Sinking stump

[Aron]

I'm in the process of making a couple of "viking" shields for my son and I. Using scrap lumber, mostly pine 6"x1/2" planks, and spare time. Just something for us to knock around with out in the yard.

Used the ("Wrist to elbow"*2)+5" formula for the diameter. 1"x1/8" metal strapping and wood screws to hold it all together. Screws protrude through to the front and I bent them over with a hammer. They used to use nails that they would bend over on the front. I figured screws would hold the wood a bit better, even if a tad weaker in cross-section. Used a 1"x4" to add a center support and hand grip. Center cut a hole for knuckle clearance.

Now I'm fabricating the boss. Picked up some 16ga cold rolled from Menards. Cut a 8" and 10" circle from the sheet with hand shears.

Then I realized, I had no idea how to dish it out into the rounded dome with a flange. Google to the rescue...

http://www.arador.com/construction/shieldboss.html

Which led me to...

http://www.arador.com/articles/stump.html

Ok... Sounds simple enough. Went out to the wood pile and found a chunk of Ash about the right size. Used a regular hammer and a wood chisel to rough out a 5"x1" dish shape in the top of the stump. Grabbed my 3lbs hammer and went to work. After finagling things around a bit, I got the technique down and was able to shape out a flanged boss for my sons shield. I'll work on mine later and see if I can't snap some photos to add to this post... And yes, this was a lot noisier than I thought it would be. Ear plugs and a glove on your off hand are highly recommended.

Left to do are to face the shields with canvas and glue. Paint a fearsome design. Mount the boss. Last step is to edge the rim with leather. Looking kind of crude so far, but this is a "first effort" so later results might turn out better.

And yes, all of the above should give everyone an idea of exactly how much of a Novice I am at all of this... ;-)

ETA: Crappy iPhone pics.

[KNelson]

The most common glue for most of the European middle ages was hide glue, which you can get in bottles from most hardware and woodworking stores. For the canvas, viking age Scandinavia made heavy use of twill weaves (each thread goes over two cross threads, then under two cross threads, giving a diagonal "brick-work" sort of appearance. If you need to see a sample, most blue jeans are twill-woven).

(After a few years of Viking reenactment, these things get stuck in your brain.)

[Aron]

Picked up some fairly heavy natural fiber colored twill from Wal-mart. 2 yrds of 60" for $2.25/yrd. A bottle of Titebond liquid hide glue was a couple bucks more. I was surprised at how much "stiffer" they feel with the fabric glued to the front.

Still need to paint them, mount the center boss, and edge. More pics to follow. Haven't had a lot of time to work on them due to the weather, cleaning up the yard, birthdays... The usual excuses. ;-)