scabbard materials

[Nirghosa]

One project I have yet to undertake is making my own scabbards. I have made some rudimentary ones for trainers but would like to try something a bit more challenging.
I see a few others on here have produced nice ones, specifically Batarra.

My question is, what commonly available woods are easiest to work with (when your skills are still being developed)?
I'm specifically planning on doing Moro Kris Scabbards.

Thanks!

[Nirghosa]

no one?

[David R]

I am not that familiar with tropical woods, so cannot really give much advice for that area, but for what it is worth.....
Traditionaly in the west we used Lime wood also known as Linden, also Alder and Poplar. These are "soft" hardwoods without a dominant grain and low in resin, therefore relatively easy to work and good for long term storage. Got to be said though that Western scabbards are usualy leather covered and fitted with metal chapes and ferrules and so how they last without these is another matter. Pine was used in the 19thC, but was impregnated with paraffine wax to counter it's tendency to corrode steel.
Japanese swords are scabbarded in Honoki a varient of Magnolia, NB NOT hinoki which is a relative of cedar....took me a while to sort that one out myself. Again HONOKI is one of those "soft" hardwoods with little or no resin and so easily workable and good for long term storage. Usualy lacquered or covered with Samegawa (rayskin) as it is not a particularly decorative wood.
Regarding good wood for Moro Kris sheaths.....I would go through the Keris section and see what is mentioned there. Otherwise I would have a look at one or other varient of Rosewood..handsome and nicely coloured and used for some Japanese sword furniture, so I would guess not too prone to corroding your valued blade.
Others will have a lot more knowledge than I on this subject, so this is far from the last word, but it is something to be getting on with.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by Nirghosa

My question is, what commonly available woods are easiest to work with (when your skills are still being developed)?
I'm specifically planning on doing Moro Kris Scabbards.

Hi "Nirghosa"
I had already asked this question ... to myself
because inside of 2 scabbards, the wooden slices, which are spoiled, and vanished,
thus, the blades are shaky and moving, inside these scabbards

I estimated that it was "lime tree", which should do the trick
easy to carve and lightweight

but, till now, I didn't try,
it's for that, I was keeping silence
I was awaiting some comments from our friends

sorry to don't be more usefully

all the best

à +

Dom

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All I think any decent piece of timber that is well seasoned is ok.. Its not exactly going to be expensive since the quantity is so small... but a decent hardwood should be ok... For daggers and swords we use teak.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Nirghosa]

Thanks all, this has been quite helpful!

[fearn]

I should point out that, in the US, "lime wood" is basswood. It's not precisely correct for the Philippines, obviously, but it's easy to get in short lengths (check out art stores) and not that hard to carve, though it can be tedious to whittle. It's also cheap enough that basswood can be used for experimentation and interim scabbards. Finally, if (like me) you get inspired to try hand-carving a scabbard, I'd suggest that certain dremel power tools can be very useful if you're limited in time or patience (or your significant others are).

The chemistry issue here is tannins and similar resins, which are widely present in the pine family (pine, fir, spruce, doug fir, etc), "cedars" (a diverse group) and the oak family (oak, beech, hickory, etc). Tannins will stain iron a nice black (iron tannate is the basis for old-fashioned black ink). Getting well away from these families (as with magnolia and basswood) gets you different wood chemistry that doesn't stain the iron..

There's also the CITES issue and the whole issue of naming tropical hardwoods. Many of the old rosewoods have been harvested into commercial extinction, so matching the wood of a century-old scabbard may be difficult to impossible, even if you have a reputable tropical hardwood dealer nearby. Even if you do find such wood, if it's something covered by CITES, it may not be possible to move that bit of wood out of the US, should you want to sell it. Many other woods aren't harvested sustainably, which means that they are likely to disappear off the market at some point and possibly be covered by CITES in the future (think ebony, mahogany, pink ivory). Since I care about these issues, I check before I buy the wood. It's usually pretty easy to find out whether something is being sustainably harvested, or whether there is a problem with it. Even if you don't care about conservation issues, rare woods are sometimes misidentified, or have commercial names that differ widely from what they're called by scientists or locals. Brazilian cherry isn't a cherry, for example, and sheoak isn't an oak. A number of species are called "ironwood," and they're not closely related.

Even if you don't care about conservation, it's worth identifying them before you buy, because some of them are toxic. Inhaling a bunch of irritating sawdust isn't much fun, and some of them have as many tannins as oak and red cedar do. All of this information is online, if you include search terms like "tannins," "Health," "working with," or "chemistry," in searching for wood names.

Hope this helps

F

[mross]

Here are some resources for wood.

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/ex...FYje4AodmhOeUg

http://www.burlsales.com/

http://www.cuestik.com/

[kahnjar1]

If you are looking for a REALLY soft wood to practice on, why not try BALSA as used in model aircraft making? May not be strong enough for the final product, but real easy for trials.
Regards Stu