Ye Olde Englishe Machette

[tombear]

Cheers folks, I'll have a think about this.

To drill the pilot holes I have one of those gadgets for drilling at right angles into walls that clamps on the front of the good old B & D. I clamp the wood in a wood vice so the tops flush with the bench and line it up etc. I need to score some thin 7 inch plus drills, there's plenty on eBay.

Trawling the net I've discovered there's such a thing as a broach , like a thick, narrow jig saw blade with the teeth at the end that fits into the saw removed, for cleaning out between the drill holes. They fit into some sort of handle rather than a power tool. I may have to make one that's long enough.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Having poked around the local and not so local tool shops herself has ordered me some long cheepo wood drills from eBay, I will treat them gently as they won't be of the first water at that price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7PC-EXTRA...-12MM-X-300MM-WOOD-WORKING-BIT-/121270651436?

Also got two foot by two foot of 3mm veg tan ordered with Hostile Hides for the 3 sheaths i'll need to do fr this and the other finished jobs.

atb

tom

 

[tombear]

The drills arrived this AM so I bashed on with the handle. The 4mm drill, 12 inch long, was positively bendy, but didn't break and the 5mm was much stronger. After a lot of messing about I hammered the wood on, shaped it on the belt sander, used a glue stick made up from the natural glue set Red sent me to fill round the blade and seal the end grain, smoothing it over with a hot old scalpel blade. I've so far slapped on 10 coats of Danish oil.

There's a 24 inch square piece of 3mm veg tan in the hands of My Hermes which ill make the sheath from when it arrives. Then I'll put a edge on it.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Sorry as this is repeating something I put in another thread but to finish off the thread I started talking about the reshaped and re handled 14inch seax in here's the sheath I made for it. 3mm veg tan lined where the blade is with a shaved down sheepskin from a old jacket. Linen thread saddle stitched and 5 copper rivets preened over washers holds it together. I embossed some simple patterns onto the damp leather. I treated it with hot beeswax.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

By the by, the mixing it with isopropyl alcohol and transfer by straw method of getting lanolin back into the sheepskin after you have finished making the big sheaths/ scabbards is working great. I overdid it a bit with the first one which is still a bit sticky on withdrawal but by a sniff test the isopropyl has completely evaporated away and the blades always have a nice even layer of grease on them when inspected.

atb

tom

 

[British Red]

Thats looking stunning Tom - really loving your work

 

[tombear]

Cheers, just got to work out where to store the longs now.

We are waiting on a 14 inch broken back seax for the middle son so I will have to make a sheath for that.

In the meantime I need to score a scout belt buckle for a belt I am making for herself now she is a scout mistress or what ever thy are called now.

Atb

Tom

 

[British Red]

Plenty of room at my house for storing sharps Tom

 

[tombear]

Good lord! they may actually get used if I sent them to you!

Got plenty of space to be honest but Im hung between having them on display where they can be inspected easily or hidden in a draw where they may rust away unnoticed.

ATb

Tom

 

[tombear]

The lads 16 inch broken back seax arrived a couple of months back and I finally got around to making him a sheath for it.
5mm veg tan with a shaved sheepskin lining. At the lads request I put it together with copper rivets and washers rather than sewing. I treated it with beeswax and rubbed it in with a teaspoon and a hair dryer. Roll on getting the open fire into use!

Atb

Tom

 

[British Red]

Sweet as a nut!

 

[david1]

first time ive seen this thread... just stunned at the workmanship. great thread

 

[Dreadhead]

Can't believe I've only just come across this, totally blown away mate!

Sent from my SM-T230 using Tapatalk

 

[tombear]

Cheers! That's praise indeed coming from a man with your talent!

atb

tom