I'm building one of those round viking shields and I was wondering about a couple of issues. I bought 1/4 inch beech plywood because I wanted something light and I am hoping that I can make up for the thinner wood by strengthening it with glued-on linen. I read some of the other threads here but there were a few points I wasn't quite clear on, so I have a few newbie questions:

• Do you guys normally glue linen to both sides of the sheild?
  
• Do you use one or two layers of linen?
  
• Do you seal the final layer of linen with glue?
  
• Has anybody ever had a shield warp on them when the wood got damp and there is only linen glued to one side?
  
• Which is better a laced or nailed rawhide rim?
  

I used an obscene amount of glue and the linen seems to be sticking on well even if it did not come through the weave everywhere on the shield face. Hope that's not a bad sign.

P.S. IKEA sells fairly cheap but strong linen.

If you start with plywood, *always* cover back and front. Plywood always looks like modern plywood, no matter what you do to it, and the public will notice! I generally don't use all that much glue--if the fabric is completely stuck to the wood, it won't come loose. Then a good coat or two of paint, and you're all set. I've never had a plywood shield warp, but then I haven't gone swimming with one!

Good luck!

Matthew

I use linen on both sides, two layers in front, one in the back. I do not seal the outer layers with glue. A good waterproof paint will suffice.
I've had two shields warp on me, the first one wasn't backed with anything and got wet, the second one was backed with linen and got wet. Morale of this, paint the backside as well as the front!

I use cheaper cotton painting drop cloths to cover my plywood shields. Once they are painted, no one knows it is cotton.

Yes, definitely cover both sides, and paint both sides if possible. You *may* be able to get away with only painting the front side, but you may notice your shield moving somewhat with atmospheric changes if it's solid wood rather than plywood. A plywood shield shouldn't move much at all.

1/4" is actually well within the historic range; you did well in choosing this thickness. Adding a linen cover to BOTH sides won't make much difference in this dimension. Historically, it seems, shields were covered in a layer of thin leather rather than in fabric, though the fabric will serve much the same purpose. The idea seems to be to add the fibrous cover in order to resist splitting, to stop any cracks from spreading. In your case it will also serve to disguise the fact that you're using modern materials.

I've never had any problems with a plywood shield warping, though this would be more of a concern with planked construction. The crossed wood grain in the plywood should help to resist this. Gluing your fabric cover on with water resistant glue should serve to seal the wood, but you might want to add a coat or two of thin satin finish polypropylene to everything once you have the shield completed. This is especially important for a leather or rawhide cover.

It's probably more historically accurate to stitch on rather than nail on your rim. A stitched on rim would have been easier to maintain in the field. You also won't want to be spraying folks with metal projectiles from your damaged shield. Some reenactment societies actually specify this for this very reason.

Hope this helps

I put only one layer of cotton on both sides and I have seen no problems (splinters) so far. My kids are using them pretty often and the rough handling did not damage the shields cover. Well, I had to refix the handles twice. ;-)[url]

Hello. Hope this isn't too much an act of necromancy.

I'm working on a similar shield and I was wondering about attaching the rim with cut tacks. Would short tacks in both front and back that don't go all the way through suffice, or would it be better to use long ones and clinch them?

[quote="Dan D'Silva"]

Matthew Bunker wrote:

In other news, does the weight of a linen cover matter? I've found sufficient remnants in both a shirt weight and a very heavy warp cloth.

No, but the glue might. I used a whole bottle of this stuff applying 3 layers of linen:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soudal-Dispersion-Adh...soudal+30d

Of course the glue dries out so you don't add the whole weight of the bottle. The change I noticed most, weight wise, was the addition of the boss which was significantly heavier than that glue bottle.

It's not quite fair to say that there is *no* evidence for rims, it's the *archeological* evidence which is inconclusive. There are numerous *depictions* of shields with what look like rims, sometimes even with a row of little dots or circles that darn well look like nail heads. That said, numerous finds of shield bosses and handles in graves don't ever seem to be accompanied by a circle of nails!

Though there are bits and pieces such as Vendel/Valsgarde graves, Sutton Hoo, and one or two other sites that are not quite Viking era, or from a different region, which have turned up metallic shield rim parts. It's not much to go on, obviously!

When I'm gluing leather or rawhide rims down, or clamping them while wet, I always use wood or heavy cardboard shims between the hide and the clamp! Otherwise you can get all kinds of icky clamp marks permanently tooled into your rim...

Matthew

Are you sure what those shields are? I've heard, watched and read that shield purpose made for the Holmgang, essentially the Viking precursor to the judical duel, were made by a third party and intentionally made fragile. The idea was the same as the later giant staff shields, have a shield which both combatants are completely unfamiliar with using and you put them both on equal footing. No one would have the advantage of a better made defense.