Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Searching for a Coftgari artist in Europe

Drabant1701 · 20th August 2016, 05:19 PM

I was in a very similar situation as you some time ago, Roland. I had purchased a pala sword with a grip that was totally ruined, it was made of horn but had been eaten by insects or similar. I would not have minded if it was just damaged but it was almost nothing left.

Here is my experience:
At first I wanted to make a new grip out of rhino horn, but that proved hard to aquire. I ended up makeing the grip out of ebony hard wood that was rivited with brass staffs (?). I keept the grip strap from the original, it would have been easier to make a new one as the old was not straight.

The result was ok, i kept the size from the original grip, it was however an late 19th century grip so I cant be sure of how it had looked when it was new.

I do however agree with Ariel, it does look alright but it feels wrong. It is however a difficult situation when the grip is totally broken. Finding a grip from an old sword that fits you blade would meen that you would have to use the grip strap from the new sword, and hope that the tang fits the new grip could take many years before something that fits comes your way.

One possible way to go is to find a metal grip where the grip and cross guard is in one piece, or something like the grips on an afghan poulwar.

Good luck with your project.

20th August 2016, 05:19 PM	#20
Drabant1701 Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Sweden Posts: 181	I was in a very similar situation as you some time ago, Roland. I had purchased a pala sword with a grip that was totally ruined, it was made of horn but had been eaten by insects or similar. I would not have minded if it was just damaged but it was almost nothing left. Here is my experience: At first I wanted to make a new grip out of rhino horn, but that proved hard to aquire. I ended up makeing the grip out of ebony hard wood that was rivited with brass staffs (?). I keept the grip strap from the original, it would have been easier to make a new one as the old was not straight. The result was ok, i kept the size from the original grip, it was however an late 19th century grip so I cant be sure of how it had looked when it was new. I do however agree with Ariel, it does look alright but it feels wrong. It is however a difficult situation when the grip is totally broken. Finding a grip from an old sword that fits you blade would meen that you would have to use the grip strap from the new sword, and hope that the tang fits the new grip could take many years before something that fits comes your way. One possible way to go is to find a metal grip where the grip and cross guard is in one piece, or something like the grips on an afghan poulwar. Good luck with your project.