What I Learned From Trying to Make Sword Scabbards 

Since I just typed a long reply to a guy accusing me of "fanboy bullshit", might as well pin it since you might find specific examples helpful. These are mostly high-end sword makers, with a few mid-range examples as well: Lockwood Type XVI longsword without scabbard - $1150 Lockwood Type XVI longsword with scabbard - $1700 Castle Keep sword without scabbard - £1100 and up Castle Keep sword with scabbard - £1950 and up Longship Armoury swords - no scabbard included Angus Trim swords - no scabbard included Arms & Armor - no scabbard included (with a few exceptions) Baltimore Knife & Sword - no scabbard included Del Tin - no scabbard included Lukas Maestle-Goer - no scabbard included, unless purchased with the sword Valiant Armoury does offers swords with scabbard for around $1200-1300. However, although I like their swords and have nothing bad to say about their quality, they do not reach the standards of $1200-1300 swords from Albion or Lockwood. They're great but I can still tell the difference. And here is a price estimate from the website of Fable Blades: "Swords: As a ballpark guide most of my swords range between $4,000 and $8,000 USD (6-12K Au$) before adding scabbard work, which usually ranges from $1,000 to $5000 USD, depending on inclusions." Whether you realize it or not, you do pay extra for a scabbard. If it's included in a moderate price, that tells you that corners were cut somewhere compared to a sword for the same price that does not come with a scabbard. This does not mean that budget or mid-range swords at affordable prices that come with scabbards can't be good. Of course there is good quality in that category. But can it live up to high end stuff? Of course not. Long story short, if you want a scabbard with an Albion sword, be prepared to add about $500 to the price.

King Arthur: “Does my new sword come with a free scabbard?” Merlin: “Your new scabbard comes with a free sword.”

And this folks is why Tod of Tod's Workshop charges so much for a scabbard

This reminds me of the story about a kid who gets caught trying to steal a vest from a tailor store. When asked why he stole it the kid says that he couldnt afford it and that the vest couldn't be worth the price it was being sold for. So the tailor decides to make the kid create an exact duplicat of the vest he tried to steal so the kid can learn, stitch by stitch, why the vest was as expensive as it was. Sometimes you just can't understand the complexity and value of something until you try to make it yourself.

Leaving in mistakes and showing failures is one of the main things that makes Adam Savage's build videos so good, it's important to show the failures or else anyone who tries to get into making for themselves is going to get disheartened and give up at the first major failure instead of iterating and adapting their designs.

I never knew it was so hard to find suitable things other than people to stick swords in

As someone who makes furniture for a living, I can tell you that it is a good idea to make sure the wood is dried well before processing it. Take for instance a piece of Oak fresh off the tree and dry it completely and it will contract about 12,2%

The one dislike is the guy who tried to make a scabbard, failed, and refuses to admit it.

The working of the wood is this extreme because you use pine. Generally, scabbards tend to be made out of a hardwood or wood that has a tight grain. But never use oak tho, the acidity of the wood will mess up the blade. If I remember correctly, the scabbards of Japanese swords were made of magnolia wood, for it's hardness and lack of sap, but I could be wrong on that one. Most woodglues are quite acidic as well(construction foam not included)so I recommend just making a starch based glue out of rice or flower. However you will need to apply lacquer because water will dissolve it. Alternatively, if you can find a glue that isn't acidic and works with wood, that would be the best. Anyway, great video.

Knifemaker here. I sheaths are harder to get perfect than knives. If made from leather. Say from a brand like Bark River often the sheath costs more than the knife it comes with.

I've made several scabbard for myself and have had requests to make them for other people. I average one failed blank to each success. Getting the fit right is very tricky and what seems to fit when clamped fails when glued. I carve mine out btw. I found a looser fit at test clamp tightens up when glued and tightens further when the leather is wet formed, glued and sewn on and its just really tricky to get right. I've also changed recently to using hide glue rather than PVA wood glue. PVA is uncorrectable but hide glue can be heated to unstick and fix mistakes. I think this will make a huge difference in my attrition rate. Lining the inside seems to give a bit of wiggle room too for fit errors as the squish in the lining gives a titch of leeway but still holds snug to the blade

The reason behind a scabard being "loose" is to allow for the expansion, contraction, and possible warping of the wood core. Having a "low profile" tight scabard is a recipe for blade binding.

