The Armour Archive

I'm building up a new shield right now, and I thought I'd pass on something I'm doing for the shield edging. Siloflex. I use laminated plywood shields, and invariably I have to put metal edging on the "hot spots" that take the most abuse to make the shield last out a year. When the shield does die, it usually dies right where the edging stops. All this is under garden hose, which looks bad and adds a couple of pounds to the shield. So I thought; I need something that's rigid enough to distribute the force of the blow, and yet flexible (or moldable) enough to get around the edge of a curved shield. Siloflex.

I've used the 3/4" I.D. tubing, about 1 and a half lengths, to go around the entire edge of my shield. I cut a ~1" strip out of the siloflex with a cutting wheel in my drill, and notched out triangles at the corners to allow it to make the tight bend. It's held down with a couple of zip-ties. Even with the strip cut out, the siloflex took some serious convincing to get over the shield edge, especially the top. Zip-tie as you go. You could have a friend use a blow torch on the siloflex to make it more malleable, but frankly I don't think I'd trust my friends with a blowtorch (sorry, guys). I intend to cover the edge with thin leather, to pass "The 10' rule". I expect this will help the shield survive longer than the last.

Questions? Comments?

- Kyle

Sounds cool. I just made a shield out of wood. To edge it, I used 3/4" cotton rope, then laid wet doggy bone over it & laced/stitched it down. As the doggy bone dries, it forms itself very tightly to the shield, and looks really authentic.

Greetings,


That sounds interesting.....let us know how it lasts. My first shield was wood and it didn't even survive its first event. I like wood though, because it is fairly lightweight. But the strenghth and durability was always a problem.....so let us know how it holds up.


Llywelyn

I have been doing this for about three years...

It works great.
My plywood heater lasted about three times longer than usual

I use it on my aluminium oval and its great.
Does a better job than heater hose at a fraction of the weight.

I highly reccomend it, but if you are going to cover it with leather anyway use the 1/2 inch..

You said "I cut a ~1" strip out of the siloflex with a cutting wheel in my drill" Do you mean you end up with something like a C shape? (When you look at it end on.)

Hmmmm...
Well, you are gonna want to use something to lace the edging down, cause the zip-ties aren't going to last very long.
They can hold things together really well, but they lack the shear resistance they need for SCA combat.

I went that route for a while, as did a friend or two of mine....
We ALL went back to lacing.....

VvS

Yeah, zip ties work on shield edging about as good as pop rivets work for armor straps.

Been there, went back to lacing...

Cedric

I dont know...

I used zip ties and they lasted for quite some time.
it all depends on where you place them.

if you keep them off the leading edge, and only at the spots where the siloflex joins then you will not go through as many

Llywelyn: I've always used wood shields. They've always lasted pretty well, except for the one I got the plywood for from a dumpster. Plywood tends to slowly disintegrate under impact, so to make it last you've got to distribute the force of the impact - thus, metal edging under the hose or (now) siloflex edging. My longest-lived shield so far lasted ~4 years; the shortest (the dumpster special) one month. How heavy do they hit in your group ?

Gargoyle: Yep, you've got it, the siloflex has a c-shaped cross-section after I've cut out the 1" strip. I tried putting it on the shield edge after only cutting a slit down the length of the siloflex, but no dice. I guess it's more manly than I am.

Vermin: I see what you mean about the zip-ties; I took it out on Sunday without the leather facing and had to replace two over the course of practice. I was going to attach the leather over the siloflex with a number of leather straps; 2 at each corner and 2 or 3 across each span. Do you think that'd cut it for the leather and siloflex, or is it lacing again?

- Kyle

A word to the wise: if you try the dog bone thing, don't let it soak longer than a day or two. I inadvertently left one to soak for about a week, and was rapidly reminded that rawhide is RAW HIDE.

The stench was impressive.

Yeah,

Siloflex works pretty well, and is a b*tch to put on without a larger cutout - I ended up using a hammer, 2 screwdrivers, some pliers, some grease and a whole lot of cursing . I'd like to make a couple of suggestions / requests:

Don't use zip ties - the corners, cut edges can scrape and cut your opponent (which is often me since I like to fight up close and personal)
Make sure you sand, file, smoothe the corner cuts, joints in the Siloflex - same reasons as above (I have this cool scar from the front corner of a Siloflex edged shield as it dragged across my shoulder )

My dubloon and a half,
Ulsted

Kyle- Yeah, I think the straps would hold, I've got a friend who does somthing similar.
Just don't use cheap leather....(grin)

VvS