[Jeffrey Hildebrandt]

Though a modest project, I thought this shield boss might be of interest to the community here. It is based on a fragmented find from Fishamble street, Dublin, and is dated to the Viking period. It fits closest into Rygh's typology as a type 565.

My reproduction was raised from a welded cone, and was drilled with four holes for mounting. Diameter, not including the flange, is just over four inches.



-Hildebrandt

[Bruno Giordan]

Just apparently simple, just apparently.

[Mark Moore]

I like that very much! I bet Madonna would buy two of them! ..........McM

[Jason O C]

Hi Jeffrey, nice shield boss. I have one question though, 4" diameter seems quite small, I don't think that I could even fit my hand inside it, so why so small? As its based on a fragment, is possible that the original had a larger diameter?

Jason

[Jeffrey Hildebrandt]

[Scott Woodruff]

Very nice. I am actually quite excited to see something like this. I would love to hear a bit about your experience making the boss. Also, thanks for the dimensions on original bosses. This is about the same size that I like bosses to be, despite the constant bombardment of "isn't that too small?" and "people were much smaller and had smaller hands back then." Also, is the flange very flat or slightly coned? I would love to know thickness measurements or any other info you would like to share.Thanks for posting, this pic will certainly be going into my image library.

PS- As you seem to know a good bit about bosses, I have a slightly off-topic question. Have you ever heard of remnants of sheepskin, wool or wool cloth being found inside bosses? It seems that I read something about padding being used inside bosses, but I can not find any references to such.

[Jeffrey Hildebrandt]

Thanks, Scott.

I can share some of the process I used for making this boss. Using an image of the intended profile, I measured the angle of a cone that would cover the outside curves of the form. All of the shaping was to be compressed inward. I then calculated the angle to be cut out of a circle in order to make a cone of the right profile, then made a pattern. I cut it from 16 gauge steel, (my customer said thickness was not a concern, so I saved myself some effort and material.) formed a cone over the horn of an anvil, welded and sanded the seam. The first stage of forming was to hammer down the point of the cone over a circular rod of the same diameter as the intended tip - so the tip is the thickest part, because the most steel was compressed there. Next, I hammered in the area beneath the tip over a ball stake. Then, using the same stake but a different hammer, I drove in the area where the flange meets the body. Using this method, the flange ended up almost flat without even flaring it out. I then finished flattening and truing the flange by hammering from the inside over a slightly rounded edge on my anvil. I then stamped my mark into it, and sanded it. The last few stages of sanding I did by hand, then filed the edge.

As for whether bosses were lined or padded, I cannot remember having read anything about it.

-Hildebrandt

[Scott Woodruff]

Thank you very much for the detailed info on the making of the boss. I am part of a reenactment group that constantly needs bosses, preferably of different types and based on actual examples, so this information will be extremely useful to me. It seems like an obvious method in retrospect, but the idea of raising a boss from a welded cone never occured to me.