Scabbard to sword

[Titus Marius Secundus]

Salve,

I was wondering if there are any rules as to how wide or "big" a scabbard can be, as to the sword it belongs to? When I made my scabbard I made it with a 2 inch space for the blade, with about 1/4 of an inch to glue, maybe 3/8ths. I was wanting to play it safe, and at the time didn't have anyone to ask... Now I am self conscious about if it looks "bulky" or if any of you would think it's acceptable. Nobody has said anything, yet, just some pictures I see, I wonder, what wood is there there for the glue to hold together?! haha. Anyway, this is a first sword, so I wasn't expecting something spectacular, and really want to make another sword, one with bone handle, and a fully solid non laminated hilt as in planks glued together of mahogany. Maybe try maple wood next time So any opinions on the relation between the sword and scabbard would be helpful. Any criticism is welcome.

Sam

[Titus Marius Secundus]

the cam makes it look narrower :/

[Crispvs]

I made my scabbard around a quarter inch wider on either side than the blade. Around half of this was hollowed out to make the space inside the scabbard wide enough to withdraw the sword without it jamming (around an eighth of an inch clearance on either side of the blade) with the remainder left to form the outside edges. I glued my scabbard halves together with ordinary PVA and this was secure enough. The leather glued around it would also help to hold the scabbard together.
I should say here though that I tried to make my locket plate the same size as the one I was copying, which then dictated the width of the scabbard. As I already had the blade and needed it to fit within this width, it necessitated making the space either side of the blade very narrow as my blade is two inches wide (which is the maximum known width for Pompeii type blades). As most surviving Pompeii blades are narrower than this it suggests to me that scabbards would normally have been slightly more than a half inch wider overall than the blades within them.

The surest way to know the relative widths of swords and their scabbards is to check the widths of swords which survive both in good condition and with the remains of their own scabbards.

To my eyes though, yours looks fine width-wise.

This should really be in the re-enactment and reconstruction section by the way.

Crispvs