The "too tight" -joke becomes a lot better if you know, that the German word for scabbard is "scheide" whuch is also the German word for vagina

I have no issue with a scabbard being sold separately... as long as one is available to fit that blade. When I do take issue is when there is no scabbard available at all. Just finding a sheath or scabbard to fit a blade purchased elsewhere can be a nightmare in itself. Bladesmiths need to make an appropriate scabbard available, even if it is a separate purchase. Thanks Skall :) Adventure on my friend, Phat

I've made a few scabbards and didn't have any of the difficulties you had. If you want the sword to fit, don't try to use the wood itself to do that: that's the liner's job. Just get some nice floofy wool in there -- a little at the bottom to prevent klanking and a little at the top to get a nice secure fit. With that, leather wrapping isn't a problem at all. The scabbard will contract, but the liner will take up the slack. It'll also be a suitable barrier to any wood glue, at least for a short time (they always say not to store swords in scabbards!) The main problems I had were 1) some leather dyes are not great. They are, in fact, hot garbage. Finding this out on a completed scabbard is irritating 2) putting in any intricate detailing on on/under the leather requires a level of artistic ability that is beyond me. Plus if you want ridges or spines, you pretty much have to abandon the wrap method and switch to gluing the leather to the scabbard, otherwise you won't get the definition you're likely looking for.

I did make a scabbard once, it was crappy looking but it worked, I have a ton of respect for those that make them professionally

Archeologists are gonna think you're a warlord with all these swords in your house.

FWIW I appreciate you sharing your "failures" like this, as I find I often learn a lot from it. I think too often people are afraid to show when something doesn't go quite right because it makes them look like they're not an expert, but the thing is, sharing the mistakes can help other people learn about them without making them themselves.

what do you get when you mix a machinist and a carpenter? cabinets that only open in winter.

A turtle approved scabbards

When you make something like this, use a wood that is not hygroscopic (like European cedar), or that was thermal treated. Those woods wont swell, when they get wet and they wont shrink, when they dry out.

My takeaway: Make it out of plastic, and lie to your friends when they ask what type of wood it is.

its a tropical Scabbard only works in humid conditions

This is relevant for me as I was thinking about trying to make my own scabbard for the Soldat when it comes in...

I think sometimes making the scabbard is more important, intricate and difficult than the sword itself. Think about it. Quality, function and appearance wise you want it to be the swords equal. What good is a sword without a functioning scabbard? They are complementary to each other.

Those failed project will pretty much serve as experience for the next ones.

A "moist" working area is a nono when it comes to woodworking of this type. The shrinking, as you noticed, wil bite you in the.... well pommel. Work the wood (yes i said it) in the same humidity that you plan to use it in, at least what you will store it in.

Seeing mistakes and getting the info on why etc is honestly probably more use than showing a perfect workflow.

As the little green master ones said , ''The greatest teacher, failure is'' .

Getting such leather is actually quite easy - either go to the next cobbler (there are still many around in most countries) or order it online. I have so far made a few sheaths for knives for friends and family. The first 2 were too tight with no extra layers so the knife cut through the thread quickly. next was with an inlay of wood and then followed by 3-layer leather. Didn't take that long to learn how to get it to fit and now i can reliably make a sheath just from 2 layers of leather that also hold the knife snuggly. So it is not that hard to make a basic sheath. A Sword scabbard is on my project list and despite that just being a hobby and with very little space, equipment or experience i am confident that with ~150$ in total i can make a decent fitting one that will last for many years of use. With some time and practice, like 4-5 scabbards, i think i could get it to the point were i could sell them and the cost (without work time) would be like 50$. Not sure how long it would take to make one. The stitching takes forever. And for wood-working: You should have the wood either be dried to the correct level and then quickly use it (quite hard if you do not do that professionally) or let it acclimate in the climate/room it is going to be used.

PVA wood glue has water based solvent so carbon steel blade in scabbard while it dries will cause rusting. You could make a loose scabbard and epoxy some rare magnets inside and the sword won't rattle or fall out.

Yeah, this us super important. An hour of a US, UK or CA based craftman will run you at least 15bucks on the CHEAPEST side. Lets say the scabard only takes 5 hours to produce... then thats about 75 usd in time ALONE. Add materials, and other inherent costs and you already have 100-120 bucks. But craftmans usually charge much more for their time, 20, 30, 40, 50 usd an hour (remember, they are trained specialized workers) So lets say 25 usd an hour * some 5 hours of work, thats 125 in time alone. Add some materials and so on... 170-190 usd. Now, in india a DAY's work is on average 5usd. So lets say the craftman charges even more... 7 usd a day... or around less than 1 usd an hour. Maybe around 70 cents an hour. So, with some materials and a day's work, a scabbard is maybe 20-30 bucks. Oh, materials are also cheaper, so even less money.

