Thanks for the compliment. There are five pieces: the sides, the nose piece, and the top and bottom strips that set the gap for the bar and chain. Each strip is just over 5/16" thick and 5/8" wide. The nose piece is the same thickness as the strips and shaped like a waning moon. The sides are planed to 1/4" thick. I used walnut, but I have made these with ash and oak also with equal success. Walnut just tends to be a little lighter in weight. Any good hardwood would work just as well (yellow birch, hickory, hard maple, cherry, etc.)
I use a bunch of C-clamps and yellow glue to hold it together, fastening one side at a time. Then I cut the outer square ends curved to match the nose piece. Initially, I make sure that the gap between the strips is at most 1/16" larger than the bar and chain together. That's because new chains have bigger teeth. You can usually make things snug because the chain will "slice" its way inside as need be. A snug fit is ideal.
I added the notch on the bottom near the entrance to fit inside my Stihl case:
That locks it to the case, similar to the plastic guard that came with the case that only holds a 20" bar.
So there you have it. All made with hardwood and glue--no screws or nails required. I think you could go to 30" in length, but my longest scabbard protects a 25" bar so far, as shown above. Oh, and BTW, if no case is involved, you can simply drill a hole near the entrance and use pull cord to tie and secure the scabbard to the saw's handle. A knot in the cord on each side of the hole keeps the pull cord in place.
