"It's all in the details"

"One of my goals, and part of my philosophy, is I try to create a piece of collectible art that makes your eyes flow through the design, from one design element to another, and each time you do you find something new to admire."

Historically, scabbards have been known to cost as much or more than the sword. While it may not appear so, there is a tremendous amount of labor that goes into a scabbard when done historically accurate, and especially when one is implementing a design. It's all in the details from the chape, all the way up to the throat. If you want to look at it from a collector's standpoint, the sword is not complete until it has a scabbard of complimentary fashion. As I like to say; the sword is the picture, and the scabbard is the frame. You can hang a picture on the wall and it looks ok, but when you add a frame, the picture comes alive and they compliment each other. The better looking the frame is, the better they both look. The same thing applies to the sword & scabbard. It's a complimentary package of aesthetics & function.

Even though a collector may not ever use the scabbard, it is still a very complimentary part of the sword that completes the 'picture' per say. I consider myself an artist, or artisan, and most of my customers are purchasing functional art. The metal chapes are specific to each order and to the design specification of the customer. The leather I use is hand-picked and of the highest quality. Why do I use the highest quality leather? It looks better, for one reason. It also tools better, dyes better, and lasts longer. People often say about modern goods "they just don't make it like they use to anymore". Well I do, inside & out. When it comes to scabbards my focus is only producing the best quality I can, each and every time.

Leather patterns and decorations are an essential part of my work, and is a signature feature to a DBK scabbard. Historically, leather patterns and decorations were hand-tooled in with various tools and blades. Every detail is hand applied from curves to corners and long straight lines. There were no lasers to burn in a 'coat-of-arms' or other such imagery. Sure, they made stamps for repetitive imagery, but the hand-tooled and one-of-a-kind designs are much more desirable, making the look far more valuable and collectible. Not to mention, one-of-a-kind.

"But really, what is the difference, and why pay more?" you say? Well, the differences can't necessarily be demonstrated through pictures alone. But the fit & functionality are more precise in a DBK scabbard. The sliding action of the blade going in and out are accounted for. The angle at which the scabbard will hang at your side is going to be different for each and every blade, then taken into consideration, and adjusted as such to a preferential angle. Essentially, I picture myself a scabbard maker from ancient history, and I'm building a scabbard per request of that customer from those ancients times. I need to build it to the specifications of someone who will depend on it, admire it's quality, and be back for more. I try to use the methods and tools a historical scabbard maker would use, so that the whole point of collecting 'history' remains consistent with a scabbard build made in much the same way. From my chapes, the fit of the blade, the shape of the wood core, the sliding action of draw, the historical buckles & belt tips, the hand-tooled designs, the leather coloring, the leather finishing, and I could go on and on. You get what you pay for in a DBK.