Great video! I loved that show, and thought I'd seen them all. Guess I missed that one. Are heater shields made the same way, or did construction techniques change by then? A simple "yes" or "no" will do, because if it's different, I'll start a new thread, rather than hijack this one. :)

Outstanding!

The article suggests this shield is covered in leather. If it's just linen, then that is impressive!

I cover the back sides of my shields as well, with linen or felt or thin leather. On kite shields, or on my cross-plied round shields, I also add a layer of linen between the plies. (Hell, I've even done them with carbon fiber and Kevlar, but don't tell anyone)

I wish I could afford to build a few to do test-to-failure on, so I'm always interested in looking at any damaged shields that come my way.

I build my (round) shields to have a bit of flex... to deform slightly, then spring back, absorbing as much energy as possible. I suspect that if struck across the grain, very little damage would be done, to the shield at least. The hand and arm holding the shield might be another matter altogether. Even if the arm wasn't broken, it'd probably hurt like hell, and one could well lose the ability to continue holding the shield.

With a convex kite shield, this built-in flex would be much harder to attain, the convex shape being much stiffer. For this reason, I have some doubts about kite shields being constructed of butted planks. With the grain running vertically, and lacking any cross-bracing (As far as I'm aware), I think the shield would want to split lengthwise, linen or leather facing notwithstanding.

Kite shields seem to be used primarily by mounted warriors, so sword or axe strikes from below would be unlikely. The length of the kite shield provides an effective weapon, the butt end applied liberally to the face and throat of attackers on foot, or used to sweep other mounted warriors from their saddles, while providing a defense from missile weapons.

The biggest problem with kite shields IMHO, is the position of the forearm right there behind the shield. Anything penetrating the shield could easily pass also through the arm. Perhaps I should provide a sheet of metal between the enarmes and the shield back?


BTW... I was just watching a thing on The History Channel, Barbarians II, where King Alfred and his West Saxons were marching around with really nice oval Celtic shields. What's up with THAT?

Does anyone have the recipe for that cheese glue they used in the video?

Here's a limited preview of Theophilus, On Divers Arts, courtesy of Google books. The section on cheese glue begins on page 26:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MMiLTJqvYnYC...mp;f=false

I am interested in recreating a shield from 1280-1300, preferably a triangular kite.
I wonder if anyone knows of a surviving example?

An interesting thing I've found about boarded and cloth laminated shields is that if you only do one side it tends to curve as the linen shrinks with the hide glue as it dries. I find it's actually hard to make a shield not curve using this method, you have to glue both facing sides at the same time and clamp it flat.

Heh, yeah, I remember when I told you about the effect I noted when I glued it.
I just got mail back from a wonderfully helpful man(Stuart Ivinson) at the British museum who was kind enough to send me a translation of the relevant five pages in the
Nickel, Helmut. (1958). Der mittelalter Reiterschild des Abendlandes. Thesis (Ph.D): University of Berlin.

Good read. I'll post again after I've analyzed the material.

Kohlmorgen's "Der mittelalterliche Reiterschild" is still available, and covers some of the same shields. It is still in german, however.

One persistent problem is that the positioning of the straps are pure guesswork. My impression is that both works do not take into account mounted/guiged use in their reconstruction proposals. On the other hand, no two high medevial shields have similar strapping arrangements, so it is pretty much up to the individual user.

I should probably aquire the original, but for my purposes, the translation is far better suited at the moment.
I will use the seedorf shield as my basis for the shield.

Hide glue is as strong as the best modern glues-just not waterproof. So use lard to waterproof glued wood, leather and rawhide. Casein glue--made from cheese-- is as strong as modern Titebond II (USA name for yellow carpenters glue) and is waterproof. Shields with single curves could well be made from boards with matched planed edges (planes known from the Roman Age onward, glued with casein or hide glue: Plenty strong--glue joints stronger than the wood around them if the joints are straight and clean for a good match. Think Barrel makers, they have to have almost perfect slat edge to slat edge surface to become water tight. Barrels are know from Celtic Gaul (The Gauls used barrels in preference to the Mediterranean stoneware jugs) all the way to present: And the barrel-makers used pretty much the same set of tools right up to the present. If they can keep their beer in barrels, then they can shape a shield with good glue joints.

Hi everyone. I would like to share some experience with my kite shield.
It is made of the alder wood, covered by the rawhide on the front and linen on the back. The padding for the shield arm is made of the linen stuffed by the wool.

1. the wood core
My previous shields were made of pine and birch. The alder is by far the best of those 3. It is very similar to the linden (which I could not get at the time), soft, not brittle, yielding under the strike and light. It is great to work with, glues really well and does not crack. Central European pine crackles, the birch is the carpenters nightmare, it has interlocked grain and is quite heavy.
I made the core 1.5 cm thick, slightly tapering toward the edges. The curve was achieved by glueing together tapered planks (really easy to do) on a guide and then carving it to desired thickness.

2. rawhide
I've found that there is big difference between a "standard" rawhide you buy at the tanneries, which is splitted to have unified thickness, and a real rawhide, just dehaired and degreased. Few examples - standard rawhide soaks to be pliable and just right to put on the shield in appx.. 3 hours. The real one, after 3 hours does not even bend, and it takes 3 days to soak it to the right state.
I glued the rawhide on, using hide glue. Works like magic, you just need clamps and some planks to hold the edges in the right place. I put an extra layer on the edges, so after it dried up, is has rawhide about 1 centimeter thick on the edge and 0.5 cm on the face.
I painted it with mineral pigments in the linen oil (you can use the varnish for quicker drying) and added one extra layer of pure oil to make it waterproof. The shield spent the weekend in the mist and rain and still holds together without a problem.
First painting peeled of in few weeks, so I first painted whole surface with thin hide glue mixed the the chalk, and applied the pigments on this. This method works.

3. linen
I used heavy linen canvas, again glued on using hide glue. I have to repair it now and then at the edges where it comes off. It helps to hold the shield together and avoid splinters.

It is in use for 3 years now, in quite heavy fights, and still hasn't any major damage, just few notches on the edges and some bruises on the surface (made by poleaxe). It is reasonably light, sturdy and guards the left side quite well.