DIY scabbard woodcore, need suggestions for tools&equipment

Hello, 

First of all, welcome to the niche world of scabbard making! First of all, I need to congratulate you with taking the first steps. There are many ways to make your own scabbards, and I started the same way, with wooden planks. There is a number of methods and I'll just quickly outline them here and then you can see what suits you best (conscious you already bought wood so you might want to try it this way, but having alternatives is always good). 

Wooden planks method:
To be honest, you have listed most of the required tools. The only thing I would suggest is getting a different type of felt. Those square sheets are okay but require a lot of cutting and fitting. There is always a risk of there being a tiny gap between two pieces of felt along the middle of the core and if one of the edges lifts just a little, your sword may get caught in it, ruining the lining. I have found that getting felt tape works wonders. It is the type that is usually used to remove squeaking in cars. The one I buy is wide enough to cover the width of most blades and I just apply it in the length of the inner core without any gaps. It was a huge game changer for me: link

If you are quite handy with a chisel, this method is pretty good. My gripes with it is that I am not good with a chisel and poplar is difficult to get in the UK. So it tends to result in a loose fitting blade. Also I find that scabbards made like this tend to be a bit "Hollywood bulky", unless to put in a lot of elbow grease and stack dust like a madman.

Should you decide to got for this method, I'd strongly recommend you watch these videos from Matt's Great Hall: 



Veneer method:
This is my favoured method as I find it a lot easier and better. It comes from Peter Johnsson, who explains it a lot better than me here (link and link). Basically, you would need to get thin (0.8mm) plywood sheets (I use birch) that are commonly used for model airplane construction. I get mine in an online hobby store. The key is to find a supplier that makes sheets that are long enough (mine are 1200mm).  

Peter explains it really well but the bottom line is that sheets of plywood are cut to size and layers are glued onto each other on each side of the blade and then everything is clamped together until the glue cures so that you are left with two sides of the scabbard that are perfectly fitted to your blade. Then you add thin spacers on the sides to make for a better fit and glue both sides together. You can then wrap the core in linen to make it stronger, but that's not 100% necessary. Here is a schematic that Peter made that explains the process really well. The only thing Id' add is that you don't necessarily need 3 sheets on each side. I found that 2 sheets are enough. 



The advantages of this method is that barely any tools are required (utility knife to cut the sheets to size, wood glue, clamps (a lot of them), a file and sandpaper for the finish) and the result is a lot thiner and lighter. I can't recommend this build enough, it really changed the way I do things. Also it is a lot faster to make a core. To make a core for a longsword I pretty much need only three days and that's just because I let to glue dry for 20 hours in between steps. But in terms of actual working time, I would take me about 5 hours at most. 

One last piece of advice that is valid for both methods: be very careful with glue. Make sure it doesn't come into contact with the blade because it will oxidise it. I now use hide glue to assemble both sides of the core and use a little as possible, making sure it doesn't get squeezed into the core. Same goes for the felt lining. That's why I use the tape. It is a lot more adhesive than the sheets and doesn't require any touch ups with glue. 

I hope this help. Should you ever decide to try your hand at the leather work, I would say that the abovementioned resources are a good place to start. Leatherwork may sound a bit daunting, but I personally didn't find it as hard after the first two attempts. And I find it very fun. 

I tried the veneer method several times now, and there are some issues I had before I got any passable result:

- Peter Johnsson mentions he uses 0.4 - 0.8 mm model airplane birch plywood. I bought 0.8 mm plywood, but I find it very strong and hard to bend - but this was with quite thick XV and XVIII blades. Maybe Peter Johnsson uses stronger clamps than I do, but I found that with this veneer I need an extra step if I'm making a scabbard for a blade that isn't very thin - I soak the cut plywood sheets in hot water for about an hour, pour very hot water over them just before forming, and then I form them over the blade without glue. I label the sheets so I know their sequence (1, 2, 3 top and bottom) and press them over the blade (which is covered with Rennaisance wax and thin cling film) - I put closed cell foam strips over the veneer, use wooden boards, and then use the strong bar clamps, and leave the setup for a day. It's quite fiddly to center everything, I check thoroughly before I tighten the clamps!

- I then proceed and glue the three veneer sheets on one and three on other side together with some old school wood glue that doesn't dry too quickly, newer Titebonds set way too quickly to spread it over at least 4 surfaces thoroughly. I then clamp the glued slats over the cling film protected blade again and leave for a day. The next day I glue the thin spacer, and I just use the contact glue - I find any wood glue quite corrosive to steel and hard to apply so that it isn't squeezed inwards when clamping the slats.

It's fiddly, but it beats routing and chiseling for me, and it really produces thin, light, resilient and strong scabbard core, especially after you glue a layer of thin linen and layer of leather over it.

Thank you for the comments and suggestions, since it sounds a lot easier I will try the veneer method. I ordered the 0.8mm birch plywood sheets from the hobby store. I also bought the felt pads you suggested. Fingers crossed. I will try the veneer method by myself this Sunday and Monday and see if we can carve one with my father in law when he is here.

Good luck and do share the results! 

erichofprovence

Can you please suggest me a linen fabric that I can buy from amazon.com please? I~m confused with too many choices.
Also do you seal the exterior of the wood with a stain 1st then glue the linen tightly like if it was leather covering the surface? One layer or more layers wrapping it around the scabbard?
Thanks

I actually buy the linen fabric from a local shop, but the option given below looks good. At least where I live there is a number of sewing shops that sell fabric by the meter. 

Regarding the wrapping, no I don't stain the wood. I just glue the linen onto the core with hide glue. Once it dries it will create a hard shell around the core, thus reinforcing it. One layer is more than enough. I wrap the core with the seem long the length (like you would with the leather) and avoid overlap. You can also try to wrap it like you would a mummy, but I find it difficult to avoid overlap in this way). 

@ erichofprovence
@ Greg E

Thank you guys. I`m super excited.

I personally do not soak the plywood. Apparently, some plywood are too rigid and require soaking but I have never needed to do this. 
What I do is:
I cut 4/6 layers to shape (depending on whether I want a thinner or a sturdier scabbard - I find 2 layers on each side is enough). 
I then number the layers from 1 to 2 (or 3) on each side with 1 being the interior layer. 
I apply the felt tape (cut to the shape of the blade) on the layers 1. 
Then I apply wood glue (thin layer) on layer 1 glue layer 2 on it (and them layer 3 on layer 2 if you use three layers). 
Then while the glue is still fresh, you clamp both sides around the blade, making sure that the blade is centred. This can be tricky to master. For me the trick is to get the point of the blade centred and fixed with the clamps and then clamp the part closest to the crossguard. Then I clamp the rest (clamps to be squeezing the edges of the scabbard). It requires a lot of clamps (ideally over the whole length of the scabbard)and can be frustrating when the clamps jump off... If you run out of clamps, you can space them strategically and in the gaps use some cord to pinch the edges in place. 

Basically the shape is creates by the pressure of the clamps and the glue drying with the wood is the right shape.

I'll have a look if I can find some WIP photos on my phone.