A good trick, which I also saw Shad use, is to make the scabbard a little bigger and then line with felt or fabric to eliminate the rattle.

Too tight, high moisture levels and tearing the leather off... Yes Skall...

THIS video is exactly the type of useful info I love from Skall.

Love how you break this stuff down, very reasonable and fair!

I recommend using PVC and a heat gun to make the core of the scabbard from their trim away the excess and cover with leather.

3:55 I got genuinely excited to see a sword that I own lol

Very educational. And yes, sitting down to craft the most basic looking thing often reveals how not so basic it really is.

For me this was actually the most interesting and useful of recent videos :D. Thanks Skall!

"At this price, the food should come with packaging to keep it fresh longer"

"...left a sword in there overnight and it immediately rust despite being oiled..." Welcome to South East Texas Skall

Love the warts and all approach this channel has taken since the beginning. Never change, Skall.

I love these sorts of videos. It makes it easier for amateurs like me to learn

Novice collectors and non-craftsmen: "Scabbards are incredibly easy to make, just carve out some wood and there you go!" People who actually made scabbards: "You have no idea how incorrect that is."

"there is such a thing as too tight" like a pommel, it must fit rightly.

I miss your workshop so much. It was so fun watching you build things, and seeing your prototypes and improvements over time.

I'm thankful for you putting this out here.

I have made wooden scabbards before, and never had this contraction issue. A thing that may solve it is 1: leaving the wood in a dry place for a few weeks to cure and 2: making the scabbards have more room than the sword, forming the scabbard around a wooden insert in the shape of the sword. I personally used the medieval chiseling method for making scabbards, and live in a place where there usually is between 90 and 99% humidity, and never had any issues.

I always found it ironic that with so many British sword makers the one called Albion is from the US.

Love that you are not afraid to show your errors. I stream my knifemaking and i make lots of misstakes lol. Like the man says, there is more to learn from failure then there is from succes

We learn something new everyday. Keep up the great work and Thank You for all that you do.

Scabbrds were and are difficult to make well. My dad was quite good at making scabbards.

3:45 - This completely unnecessary joke is funnier when you know what the latin word for "scabbard" is.

I really appreciate you making this, your home made experiments are probably exactly the kind of thing people did back in the day

Massive help. Im so glad i watcged this first. Ive done alot of kydex work but never leather or wood

I have made many wooden and leather covered wood scabbards, they are a lot of work, sharp tools are essential, A good table saw allows you to cut the scabbard halves from the same piece of hardwood (only hardwood). you can also use a router to hollow it out, but it will always come down to sharp chisels and gouges. Wet, stretch and stitch leather over the wood to finish. I like gorilla glue to put the scabbard halves together. I have only made a couple swords, but I've done dozens of scabbards.

Okay, I don't usually go for "first comment" but this time when I opened my subscriptions page, this video was there, published 6 seconds ago. I have never seen that short a time, and I take it as a cosmic sign that me checking my subscriptions and this video being published almost simultaneously means I have a moral duty to inform everyone of this. Rejoice!

Such a thin tight fit isn't easy so I am genuinely impressed. The first scabbard I made was a nightmare of an experience and ended with it cracking at the seam. The second one came out better but it's pretty chunky. Haven't added leather and honestly I'm thinking of painting and just adding metal fittings. One thing I did find is sealing the wood with outdoor wood sealers, the kind for exterior doors and wooden decks, really helped with the humidity. Problem. Sorry long post but I like seeing other people make things it's a huge source of inspiration and it can give one ideas one wouldn't think of doing by themselves. Keep up the amazing work skal. Can't wait for the next one.

Thank you for great info. Enjoy your vids

"it takes too much time to do by hand" is kinda moot excuse these days when CnC mills, laser cutting and 3D printing is a thing.

So there is a demand for custom scabbards for Albion swords this is intresting. With mordern devices imagine the types of prints you can apply on your scarbbards. All the cool designs or pictures.. Oh god

Some time ago, I made a scabbard and lined the inside with flannelette (an old shirt ). I applied a bit of silicon oil to help with rust proofing. It has been working well. High end medieval scabbards were lined with lambs wool. Lining a scabbard will stop it rattling while allowing some room for the wood shrink / expand as it will naturally do. It is thought it may also help keep the sword rust free as it gets a wipe over from the lambs wool every time it is drawn.

I think this is great content. Even for those who are aware of the expansion and contraction of wood, or how bad it can be, this is still great information. My dad does mainly wood work combined with some other stuff, and his workshop has very stable temperatures and is very dry. It's something I have learned through him, but I would never have actually seen how much a scabbard might contract without you posting this video. Again, very useful, great content.

