The Armour Archive

Just like the title says, my shield broke at practice today and I need a new one.

Birch that has been LineXed.

What about thickness? Also, the one I have now is curved and I was wondering if anyone had a tutorial on how to curve my new one.

Duncan13 wrote:Just like the title says, my shield broke at practice today and I need a new one.

Like the man above stated Birch is the way I go as it's a hardwood plywood. Make sure your getting a Birch Plywood were all the inner plys are birch as well. They make a Birch Faced Plywood were in the inner core is some other material usually Pine or Fir. Solid Birch Plywood will be sold as Baltic Birch, Finnish Birch or Russian Birch and although it's found in 4'x8' sheets most of what I fine are a 5'x5'.

Thickness all depends on what style shield your going to make out of it. For Center-grip Style Shields I use 3/8" Baltic Birch and for Strapped Shields I use 1/2". With a Good edging put on they last awhile. My last edging I used on a Centergrip is The thinner orange air hose you can buy by the foot at most big box stores split down the side and stretched around the outside. then I cover it with leather and stitch it to the rim of the shield. The shield I'm currently using is about 3.5 - 4 years old with a fair amount of use and no outer edge wood damage.

There are a million ways to curve a shield you'll just need to do some research on how you want to do it. Most start out with 2 thinner Layers such as 1/4" and glue them together and bend the ply. Bending can be from either a dedicated shield press to ratchet straps around a barrel or a tree. I've even seen people suspend the outer edges and place weight in the middle so it bows.

Rey

Thanks for the info. That doesn't sound too hard at all. Any glue I should use or stay away from? I've never done anything like this but I cant afford to buy another and and so far my kit has been given to me so I want to do something myself.

I use Tight-bond III which is a waterproof Wood Glue.. You can Find it at Lowes or HD or even Walmart.. It's a pretty common wood glue.

Making your own wood shields is easy. What I do to make it easier is if there is a shield shape I make frequently I make a pattern out of MDF or HardBoard and you just double side stick it to a piece of Plywood and use a router with a pattern bit on it. just takes a couple of mins to cut out a perfect copy every time then just edge and paint.

Rey

I will second Tite-Bond III. One thing you want to avoid using for this purpose is any kind of expanding glue. Gorilla Glue, for example, is an expanding glue. You want the glue to bond the pieces of wood together, not create space between them.

Thank you for the information. I'm going to attempt it Friday(hopefully) but shouldn't have too much trouble. Im looking forward to doing it.

When I used plywood shields, I used half inch plywood. I would cut two blanks from the same sheet making sure that they were aligned 90 degrees to each other so the plys were running in different directions. I would then cut out the center from one sheet, leaving about 2 inches on the edge. You ended up with a shield one inch thick for the outer 2 inches of the shield and half an inch thick in the middle.

I've got two shield presses in the Shed.

Two layers of 1/4 inch birch underlayment plywood and some wood glue in an improvised wood press. In addition to being light, the birch is surprisingly strong - standard 1/4 plywood would bend nearly to the ground.

You want a bend about as deep as you had before: c. 3-4" deep at center.

How much does a 4x8 sheet of 1/4" good-one-side ply cost where you are?

I have a huge shield press in the garage that works great, and is all fancy and complicated which someone else built and I snagged when they moved. But I built my first shield press out of scrap lumber in a couple hours.

I had a hard time getting 1/2" ply to bend without breaking at a certain depth, so I use 2 layers 1/4" birch ply glued with wood glue.

I use this rare wood called alluminium.

No seriously birch is the best for what we do.

I've tried tite-bond III with disappointing results.

I left it in the press for over a week, and within a month the shield was almost completely flat.

I pressed mine in the summer and went out and watered the shield while it was hot out.

That doesn't sound like a Glue issue.

Vladimir wrote:I've tried tite-bond III with disappointing results.

I left it in the press for over a week, and within a month the shield was almost completely flat.

That doesn't sound like a Glue issue.

Vladimir wrote:I've tried tite-bond III with disappointing results.

I left it in the press for over a week, and within a month the shield was almost completely flat.

Bart Hightower has a pretty decent tutorial here: http://www.hightowercrossbows.com/shieldhowto.htm
I would add in my experience that gorilla glue works fine, and generally my shields delaminate at the factory glue rather than the gorilla glue. However, Titebond II or III is really good glue so if you can make that work for you it'll probably be better.
Don't get "birch" plywood from DIY stores like Home Depot or Lowes. It's a birch veneer over filler, either MDF (which is particleboard) or a softwood. It's made for cabinetry, not for structural strength. Take the time to go to a specialty store and buy Baltic Birch plywood. I buy mine in 1/4" and 1/8" thicknesses depending on what I'm making. I've made a whole pile of 5/8" thick blanks for Vitus, but I find them a bit on the stout side so I make 1/2" thick for myself. I've got one I just pulled from the press that's actually 3/8", and we'll see how that holds up.
Edging will be crucial, that helps hold the shield together more than you'd think. I use rawhide over rope, and that works great for me.

In Nashville I buy 3/8" Euro Birch plywood from Nashville Plywood. Works great.