Making a Wooden Scabbard

[A.alnakkas]

Hi all,

I have this Jambiya that requires restoration. The Jambiya scabbard is made of 2 pieces but the upper side was damaged, it was also welded with 2 iron pieces and lead... some sort of a random ugly fix that nearly destroyed the piece. I took it to a jeweller and he fixed it (basically, he added similar decoration and its hard to see that its new) So now the 2 pieces are ready but I am struggling to make a wooden body to fit them on it... I tried twice and I cant shape it properly, the first try the wood was too flat and it looked pretty ugly. The 2nd, i shaped the outside properly but I couldnt put the blade in.. So I tried to thin it but the wood broke :/

Currently am using cupboard covered by a random piece of cloth. A friend told me that I can harden the cupboard by dipping it in some glue and leave it to dry.

Any advice?