Scabbards

My dear friend (and blacksmith) Jesper ocationally get to make som swords for his clients. He is very good at smithing, but not quite as good at working with leather. Therefore I make the scabbards for the swords that he makes.
Actually he makes the sword AND the wooden core for the scabbard and i dress it up in leather.

So far I have made two scabbards for him. Both for early medieval swords. The design is made after the instructions drawn out by Peter Jonhson (See this thread on "My armoury" for details).

It is a pretty straight forward design and one that I have really enjoyed working with. I really like all this "braiding and weaving" og the leather.



This is the most reasent one (Just finished it today) the one in the picture below was made in august this year.
I am really pleased with both of them!





The belt is divided in to two thongs and wrapped around the scabbard. On the back it passes through it self before it goes around the front again.

The two thongs pass under both the belt and the covering on the scabbard. This Is the most tricky part of the whole process because you have to hold the slit open and press the thong through at the same time. And you have to hit the slit on the other side as well.

Also the slits have to be as small as possible, so the thong will stay in place afterwards. If the slits are to bit the thong will come loose.

Also notice that i thinned down the thongs. This gives a bit more room to work with.





The end is folded up under the covering to give a nice round end.
It could also be fitted with a chape to reduce wear on the end, but unfortunately I don't possess the skills to make one.



And here is a closer look at the upper portion.

BTW: The red fabric in the background was the fabric that I dyed at our stay at Spøttrup. I will make it in to a new doublet later.