Shield failure. Knee update
I've been trying a new edging approach with my shields. It looks good, it's light, it's easy to do and it's not particularly expensive. Unfortunately this one also died an early death. I'm posting this one here for the early edification of Barnet, my shield maker:
Some of the screws tore through the steel edging, some tore out through the wood sideways. This shield lasted through Lysts where I only used it a few times and maybe three practices. I blocked a lot with it since having an easy block was such a novelty (I've been fighting mostly pole arm for about a year and a half now and I'm switching back to sword and shield because one of my thumbs isn't doing so hot and needs a rest). I drilled out the holes for the back up shield (which is just behind the broken shield in the picture above), beveled the edges for the carriage bolts and installed the straps so I can use the shield tomorrow night at practice.
I did some more shaping and turned the edges of the knee cops tonight:
They still need a little shaping, firing, sanding and polishing, but they're coming along pretty well. It's nice to be past the major forming steps, though honestly they're a lot of fun. I love making something useful, durable and evocative out of a raw and formless material.
Some of the screws tore through the steel edging, some tore out through the wood sideways. This shield lasted through Lysts where I only used it a few times and maybe three practices. I blocked a lot with it since having an easy block was such a novelty (I've been fighting mostly pole arm for about a year and a half now and I'm switching back to sword and shield because one of my thumbs isn't doing so hot and needs a rest). I drilled out the holes for the back up shield (which is just behind the broken shield in the picture above), beveled the edges for the carriage bolts and installed the straps so I can use the shield tomorrow night at practice.
I did some more shaping and turned the edges of the knee cops tonight:
They still need a little shaping, firing, sanding and polishing, but they're coming along pretty well. It's nice to be past the major forming steps, though honestly they're a lot of fun. I love making something useful, durable and evocative out of a raw and formless material.
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