04-12-2007, 01:25 PM
Avete,
I recently bought an Albion pompeii-type gladius, the Pedite, and as a result was in need of a scabbard. While I will probably make one from scratch as my skills improve, I realized that I already owned a pompeii scabbard, from the 1171 Pompeii Gladius pictured below. This is a pretty popular seller here in the US as a good, off-the-shelf gladius.
I paid $85 for it, complete, and figured that if the conversion did not come out well, then I did not waste too much money.
Here is what I did:
1) Disassembly.
The scabbard hardware is glued onto the leather of the scabbard. The rivets on the guard hold the guard together, but do not go through the scabbard body. So, with a little tugging and some judicious work with an X-acto knife, I was able to remove the chape and guard. The palmette near the base of the scabbard is attached with small brass nails, which I removed.
The leather was glued onto the wooden body. I slit the row of stitching down the back and simply pulled until it came off.
I discarded the original baldric.
At this point I had all the parts separated and it was time to start the conversion.
2) Woodwork on the Scabbard Body.
The body of the scabbard was both too long and too wide for the Albion gladius, which is about 1/2" (13mm) narrower and 1.25" (30mm) shorter than the original gladius. It also had a couple of serious termite holes. The scabbard also had a great deal of glue and leather residue stuck to it.
Step 1 to shorten the scabbard by approx 1.25" (30mm) with a small handsaw.
Step 2 was to sand the scabbard smooth, initially with coarse grit and then finer grit sandpaper.
Step 3 was to narrow the scabbard, which I did by cutting two strips of basswood, approx 1/4" (6mm) wide and 1/8" (3mm) thick that were long enough to reach from the scabbard throat to the beginning of the bend at the chape. I then trimmed off one edge of each piece into a "V" shape to match the inner contour of the scabbard body. Once they were shaped to fit and tested to fit correctly with the gladius inserted, I put some glue on the "V" shaped edge and used a ruler to put them in place inside each edge of the scabbard. At this point, the Albion gladius was a nice, snug fit inside its new home.
Step 4 was to fix the termite holes, which I did with wood filler from the hardware store. I mixed it up, slapped it on, and then sanded it smooth. I also used this opportunity to fix some cracks in the scabbard, especially near the throat.
The wood work is now complete, and it was time to move onto the leather work.
3) Replacing the leather.
One of my intentions going into the project was that I HAD to replace the leather. Once I removed it, I could see that it had been painted rather poorly, and I wanted to dye the leather instead.
Step 1 was to make a template for its replacement. After I removed the leather I could see that it had been stretched over the scabbard, but it was not impossible to figure out how to form the replacement. To do this, I pinned the old cover to my worktable, and then measured where I could determine original dimensions. Length was no problem, and width all the way down to the bend at the chape was constant, about 4.5" (11.3cm). At this point, the leather was curved, with dimensions that gradually decreased to 1.5" (38mm). I measured across the curve at 4 points, and then transferred all of these dimensions onto a cardboard form. (I have a copy for those who might be interested.)
Step 2 was to cut the leather, using the form as a guide. I traced around the edges of my form onto some nice, thin, smooth goatskin. I then cut out the new leather cover.
Step 3 was to punch the holes for the leather stitching, which I did using a leather chisel about 1mm in width. I made the holes approx 6mm apart.
Step 4 was to stitch up the new leather cover with waxed linen thread, from the bottom to the top. The original stitching was done so that the edges of the leather butted together, but I made mine tighter due to the next step.
Step 5 was to attach the leather to the scabbard body. To do this, I thoroughly wet the leather, and then I added some Sno-Seal (emulsified beeswax) to the lower "shoulders" of the wooden body. I used Sno-Seal because I had it handy, but any lubricant like Vaseline, etc, will work. This overcomes the resistance of the wood to the goatskin. With some tugging and squeezing, I got the leather to fit over the wooden body like a second skin. The only part that did not turn out perfectly was that my line of stitching in the back was not "straight" -- it wandered off-center. But, I figured "it's the back, so who cares."
At this point, I had a nice, tight leather cover on my wooden scabbard, which I let dry in a warm room.
4) Finishing the leather. I finished the leather with mahogany leather dye, applying coats until I was satisfied with the result. Once it dried, I sealed it with Sno-Seal, which is emulsified beeswax, using a hand dryer (I actually used a heat gun) to ensure that the leather absorbed a lot of the wax). I finished it by buffing with a soft cloth until I had a nice, rich glow.
5) Replacing the hardware.
Step 1 was to replace the chape, which I did with a little rubber cement.
Step 2 was to replace the guard, again with a little rubber cement.
Step 3 was the palmette. My good friend, Alex Kyrychenko (aka Marcus Curius Alexander :wink: ) did some work on this for me with a file and needle nosed pliers to improve its shape. When I removed the original nails, one of them broke, so I made a replacement from a brass escutcheon pin that I cut to length (about 4mm) and sharpened on a grinding wheel. I positioned the palmette where I wanted it and tapped in the nails, careful to avoid hitting the leather.
At this point, the scabbard itself is complete, and I decided to make a baldric for it to match. I started with a strip of leather, approx 1.3m (50") long and .5" (13mm) wide. I trimmed and beveled the edges, and then dyed it as above for the scabbard. I formed hinges for the attachments from sheet brass, and made a small buckle from brass wire. I riveted the hardware together with copper rivets.
Now, I am done, and am very happy with the new scabbard I have for my pompeii gladius from Albion.
Hope that this helps some of you that were thinking about re-doing the leather on your scabbards.
Below are the before (at bottom) and after photos.
