The Armour Archive

Well I finished my rawhide edged shield and it worked very well at practice this Sunday. I just need to paint the eyes and it's finished. Anyway, I promised a a few people a pic -so here you go:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21215018@N07/2979626936/

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Dang that helm has a wide brim!

adamstjohn wrote:Dang that helm has a wide brim!

??????

hjalmr wrote:

adamstjohn wrote:Dang that helm has a wide brim!

??????

I think he was referring to someone trying to use the shield as a kettle helm.

That's a sharp looking shield, BTW.

Looks great!

Very nice!

Rawhide rocks doesnt it!!!

Its an insanely tough material, the grip and strength is unbelievable.

Andrew Young wrote:Very nice!

Rawhide rocks doesnt it!!!

I second that especially on that shield! You did an awesome job, man. What dimensions does it have? Can we also have a shot of the handle-side? *pleaaase*

I must also say I really dig the artwork on this one, I like the fact that it´s not symmetrical

Good job! Keep it up

Greetings Vigmund

Beautiful work!

Very nice indeed!

... says the guy with the shield fetish ...


Cheers,
William

Very cool!

Very cool hjalmr, you should start offering those as well....

Glad everyone likes the shield.

This shield is a typical 24" round. I'll see about getting a pic of the backside for those interested. I use to sell these on ebay for $50 -with painted hose instead of the rawhide. They sold pretty good too. I may try selling one in the near future, however it's hard to guess what design and colors will sell.

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what method did you use to attach the rawhide?

GideonMacKay wrote:what method did you use to attach the rawhide?

For this shield, I riveted it on with nails. I may try something different on my next shield (need a back-up just in case...)

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Hjalmr continues to impress me.

I've had a lot of trouble with the rawhide tearing when it gets wet. It breaks on the edges, pulls through the rivet heads, etc.. How do you protect the rawhide from the elements?

What did you use to color the rawhide, paint? dye? and how did you seal it?

-barnet

Uber-spiff, Hjalmr. That is a way sweet shield.

Christopher

I used washers on the back side and uber carefully tapped the rivets down. Most came out pretty good, but a 2-3 have me worried -luckily I put on so many it should last awhile. If I use nails again, I will try the big ones. Now I did wipe of the rawhide with a towel before putting it one the shield (just another experiment). It was actually hardening as I was putting it on (I got worried it wouldn't work and had to re soak one of the pieces because it took me too long to position it). I used vice grips to hold the rawhide in place while I drilled the holes in the 1/2 way dry rawhide. All in all my experiments worked to my satisfaction.

I painted the rawhide with the same paint I painted the wood -the rawhide took the paint amazingly well. I did not seal the paint at all as I wanted to see how it worked -it seems that the rawhide and paint sorta mold together into this hard sealed edging. The rawhide seems to have sucked it in and it doesn't appear to be coming off. I was shocked at how easy it was to paint the rawhide. Try it!

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I love the image, I used it too on my first big round shield. I had the design saved in my pic files from a site I could not recall. Do you know where the original came from Hjalmr? I can no longer recall where the original came from, but if you look on the cover of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom, you can see the cover artist also used it. In fact every shield on the cover of the Last Kingdom I have seen online. I suppose that could be the orginal source, but I suspect the opposite is more likely.

My question is it an actual historical image from jewelry or something?

I love your shield by the way, very nice work. I am inspired to make a new shield (the one in the pic is a monster I just use in wars and melees)

Brynjolfr Hrafnsson wrote:I love the image, I used it too on my first big round shield. I had the design saved in my pic files from a site I could not recall. Do you know where the original came from Hjalmr? I can no longer recall where the original came from, but if you look on the cover of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom, you can see the cover artist also used it. In fact every shield on the cover of the Last Kingdom I have seen online. I suppose that could be the orginal source, but I suspect the opposite is more likely.

My question is it an actual historical image from jewelry or something?

I love your shield by the way, very nice work. I am inspired to make a new shield (the one in the pic is a monster I just use in wars and melees)

You know, I have no idea. When I decided to make a new shield I looked around on my computer for viking pics and I had this in my picture files with no other info then "viking design". I don't know where it came from, or even if I found it or drew it in the past. At least now I know it's out there somewhere. Lol...

It actually reminds me of viking stone carvings -I would try looking at stone carvings for the authentic version of this.

I like your shield as well. Very spiffy and viking like...

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Rawhide doesn't have any oils in it, does it? No wonder it took the paint so well and easily then -- nothing to bounce the paint's vehicle.

hey where can i get rawhide?

I used rawhide dog chews from Walmart

how...you wet them down and then what?

Very nice shields.
I like the shield threads.
You guys have done well.

Thanks for the pics.

PS: I have my Mad Mat shield boss and I have been eyeballing this big oak wooden skid at work.
It has some nice planks in it.

Were the Viking shields ever domed?
I like the steel ring, as mine will not be for SCA.

Dmitriy wrote:I've had a lot of trouble with the rawhide tearing when it gets wet. It breaks on the edges, pulls through the rivet heads, etc.. How do you protect the rawhide from the elements?

I use a tent.

(no, seriously, since switching to rawhide edging I have had to break myself of leaving my shield sitting outside the tent overnight)

As for where to get it, I buy mine from a company called Oregon Leather (I know they have a website, dunno about mail order etc). I only use bleached cowhide. Dog toys are a much lower grade of rawhide and smell NASTY when you soak them. Bleached rawhide may cost a bit more, but it doesnt smell and it comes in nice flat sheets instead of the lumpy pieces of half dead cow you get from dog chews.

Cedric is right on all counts. The dog chews stink like hell when they are wet (the smell is gone when they dry however). I did it because I didnt have the money to order a hide at the time, but when I need to redo my shields I will definitely try and get a rawhide from a leather supply place.

That said, the chews I got were quite thick, and as such, have held up really well to a lot of abuse. The shield I photographed is just my war shield and doesnt get much use, but I have a smaller 24 inch shield I made at the same time which I fight with 2-3 times a week minimum, and the rawhide is still in pretty good shape after 6 months of that abuse.

I got my rawhide at tandy leather. I got a 24" x 30" (or so) piece for under $30 and I have enough to make 3-4 shields of the same size.

I wet them using my bathtub. Fill it 3-4" deep and just drop them in for 5 minutes or so.

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