm not quite an amateur with regard to wood types soooo
My local home depot and lowe's only has one kind of wood at 1/8 size and that is Lauan. Will this work or does it error in acidic or oils?
Next... does anyone know where one can order scabbard furniture...such as tips?
Christian
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2008 2:42:47 GMT
2 questions I'm not quite an amateur with regard to wood types soooo My local home depot and lowe's only has one kind of wood at 1/8 size and that is Lauan. Will this work or does it error in acidic or oils? Next... does anyone know where one can order scabbard furniture...such as tips? Christian Never heard of Lauan. I'd think you'd be able to find poplar SOMEWHERE... If not, California is just wierd. Furniture is hard to find. There's a website or two that carry Viking-style castings, but that's it as far as stock stuff. Your best bet is Albion-swords.com. They have a "moat-sale", selling off old parts and blades they no longer keep in stock. I've purchased several chapes, but they don't sell lockets(which aren't as common on pre-1600 swords as MRL would make you think...)
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slav
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Post by slav on Mar 11, 2008 2:55:51 GMT
2 questions I'm not quite an amateur with regard to wood types soooo My local home depot and lowe's only has one kind of wood at 1/8 size and that is Lauan. Will this work or does it error in acidic or oils? Next... does anyone know where one can order scabbard furniture...such as tips? Christian Never heard of Lauan. I'd think you'd be able to find poplar SOMEWHERE... If not, California is just wierd. Furniture is hard to find. There's a website or two that carry Viking-style castings, but that's it as far as stock stuff. Your best bet is Albion-swords.com. They have a "moat-sale", selling off old parts and blades they no longer keep in stock. I've purchased several chapes, but they don't sell lockets(which aren't as common on pre-1600 swords as MRL would make you think...) Lauan is a cheap, low-quality wood that is commonly used in thin plywood flooring. Stay away from the stuff for any purpose other than...well...flooring .
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Post by oos3thoo on Mar 11, 2008 3:20:23 GMT
How would maple work for this?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2008 3:42:34 GMT
I hear Maple is good, but might be pretty hard to work. Walnut works really well with a chisel and a file and has a nice color.. I had said something before about a chisel being hard to use for this.. inexperience. Second one was easy. Woodcraft, has all kinds of nice woods, and stores all over the US. Their tools etc. are a bit expensive, so I'd still hit a hardware store for your other supplies www.woodcraft.com/stores/You can order online from them but you're limited to certain plank sizes . If there is a store close to you they will cut to order, though they may not have everything in stock. The big thing is they will rip it down for you in store, so you can get the thickness you want. Depending on where you live, check some of the lumber places in the phonebook too, you might be suprised at what they have in stock.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2008 22:36:51 GMT
cut your wood slats to approximately the size of your blade |
When making this cut am I giving about 1/4" allowance around the edge of the blade in order to be able to 'wrap' around it? Or is more required? soak your wood in the bathtub in HOT water until it is flexible |
Just because of not knowing what I'm expecting to look at the first time... roughly how long are we talking here with 1/4" oak wood...hours...days? I really appreciate those with experience in these things sharing your knowledge with us newbies. Thank you, Christian
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2008 9:48:34 GMT
I've never done a sword scabbard but here is one I am working on for my wife's bowie. I used a piece of wood from our firewood pile because I wanted it to be something from our local, also spruce is a pretty stable and lightweight wood. Spruce is also incredibly soft which is why you see the bloodwood drag in the next picture. I made my own pieces of wood with the hand saw (ripping wood is NOT the funnest part of the project). You can see I was using a Stanley chisel, and exacto knife with several different blades. It sounds from what some folks here are saying that the technique I am using may not be appropriate for swords just like a threaded tang is great for knives but not swords. For the final part of the fitting I used a candle to apply soot to the blade so I could see the high points in the wood that needed to be taken down, it is better if you have it to use inletting black since that way you avoid the risk of overheating your blade. There will be a 1" circle of walrus ivory (eventually scrimed with a sea bird flying over the ocean) mounted in a silver bezel in the center of the scabbard where the small shield is drawn and the top will be wrapped in leather. Sorry about the image quality it is a digital photo of an old picture. That's the first scabbard I did, about 200 hours in it between carving and learning how to cast silver. Hope there was something useful in there, if not hope you enjoyed the photos. Josh
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