Gladi Bone Grips

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Paul,

Then have you tried your local Satanist group? Obviously, they have been getting them from somewhere. :lol:

Edge

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LOL Maybe thats why I cannot find any at Petsmart! I think I will make another trip in a week or so to see if they stocked back up.

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Pavlvs,
Next time I go to PetsMart I'll check it out and send you a couple.
Sometimes the selection isn't good enough for gladii but the dogs don't seem to care.

[Crispvs]

As Cesar says, for the grip you need to use the cannon bone. However, it needs to be a very thin one. I got mine by buying cows' feet at the butchers, not having been able to find them in either of my local pet supply shops. I bought five feet and of these, the cannon bones in four proved too big but on one it was just the right size. If you are working on a cannon bone for a grip, you should cut it about quarter to half an inch below the blood vessel hole at the top end (opposite to the end which divides into four lugs). Cut it again about four inches further down and then shorten it to the right length at the end which has either the thinnest bone or the largest internal aperture, in order to make the best use of your bone. As a suggestion if you first get a bone which is too big, do what I did and cut it in half lengthways so you can see where the bone is thickest and the aperture smallest in order to inform your decision on where to cut bones for grips.

Incidentally, some cannon bones are large enough and thick enough to be used as guards, which is what I did with one of the larger bones I had. To complete the handle assemblage, I got part of a cow's femur from a pet shop, cleaned out the pet food from within it and gave it to the cat, and having selected the best part, cut it to a thick walled cylinder about two inches high. I then got a shank bone from the butcher's shop and cut it lengthwise in order to remove the flat side. I divided this flat piece into four and cut away the two outer divisions, leaving me with the best bone for the caps for the top and bottom of the pommel. The remainder of the flat plate was cut into two equal pieces and these were cut and filed to a circular shape to match the top and bottom of the cylinder from the femur. In order to prevent movement in the pommel I also shaped a piece of rowan wood (the choice of wood was made according to which tree in the garden I had most recently pruned) to fit exactly within the aperture of the cylinder. That done, I glued the circular pieces from the shank onto either end of the cylinder (and the wood inside) and having let them set, filed and sanded the pommel smooth. I then drilled the pommel and widened the hole to accomodate the sword tang. The guard was also slotted for the tang and the grip was tightened on the tang by inserting a thin piece of oak (offcuts from another project) into it either side of the tang. The holes in either end of the guard were plugged with pieces of offcut bone which were then filed to a smooth finish.

As I have yet to do the final assembly (I plan on making the brass nut tonight) I cannot post a picture yet but hopefully I will be able to in the next week or two.

Crispvs

[Crispvs]

It occurs to me to say here that if your local butcher does not sell cow's feet and you cannot get cannon bones as your local pet supplies shop, go somewhere with a reasonably sized Caribbean population. Most of the Jamaicans I know have a fondness for cow's foot soup and it may be that butchers in those areas will sell feet.
Regarding the looney comments, I have had to answer very few questions when buying bones from butchers which still had meat on them. They often offer to cut the bone up for me with the bandsaw but I politely refuse and tell them I will cut the meat off the bone myself. Alternatively, if it is a Caribbean butcher I simply tell them my father in law likes cow's foot soup. If I can't be bothered spending several hours boiling and scraping bones I just give them to my father in law and he uses them to make soup and gives me back the finished bones (although this does tend to leave them somewhat stained).

When it comes to shaping the bone for the grip, Matthew Amt's Legio XX site has some good tips to offer. I wish I had looked at that page on the site before I made my grip.

Crispvs