Collab with Todds workshop. He makes scabbards for Albion

If you buy a gun, in most cases you don‘t get a fitting holster either.

This is fantastic very informative thank you!

I began to make wood and leather scabbards for my reenactment blades last year, from since I've made (as an amateur) a couple of them and I learned a few things: - Plywood, seems to be less subject to humidity than regular wood (plus in my case it's always been leather covered, so the looks is not key factor). - Painting both the inside and the outside of the wooden part with wood stain also helps with humidity isolation. - I make scabbards almost in the same way Skallagrim did, with a wooden negative profile of the blade sandwitched between the two faces. In order to manage the distal taper I use several layers of glued paper that progressively thickens from the debole towards the forte. - When gluing the parts, I like to leave the blade inside wrapped in greaseproof paper (here in Italy we call it oven paper, I don't know the exact name in English but it's a kind of paper used in cooking to prevent the food from sticking while in the oven), I found it's really good preventing the glue from sticking to the blade. However I don't leave the blade inside the scabbard while drying, I just fix the parts with tiny needles that I remove afterwards. - In my humble opinion, I would use less glue and much more pliers (basically I'd cover the entire perimeter of the scabbard with pliers, leaving a few millimeter between them, even clothespins works if they are a lot). - The leather should always be wet during the stitching. I don't have experience with stitching along the edge, I always cross-stitched on the back face. Hope sharing my personal experience helps someone :)

A fail is just... First Attempt In Learning

I'd rather have a cheap leather scabbard than no scabbard.

I always find to be a much braver thing to admit to a failure than any type of success... bravo sir bravo 👏👏👏

Really useful video, sharing potential problems one can encounter is invaluable regardless of the project. I've only ever made synthetic and leather sheathes (for knives) and no tutorials/self-teaching courses mentioned things that could go wrong, which made me waste a lot of material, it's similar with wooden scabbard ones, they make it look ridiculously simple, if labour intensive, and if I tried making one without your video I'd probably end up exactly where you are (now I can find a different way to screw up :D)

Alternate title for the first 2 minutes: Sword hipster tries to defend a company for selling a product worth 5 months of labour without a case for said product. Yep, a little too long.

Love the vids! Keep up the great work!

Thanks for sharing ... very interesting video!

Excited. Much excite.

Very helpful...!!! Would love more content like this

Very helpful, thank you!

I love your videos Skall. I am with you since the very beginning. I love how you are not afraid to show your failure, so others can learn. Just a suggestion. Since I am making knives and sometimes wooden sheaths for knives. By no means, I am pretending to know how to make a sword scabbard. But generally speaking,before you will use any kind of wood for handle or sheaths the wood must be 3-5 years old since it was cut and be left in a dry environment during that time. Also after the wood has matured it is a very good idea to put the wood in the oven so it will dry up even more before making it into anything. Plus when you take it out of the oven it really soaks any type of treatment you put to the wood and make it more impervious to the elements. Sometimes even blowtorching it lyrics and sanding it works well sometimes!

I made myself a couple of leather sheath for my fixed knives and were very happy with how they turned out, wanted try to learn making scabbards as well but it require a lot more tools especially for the wood core part, have to agree with Skall it's not a easy task to do

I respect that you show your mistakes and trial and error

Very nice to see you on a table saw and gluing with clamps. Well done brother I'm impressed.

During my reenactment days I made a few scabbards for my Czech Swords and Chinese daggers. There are some points to consider, some of them you addressed here. 1) Never _ever_ let uncured wood glue get in contact with the blade. You can polish the blade regularly but the stains will keep coming back practically forever. 2) Provide enough room for the blade when fitting the wooden core. 2 or 3 mm of cardboard on each side of the blade will do the trick. Do _not_ glue the core yet. 3) Give the wooden core a furry lining. Rabbit skin, goat skin or cow skin will all do the job. In a pinch you could even hunt down Polyethylenes and use Teddybear skin. Make sure the thickness of the skin roughly matches the thickness of the above mentioned card board. The hairs should face the tip of the blade so you can insert the blade smoothly. 4) When all this is done and the furry-wooden core is glued together here comes the best part: Fill in a reasonable amount of Ballistol or any other weapon oil and you will never have to take care of a rusting blade any more. It will _never_ be rattling and the fur will prevent the blade from slipping out of the scabbard. Only after the core is fully functional, rounded and sanded, you can cover it with leather and finish it to your liking.

