I cut three strips of styrofoam about an inch wider than the widest point on the sword on either side, so in this case around 6 inches wide.

the table saw is a great tool but it can be a bit scary, it'll take off a finger awful fast.

I measure the styrofoam strips to the length I want, a couple inches longer than the sword on either end, then I cut it off.

I then lay the sword in it's scabbard on the central styrofoam sheet and trace the outline.

I cut the outline of the sword out of the styrofoam sheet using a jig saw.

now that I have the styrofoam packing all cut to shape and ready, I make a box to put it in. the top and bottom of the box are thin plywood, wich I rip to shape on the table saw, and the edges are spruce board. I assemble the box with screws, so that it can't pull apart during shipping.

Once the box is built, I set the styrofoam layers in it with the second layer being the blade cut-out, this gives me a nice no-movement bed to place the sword in.

Now I place the top styrofoam sheet down on the blade, and screw down the top. I usually leave the styrofoam slightly proud of the box so that when I screw the top on it compresses the styrofoam slightly to hold the sword snugly in place.

The finished box is light and durable, I have very little worries about the sword being damaged in transit.