Regards,
Edge
I recently bought an Albion pompeii-type gladius, the Pedite, and as a result was in need of a scabbard. While I will probably make one from scratch as my skills improve, I realized that I already owned a pompeii scabbard, from the 1171 Pompeii Gladius pictured below. This is a pretty popular seller here in the US as a good, off-the-shelf gladius.
I paid $85 for it, complete, and figured that if the conversion did not come out well, then I did not waste too much money.
Here is what I did:
1) Disassembly.
The scabbard hardware is glued onto the leather of the scabbard. The rivets on the guard hold the guard together, but do not go through the scabbard body. So, with a little tugging and some judicious work with an X-acto knife, I was able to remove the chape and guard. The palmette near the base of the scabbard is attached with small brass nails, which I removed.
The leather was glued onto the wooden body. I slit the row of stitching down the back and simply pulled until it came off.
I discarded the original baldric.
At this point I had all the parts separated and it was time to start the conversion.
2) Woodwork on the Scabbard Body.
The body of the scabbard was both too long and too wide for the Albion gladius, which is about 1/2" (13mm) narrower and 1.25" (30mm) shorter than the original gladius. It also had a couple of serious termite holes. The scabbard also had a great deal of glue and leather residue stuck to it.
Step 1 to shorten the scabbard by approx 1.25" (30mm) with a small handsaw.
Step 2 was to sand the scabbard smooth, initially with coarse grit and then finer grit sandpaper.
Step 3 was to narrow the scabbard, which I did by cutting two strips of basswood, approx 1/4" (6mm) wide and 1/8" (3mm) thick that were long enough to reach from the scabbard throat to the beginning of the bend at the chape. I then trimmed off one edge of each piece into a "V" shape to match the inner contour of the scabbard body. Once they were shaped to fit and tested to fit correctly with the gladius inserted, I put some glue on the "V" shaped edge and used a ruler to put them in place inside each edge of the scabbard. At this point, the Albion gladius was a nice, snug fit inside its new home.
Step 4 was to fix the termite holes, which I did with wood filler from the hardware store. I mixed it up, slapped it on, and then sanded it smooth. I also used this opportunity to fix some cracks in the scabbard, especially near the throat.
The wood work is now complete, and it was time to move onto the leather work.
3) Replacing the leather.
One of my intentions going into the project was that I HAD to replace the leather. Once I removed it, I could see that it had been painted rather poorly, and I wanted to dye the leather instead.
Step 1 was to make a template for its replacement. After I removed the leather I could see that it had been stretched over the scabbard, but it was not impossible to figure out how to form the replacement. To do this, I pinned the old cover to my worktable, and then measured where I could determine original dimensions. Length was no problem, and width all the way down to the bend at the chape was constant, about 4.5" (11.3cm). At this point, the leather was curved, with dimensions that gradually decreased to 1.5" (38mm). I measured across the curve at 4 points, and then transferred all of these dimensions onto a cardboard form. (I have a copy for those who might be interested.)
Step 2 was to cut the leather, using the form as a guide. I traced around the edges of my form onto some nice, thin, smooth goatskin. I then cut out the new leather cover.
Step 3 was to punch the holes for the leather stitching, which I did using a leather chisel about 1mm in width. I made the holes approx 6mm apart.
Step 4 was to stitch up the new leather cover with waxed linen thread, from the bottom to the top. The original stitching was done so that the edges of the leather butted together, but I made mine tighter due to the next step.
Step 5 was to attach the leather to the scabbard body. To do this, I thoroughly wet the leather, and then I added some Sno-Seal (emulsified beeswax) to the lower "shoulders" of the wooden body. I used Sno-Seal because I had it handy, but any lubricant like Vaseline, etc, will work. This overcomes the resistance of the wood to the goatskin. With some tugging and squeezing, I got the leather to fit over the wooden body like a second skin. The only part that did not turn out perfectly was that my line of stitching in the back was not "straight" -- it wandered off-center. But, I figured "it's the back, so who cares."
At this point, I had a nice, tight leather cover on my wooden scabbard, which I let dry in a warm room.
4) Finishing the leather. I finished the leather with mahogany leather dye, applying coats until I was satisfied with the result. Once it dried, I sealed it with Sno-Seal, which is emulsified beeswax, using a hand dryer (I actually used a heat gun) to ensure that the leather absorbed a lot of the wax). I finished it by buffing with a soft cloth until I had a nice, rich glow.
5) Replacing the hardware.
Step 1 was to replace the chape, which I did with a little rubber cement.
Step 2 was to replace the guard, again with a little rubber cement.
Step 3 was the palmette. My good friend, Alex Kyrychenko (aka Marcus Curius Alexander :wink: ) did some work on this for me with a file and needle nosed pliers to improve its shape. When I removed the original nails, one of them broke, so I made a replacement from a brass escutcheon pin that I cut to length (about 4mm) and sharpened on a grinding wheel. I positioned the palmette where I wanted it and tapped in the nails, careful to avoid hitting the leather.
At this point, the scabbard itself is complete, and I decided to make a baldric for it to match. I started with a strip of leather, approx 1.3m (50") long and .5" (13mm) wide. I trimmed and beveled the edges, and then dyed it as above for the scabbard. I formed hinges for the attachments from sheet brass, and made a small buckle from brass wire. I riveted the hardware together with copper rivets.
Now, I am done, and am very happy with the new scabbard I have for my pompeii gladius from Albion.
Hope that this helps some of you that were thinking about re-doing the leather on your scabbards.
Below are the before (at bottom) and after photos.
Regards,
Edge