Custom Viking Sword Scabbard

[Dreadhead]

Hey all,

Just finished another custom sword scabbard for a chap in France. Luck would have it we both have exactly the same sword, so it was nice and simple to build having my own blade here. Also gave me a chance to take mine down off the wall, re-wrap the handle with some nicer waxy leather, and take some new shots of the scabbard I made for myself a couple of years ago.

The commissioned scabbard was to have a wolf paw print, a triskele, and the words 'Night Nature Calls' in runes. Made it with a welted construction. Every hand saddle-stitched, each hole done individually by hand with an awl. I like to do things the slow but steady way

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Wolf 1 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Wolf 2 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr


HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Wolf 4 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Wolf 5 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

DSC_0120 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr



My own scabbard. A bit bashed around over the years but still my pride and joy

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Celtic 1 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Celtic 2 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Tinker Scabbard Celtic 13 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr


Thanks for reading.

 

[mick91]

Impeccable as ever

 

[Robbi]

That's a cracker

 

[Dave]

Wow, i bet he'll be over the moon.

 

[Chris the Fish]

cracking leather work, inspirational

 

[Goatboy]

Unbelievably nice work Hamish. Lovely sword in beautiful new clothes.
The commission is crackin' and the chap in France is going to be so chuffed with it. He may be so excited that he'll have to try it out and we'll have another 1066 on our hands.
Much as I like it I hanker after your personal one more. Colour, form and decoration are all hitting the spot for me and if I was still a sword weilding maniac I'd be getting you to make me one too.
Brilliant work mate.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[quietone]

Wow ! Love that. I always get a little jealous when I see stuff like that, maybe a lot jealous.

 

[craeg]

Tis a beauty HamisH

 

[Dreadhead]

Thanks fellas

Unbelievably nice work Hamish. Lovely sword in beautiful new clothes.
The commission is crackin' and the chap in France is going to be so chuffed with it. He may be so excited that he'll have to try it out and we'll have another 1066 on our hands.
Much as I like it I hanker after your personal one more. Colour, form and decoration are all hitting the spot for me and if I was still a sword weilding maniac I'd be getting you to make me one too.
Brilliant work mate.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

cheers mate. You did have that dirk with the wee scabbard (one of the very first i ever made as it happens), but aye... doesn't quite compare to that warm secure feeling that comes with a full length sword!

 

[topknot]

Top work there mate

Topknot

 

[Dreadhead]

thanks Topknot

 

[Goatboy]

Thanks fellas



cheers mate. You did have that dirk with the wee scabbard (one of the very first i ever made as it happens), but aye... doesn't quite compare to that warm secure feeling that comes with a full length sword!

I do miss not having any swords to my name; bar two practice bokken. Had to sell them all when skint years back.
The dirk is pretty close with the length it is and if that sheath was one of the first it shows you were born to work leather mate. It doesn't get an outing very often but always admired.
Who knows one day I may get a sword again and you'll be the man to clothe her when I do.
That and a hand grip for one of the shepards axes I have my eye on.


Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Dreadhead]

ooo nice one. I think my next big blade will be a nice custom seax, when I can scrounge up the pennies for one. Really I just like having knives as an excuse to make pretty clothes for them

 

[Dreadhead]

Wow ! Love that. I always get a little jealous when I see stuff like that, maybe a lot jealous.

I get jealous myself when I don't get to keep it!

 

[crosslandkelly]

That's a real work of art Hamish.

 

[Emdiesse]

Very nice! Looks fantastic! How long did all that stitching take you?

 

[Dreadhead]

thanks lads

@Emdiesse: from prepping, marking, and 'awling' each hole individually by hand then saddle-stitching around 6-7 hours, though it feels much longer

 

[Emdiesse]

thanks lads

@Emdiesse: from prepping, marking, and 'awling' each hole individually by hand then saddle-stitching around 6-7 hours, though it feels much longer

Excellent, I was just curious you see as I just recently saddle-stitched an entire metre long for my dogs new lead (on both edges) and for me that was about 10 hours of stitching! Just curious to see if it gets any faster and any easier! I'd planned to make a post eventually to show it off but I wanted to make her a matching collar first

Also getting to the point now where I am thinking from a 'sustainability' point of view to be able to keep buying supplies and keeping a hobby alive to start making things to sell but feared that people might not appreciate the benefits of saddle stitching over an item being machine stitched - I'm glad to see there are people out there who do!

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Dreadhead]

I would say I'm relatively speedy at saddle stitching, which is often remarked upon when people see me working. It's all muscle memory really. Although I also like to do my stitching whilst watching a film which can be a tad counter productive due to divided attention.

I think saddle-stitching and machine stitching both have their qualities and place, and can both be appreciated in the right circumstances. Personally I stick with saddle-stitching because I don't like machines/machine stitching and it suits my style and pace more. I found when I get out there and talk with the public, customers, interested parties we always have a good chat about the values of 'handmade' or 'handstitched' but I always make a point of not discreditting machine stitching either

 

[NoName]

man that is tight, actually very difficult to make it that tight at such a length
really love the simply yet decorated look of the sheaths