The Armour Archive

I cut out a shield for a new guy from T6 6061 @ .100".
As we all know the aluminum has a distinct sound and "ring" to it.
The new guy went out to WalMart and bought truck bedliner paint in a spray can and sprayed the back of the shield lightly with it.
It seriously deadened the "ring" and deepened and muted the general noise of the aluminum a noticeable bit.

Just a cool trick a new guy thought of.

Maybe it'll work in helmets that ring too.

I had considered trying that, but didn't try it for fear that it would be too heavy. How did the weight turn out?

Dauyd wrote:I had considered trying that, but didn't try it for fear that it would be too heavy. How did the weight turn out?

Didn't add anything that I could tell.
He sprayed it on pretty light.
I have used the stuff before on some metal stools that were slick from 50 years of use.
I sprayed them so my ass would stay on the stools. Worked great.
It goes on very thin unless you make several passes.

My aluminum shield is done up like my wooden one(need to strap that one...). That is faced in 4oz leather and edged with rawhide. Doesn't sound anything like wood, but definitely not aluminum sounding.
I have done the bedliner in the helm. Worked real well on the large spun dome that rang like a church bell, everyone could hear it, that I sold to a newbie.

Isn't that stuff textured?

Donal Mac Ruiseart wrote:Isn't that stuff textured?

goes on smooth unless you back it away a bit when spraying and then it goes on textured.

who worries about anything sprayed onto an aluminum cHeater adding too much weight? If anything, they are improved by being heavier.

What I really hate about using an aluminum shield is the wobble when someone hits it. And yeah, the sound, which always reminds me of two drunks fighting among trash cans in an alley.

For helmets and shields you can also use sound deadening material for car audio, self sticks and shapes easily with a heat gun or hair dryer. No spray necessary.

Thor.

Corby de la Flamme wrote:who worries about anything sprayed onto an aluminum cHeater adding too much weight? If anything, they are improved by being heavier.

What I really hate about using an aluminum shield is the wobble when someone hits it. And yeah, the sound, which always reminds me of two drunks fighting among trash cans in an alley.

Well, when every time I've seen it it was on a truck- and about 1/4-3/8" thick- I figured it could easily weight 3-4 times as much as the shield itself. I already have several layers of gesso, a layer of glue impregnated canvas, and about 8 layers of paint, along with the shield edging, basket and stap hardware- so I don't figure I need to quadruple what it already weighs.

Bolting a 1/2" wooden heater blank to the back of an aluminum shield is the best way to make it an effective shield. i make the wooden shield about 1/4"inch smaller in diameter than the aluminum heater, and it works great.

Gives it some heft, make that f'ing top corner bend impossible, and lasts forever because the wood is never hit edge on.

My last shield in this style was still going strong after 4 years of use. I just took it apart because I broke a mount on the shield basket, and wanted to use the basket on a new shield shape.

I use thicker T6 6061 than most people.
It only weighs about 3/4 lb more and lasts almost forever.
Corners don't bend, doesn't look like a potato chip after a while.

Sir Omarad wrote:Maybe it'll work in helmets that ring too.

I'd be little worried about sticking my head in a bucket of dried chemicals. I like to glue a strip of cork around the base of the back and around the brow. Takes all the ring out.

Baron Alejandro wrote:

Sir Omarad wrote:Maybe it'll work in helmets that ring too.

I'd be little worried about sticking my head in a bucket of dried chemicals. I like to glue a strip of cork around the base of the back and around the brow. Takes all the ring out.

what do you think is in that glue?

Sir Omarad wrote:

Baron Alejandro wrote:

Sir Omarad wrote:Maybe it'll work in helmets that ring too.

I'd be little worried about sticking my head in a bucket of dried chemicals. I like to glue a strip of cork around the base of the back and around the brow. Takes all the ring out.

what do you think is in that glue?

You could use fish eye glue...

Johann ColdIron wrote:You could use fish eye glue...

I used to eat that stuff in scholio.

Falcone

Apollonian wrote:

Johann ColdIron wrote:You could use fish eye glue...

I used to eat that stuff in scholio.

Falcone

That explains it!

Broadway wrote:Bolting a 1/2" wooden heater blank to the back of an aluminum shield is the best way to make it an effective shield. i make the wooden shield about 1/4"inch smaller in diameter than the aluminum heater, and it works great.

Gives it some heft, make that f'ing top corner bend impossible, and lasts forever because the wood is never hit edge on.

My last shield in this style was still going strong after 4 years of use. I just took it apart because I broke a mount on the shield basket, and wanted to use the basket on a new shield shape.

Regarding the shield corner bending issue, I only recently found that Windrose sells this:

http://tinyurl.com/6bk7bnr

It's cut from the same aluminum stock as their complete shields, so it is tough.