I have thankfully made progress with the new gandar and part of the buntut. Please see the pic. The measurements at the point of the white Parker pen are: width: 47 mm (1,85 inch); thickness: 25 mm (1,0 inch). Measurements at the point of the blue Parker: width 42 mm (1,65 inch); thickness 20 mm (0,79 inch). I give these measurements because I am requesting your kind comments, as I do not have a complete Bugis scabbard to copy from. If you think I must take off some more wood to make this gandar typical, please offer advice. The buntut will lose a few millimetres in length when I prepare it for the little flange thingy, which will stick out a bit like a rim.
When I attached the buntut to the gandar, I used a two part epoxy glue. After that hardened, I carefully drilled four holes into the buntut from the end and glued four slender wooden dowels into place. This is to hold the job as securely as I know how. Incidentaly, the original antique piece of gandar has four little pinholes too.
Now the bad news: Having come far with the gambar (you saw the previous pic), I found myself coming up against a brick wall. I knew I could not carry on with the gambar in laminated form! I should have known the four-piece lamination was a lamentably bad idea! Why it sucked so abyssmally is that when I started carving what David called the "nuances", the outer laminations caused haphazard patterns to emerge - too awful for words. So, in disgust I scrapped the gambar. Now I am searching for a nice piece of dark wood to start the gambar afresh.
I will once again make the gambar by lamination, but ONLY in two pieces glued in the centre. I'll have to find wood thick enough for this purpose. Following Alan's advice, I'll use epoxy glue for this.
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