SCA Shield Construction Ideas - Spring Steel w/Rolled Edges?

Richard Blackmoore · Post by **Richard Blackmoore** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:03 am

I was thinking about the problem of getting a light weight shield that would hold up, have a more period appearance, be light like period shields and be easy on SCA swords by having a smoother and larger edge than aluminum.

What if you made them out of spring steel with a rolled edge of about 1/2", heat treated it. It could then be covered with fabric and gesso (or other materials).

It would probably be expensive, but perhaps not that much more difficult than the fiberglass sheilds and not much more expensive if you could do it in bulk.

We do rolls all the time now for armoured breastplates and these don't have to be decorative or all that fancy, the only tricky part would be on shields like a heater if you want a tight corner. And these don't have to be super clean rolls since they would be covered.

Some of the rolling could possibly be done with a machine.

I'm wondering what gauge of spring steel would be needed to hold up in kingdoms like Atlantia and the East where blows are firmly struck.

Unlike aircraft aluminum, spring steel can also be worked into complex shapes and don't have to be mostly flat or just have basic rolls. For shields with medial ridges or convex/concave areas, this might be just the ticket.

This could also work well for living history and jousting late period stuff, where they sometimes did have steel shields that were uncovered.

Anyone have thoughts oh this?

mrks · Post by **mrks** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:02 am

I made a couple shields out of TI way back when.

I have the .050 back and going to cut it up for metal. it was 9 1/2lbs with the lightest edging I could use. 10 1/2 with good rubber hose.

the .040 one is 8 3/4 lbs at 22 by 33 and super light edging and handle.

you might be able to use aluminum and edge it with rolled spring?

but I cant see spring working out for "large shields" but maybe for a smaller heavy shield... as its 40 percent heavier than Ti.

sorry

mrks

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:11 pm

I think you'd need fairly stout stuff, as shields take some pretty hard abuse.

Would you be willing to make a small heater as a trial?

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

Henry of Bexley · Post by **Henry of Bexley** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:03 pm

Don't know a huge amount about spring steel in practice, but would there be a danger of an overused shield shattering or cracking and making a pretty sharp pointy thing out of your shield right when you don't want it to?

Just a concern. Anything I know about spring is just theory, not practical experience.

Samuel · Post by **Samuel** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:17 am

Ive seen sheilds with 3/8 alum round stock welded to the edges on the inside and bent slightly over..

this seems to work fine and gives the appearance of a thicker shield.

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:55 pm

Aside from questions of weight or failure characteristics of the metal, I would have a concern about another failure characteristic....that of the arm holding said *spring* steel shield.

A shield of this material will vibrate a great deal when struck, and I would anticipate many people finding this to produce unacceptable results in hand, wrist and elbow. Backing the entire shield with a fabric lining might help, might even help a great deal, but you start losing any kind of weight advantage you may have had.

I would also anticipate that all that nice gesso and paint would have a tendency to flake and fall off with the vibration.

It's not an experiment I would go out of my way to attempt...but then, Richard, you know how I am about my shields

Gavin