I thought I would show my buckler and target. I like both of them for different reasons. The trapezoidal shaped buckler is actually called an "Italian target"

Each buckler is about 1 foot in diameter. The round one came from Kult of Athena. I am not sure who manufactured it, but here are the stats. 14 gauge steel with rolled edge and a central boss. The front features additional steel plates. It weighs
3 lb 11 oz. It is fairly heavy. But this is the one I practice with on my pell.

The second is from Arms and Amour and is called a square target, so technically it may not be a buckler, but I also train with this object and use it like a buckler. Here is what Arms and Amour says about it:

"This distinctive Italian target is based on a 16th century original. This style of one-handed shield is often depicted in the arms manuals of the Italian masters. Marozzo shows one very similar in his illustrations of fencing. The recurved shape creates a surface which captures and directs your opponents attacks. This same feature can be seen in very small hand targets to larger version that cover the whole arm. Original: Circa 1540-60 Italian, Wallace Collection, London (A 318)."

The square target has a curious handle, which I do not quite understand. The handle has two wings near one end. The wings are rather sharp so I wrapped them in cloth to protect my hand. I wonder if anyone knows what those wings are for or how they should be used.

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My new kiteshield, its made of 2 layers 5mm thick plywood gleud together and then put in a shield press. Then covered with linen on both sides, for the back padding I used thick canvas stuffed with the stuffing of an old pillow . Painted with normal wood paint from the Do It Yourself market here. Runes done with a white marker.
Just need to buy rawhide for the edges and its battle ready.

Not sure what the drawing is of ? A bird of prey maybe ? But no matter what it is I really love the design and the use of positive and negative space: A real work of art just for the drawing by itself but also a very attractive shield tat also seems very well put together.

Matthijs van Halteren-

Looks great!! Runes + Raven = Win!

Matthijs van Halteren-

Cool raven design! What do the runes say?

My first shield

My first attempt at a shield. A late La Tene Celtic type. Made from ply, faced front/back with linen, and boss is held on with sawed-off carriage bolts peened over crude washers I cut from brass sheet. Handle is reinforced with an oak strip, although I wish I had it go further across the board for a bit more stability.





Some of my edging could have been more refined, but ehh. a bit crude in some places, but it was a learning experience. I'll get it next time! Yeah, here come the rooster, yeah... You know he aint' gonna die!! :lol:




I still need to cover it with some type of protective coating. What do you guys recomend? beeswax?

Here's my Irish targe, a one off made by Joe Lindsey with my kern from albion thrown in for good measure. The targe is based on the 16th century Irish one pictured.

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My first and second heater. The photos aren't great and the shields are more vibrant then how they appear. I hope to improve my painting ability on my next one.

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First heater (Hospitaller)

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Second heater (own design)

Great artwork, Stephen. Looks very fine to me.

Congrats!

Thomas

Since our fellow forumite P. Norton asked me to take a picture for him of my buckler, which he saw in an other posting of me, I thought I could share it with all of you in this thread.

While it's "just" a buckler and none of the big shields, I made some alterations to the grip. It came with a thin, bare metal bar. I took two slices of thick leather and wrapped it with cord. Then I added a string suspension, much like Elling Polden promotes it in several threads ;)

The shield's about 1,5 mm thick. It's also available in 2 mm thickness.

Hope you enjoyed it,
Thomas

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Thomas,

Thank you for posting these pictures.

I really like this buckler, especially its proportions. The ratio of central boss diameter to total diameter is larger on this one than on other production bucklers I've seen, and it looks good. In fact, I think I prefer this design.

:)

Thomas, may I ask where you picked up that buckler? It looks very nice. How does it hold up to abuse?

Connor

Hi Connor,

I got it from www.trainingsschwerter.de. I prefer the 1,5 mm thick version for light sword & buckler sparring. Mostly because it's not too heavy and matches nicely the Albion I.33 trainer in weight. Until now the buckler withstands very well as you see. But I've read other german fencers advice to use the 2 mm thick version for harder sparring. So I've got another buckler (2 mm, but Hanwei-made) for show-combat and harder drills.

Kind regards,
Thomas

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.

Connor

Here's my new kite shield from Mercenary's Tailor.

The whole thing is very big and sturdy, and yet surprisingly light. In addition, Allan and his colleagues added some nice details at my request, for not much extra. This included a black-on-brown leather swirl pattern (based on my taste and the Bayeux tapestry) and best of all, a bronze cross on the boss to match the MT spangenhelm that I already owned. See them both in the picture below - you can see how great they look together. What you can't see is the detailed harness and padding under the felt at the back of the shield. Altogether, it much lighter and more detailed than the production shields one usually finds at retail stores. The customer service was also excellent - Allan was friendly and helpful, and very patient over many e-mails, because I placed the order before having a clear idea of exactly what I wanted.

I highly reccomend their products, especially if you would like to personalize your order.

-JD

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Mercenary's Tailor Kite Shield and Helm

This is my first shield.

I made it from 1x4 ash boards. The boards had a little warp that I was able to use so the shield curves slightly. I attached the straps by peening carriage bolts. The boss is from Mercenary's Tailor (GREAT customer service by the way).

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