Kris for discussion

A. G. Maisey · 27th October 2016, 10:35 PM

When I said "leather", I was thinking of the normal sort of leather construction that is saddle leather over very thin liners of wood:- its not a wooden scabbard, its a leather scabbard, but it is lined with wood. Lots of old sword scabbards were made this way, I cannot recall seeing an old sword scabbard that was all leather.

Knife sheaths from European based cultures are most often of leather , and most often without wooden liners, but very frequently a knife sheath will have the stitching protected by an inlay of leather that is between the two faces of the sheath. When I've made sheaths for the knives I've made myself I've made them in this way.

I've seen a lot of old Indian swords with these wood lined leather scabbards, but even though probably most Javanese swords had leather scabbards from at least early colonial times, these days it is very, very seldom that you find a Javanese pedang in its original leather scabbard. They've become a real rarity.

As for what sort of wood I'd use for a grip, if I was in Jawa I'd probably use sono. There's another wood that I've forgotten the name of that is used a lot for tool handles in Jawa, I'd be happy with that too. I wouldn't use cendono jowo, its easy to work, but in my opinion a bit too prone to fracture for a sword hilt. If I had to do the job here in Australia, I'd probably use one of the Australian hardwoods that are used for tool handles, maybe spotted gum.

27th October 2016, 10:35 PM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	When I said "leather", I was thinking of the normal sort of leather construction that is saddle leather over very thin liners of wood:- its not a wooden scabbard, its a leather scabbard, but it is lined with wood. Lots of old sword scabbards were made this way, I cannot recall seeing an old sword scabbard that was all leather. Knife sheaths from European based cultures are most often of leather , and most often without wooden liners, but very frequently a knife sheath will have the stitching protected by an inlay of leather that is between the two faces of the sheath. When I've made sheaths for the knives I've made myself I've made them in this way. I've seen a lot of old Indian swords with these wood lined leather scabbards, but even though probably most Javanese swords had leather scabbards from at least early colonial times, these days it is very, very seldom that you find a Javanese pedang in its original leather scabbard. They've become a real rarity. As for what sort of wood I'd use for a grip, if I was in Jawa I'd probably use sono. There's another wood that I've forgotten the name of that is used a lot for tool handles in Jawa, I'd be happy with that too. I wouldn't use cendono jowo, its easy to work, but in my opinion a bit too prone to fracture for a sword hilt. If I had to do the job here in Australia, I'd probably use one of the Australian hardwoods that are used for tool handles, maybe spotted gum.