Grip Re-Wrap of my Windlass Oakeshott Type XIV Sword
Oct 27, 2015 17:53:14 GMT
Post by nddave on Oct 27, 2015 17:53:14 GMT
Hi Everybody,
So as most of you probably have read in the Review Board, I just acquired a Windlass Type XIV sword through trade with BennettSnipes for my Hanwei Mercenary. After giving it some new sword love and a review I decided it was time to give it a proper leather wrap. I also wanted to check out the contours of the handle underneath the wood and see just how much detail Windlass had worked on that upper ridge of the handle.
So for starters I snipped the thread stitching that held the original leather wrap to the handle. Wasn't too hard to remove as they used a very light application of adhesive and the stitching was loose (as mentioned in the review) and had a noticeable gap in the seam. Overall the handle was of nice shape and solid. The only issue I had with customization was that when Windlass wrapped the original the either tucked the leather inside the pommel and guard or pre-wrapped the handle before putting it on the hilt. I think it was the first guess because there are noticeable gaps between the guard and handle that the leather kind of fills up. If it was the second guess the leather would go around the whole of the handle but it doesn't really in some areas. The ridge isn't very pronounced and you can tell not a lot of work was done to create it. Since this handle is on the thicker side I decided to work it down a little and try and enhance the ridge. I didn't do too much but did get the contours a little more flush all around the handle, another thing I noticed after unwrapping the original leather.
After working the handle down I started applying the risers. I decided to not get too fancy with risers because as I learned with my Windlass European re-wrap, pretty isn't always comfortable. So I laid the risers very similar to how I did on the European. Boring maybe but it's comfortable and my personal preference.
After gluing the risers I cut a 5"x5" piece of brown leather from a strip I had and applied it with G02 Glue. The leather is a little more glossy than what I used on my other wraps and a little richer in color. Similar to what I used on the Roven re-wrap but not as dark. Followed my usual method of wrapping and after about four hours of work and an overnight set this is the finished product. I really like the new feel the handle shaping and new leather and risers has done. It feels like a new sword.
Thanks for reading, David
So as most of you probably have read in the Review Board, I just acquired a Windlass Type XIV sword through trade with BennettSnipes for my Hanwei Mercenary. After giving it some new sword love and a review I decided it was time to give it a proper leather wrap. I also wanted to check out the contours of the handle underneath the wood and see just how much detail Windlass had worked on that upper ridge of the handle.
So for starters I snipped the thread stitching that held the original leather wrap to the handle. Wasn't too hard to remove as they used a very light application of adhesive and the stitching was loose (as mentioned in the review) and had a noticeable gap in the seam. Overall the handle was of nice shape and solid. The only issue I had with customization was that when Windlass wrapped the original the either tucked the leather inside the pommel and guard or pre-wrapped the handle before putting it on the hilt. I think it was the first guess because there are noticeable gaps between the guard and handle that the leather kind of fills up. If it was the second guess the leather would go around the whole of the handle but it doesn't really in some areas. The ridge isn't very pronounced and you can tell not a lot of work was done to create it. Since this handle is on the thicker side I decided to work it down a little and try and enhance the ridge. I didn't do too much but did get the contours a little more flush all around the handle, another thing I noticed after unwrapping the original leather.
After working the handle down I started applying the risers. I decided to not get too fancy with risers because as I learned with my Windlass European re-wrap, pretty isn't always comfortable. So I laid the risers very similar to how I did on the European. Boring maybe but it's comfortable and my personal preference.
After gluing the risers I cut a 5"x5" piece of brown leather from a strip I had and applied it with G02 Glue. The leather is a little more glossy than what I used on my other wraps and a little richer in color. Similar to what I used on the Roven re-wrap but not as dark. Followed my usual method of wrapping and after about four hours of work and an overnight set this is the finished product. I really like the new feel the handle shaping and new leather and risers has done. It feels like a new sword.
Thanks for reading, David