Quick and dirty on mounting the hilts.....

So……
To start.
Take the rattan and chose your handle end.
At this point figure were you want the hilt to end up and mark it.
Size up the rattan to the socket to see how close the rattan fits or how much you need to remove.
Now shave the rattan to fit the rattan but not quiet. The socket should not fit at this point but have the rattan around a 1/16th “oversized. This of course is only really important right where you want the hilt. So if you are going to wrap the handle to increase the size or what not make it just able to slide the hilt to about 1” from where you want it to be on the rattan.
Now if you want your rattan have one side as your lead edge or a bend a certain way set your hilt to mach.
There are a few ways to set the hilt at this point.
One; on the sword point of the rattan hold the rattan a few inches away from the point. With the hilt side down towards the floor. Now strike the flat part of the point of the rattan above your hand with a hammer. Sharp quick hits. This will drive the rattan into the socket. It has always worked well for me. Just have a file handy and keep an eye on the rattan pealing up and just file it away and keep hitting it until the hilt is where you want it.
The other ways are close to the same except you strike the hilt instead of the rattan.
Then finish as you like.
You can at any point during the use of the weapon. Put the hilt socket that stick out the most in a vise and lightly crush it until it is out of round. To keep the hilt from spinning if it is not on tight or the rattan dry’s and shrinks.
That’s about it.