Thank you for sharing your work, your mistakes, and your thoughts. And let the scabbard maker who has NEVER messed up throw the first stone!

My entire experience of making a sheath was in.... the 80's I wanna say? My tacknife sheath was super bulky and I'm from a very hot place: no heavy duty clothes to disapear the sheath into, and I needed the knife almost daily, so I made myself a soft sheath from old jeans. To prevent the blade cutting thru the denim I put 5mm x 5mm pine peices up the "front" I guess and sewed them in, so the blade edge never touched anything but wood but when the knife was out the sheath could fold/twist/roll as if fully fabric. Wore that in my shorts for a decade nearly and no-one noticed it around the place, least the coppers never did.

This videos is really helpful with smiting and informing me on this i didn't know befor

Thank you for this video. I learned a lot, actually! It did not originally occur to me just how much effort went into this particular art. Thank you for educating me.

I made a wood scabbard for a knife of mine (lost the old leather one in the ether of time and probably my messy cellar). What worked for me pretty well were two things. 1) I made the entry way of the scabbard rather tight for the spot of the knife that sits there when it is fully inside. 2) I used a thin leather strap on the edge walls to have some sort of filler material which can grab the knife when inside (although this might not be ideal as the knife will always have contact at the edge when moving in and out).

I like videos like these! There's a lot to learn from your videos since you actually have experience with the topic When i was in highschool I would take the cardboard from soda boxes and duct tape to make sheaths for knives that didn't have anything for a sheath already. They look terrible but they work for moving and storage which is most of the time the main use of a sheath anyway.

As someone who plans to eventually make a sheath or scabbard of some kind for a few single-handed axes, this was very informative. Thank you.

Very interesting subject. Thank you. ^^

I've never purchased a sword so I never would have expected this sort of thing. Very interesting video

I have a bastard sword I made that I’ve been really wanting to make a scabbard for but haven’t quite figured out how to tackle it this video has kind of helped me

So excited to click on this video! I have been wanting to make a scabbard for my Albion Ringeck for over a year, and I'm hoping to pick up an Albion Knight at some point as well. I bought the wood, cut it to shape, began to Dremel it out and just got frustrated. I never even decided how/if I want to wrap it or stain it or what.

I have two WW1 era kukris arriving today. I plan on making wooden dap (the traditional name for the kukri scabbard) for them both and gifting one to my wife so we can have a set. I've made leather sheaths in the past, but this will be my first time with wood. Thanks for sharing your errors. Mistakes are valuable lessons. Wish me luck!

That Works recently released a video of Ilya’s most recent katana build and he goes into great detail on how the scabbard was made. The point you mention about the open bottom is actually valid. In a katana scabbard (Saya) there is a small channel cut a couple of inches below the tip exactly for excess moisture to gather. The scabbard is also not flush to the blade, there’s a fair bit of wiggle room. It pinches the blade at the hilt and at the tip because of the wood reacting with the steel. There is also a metal or horn material at the opening to protect the hand from the blade if you do a draw cut. Humidity also greatly affects the wood, especially if it’s cheap ply or MDF etc, as the glue hydrates the wood and then contracts when it dries, it makes the wood bend. A better way to apply the glue is to do a light brush on both contacts (in theory it will contract on both contacts, helping to cancel out) and compress together. I’ve also heard that some scabbards were lined with cloth or silk to help protect the blade from moisture but I can’t confirm this.

Thanks for the tips! I am currently planning to make a couple of scabbards. I've read that the traditional viking scabbard had from inside to outside, layers of wool, wood, wool, and leather. I hope that the wool felt layers will help keep the compression from causing issues, but I'll learn from your mistakes, and leave a little more room for contraction than I would have prior to watching this. Especially so, since I am planning to stem bend the wood around half the cross-section.

Great vid, thank you! Once I've finished making my sword (just waiting for some decent weather to do the heat treatment at this point), I'm going to have to make the scabbard, and it's always better to learn from the mistakes of others! Much appreciated......I'll have to find my own mistakes to make now LOL

A router is a scabbard makers best friend. Trace the outline of you blade on the wood, set the depth to the maximum thickness of the blade and start removing material. Another tip, heavily oil the inside of the scabbard with mineral oil before assembly. This will help prevent rust from forming on the blade. Also if you are going to cover the scabbard with leather or twine, just use wood staples to hold it together. They work well and won't be an eyesore if it's covered

I have no idea why I'm addicted to this channel. I've never been particularly interested in swords, they're cool for sure but I'm not a collector or hobbyist. I just enjoy his humor and personality. Actually though im starting to develop an interest.