A REAL SHIELD: HOW TO BUILD IT
                                -Ioseph of Locksley


        First, get a piece of plywood of an appropriate thickness, around
3/4 or 5/8 inch is about right, and cut it to the shape you want. A curved
wooden heater shield is OK, too.
        Then, take a blowtorch, and lightly char the wood on the face. This
will "fire-harden" the surface.
        Then go to Tandy, or wherever, and get a piece of rawhide large enough 
to cover the face of the shield, with about 3 inches of overlap around the 
edges. Soak the rawhide in COLD water for several hours, until it is very 
stretchy and very slimy.
        Cover the face of the shield with a water-soluble glue, fairly 
thickly, and place the wet rawhide on a smooth surface. Put the shield on the
rawhide, and step on it, to improve adhesion of the glue.
        Now tack the rawhide to the shield, using a staple gun, attaching the 
hide to the edge, not the face, and stretching the rawhide tight.
        Tack down the hide on the back of the shield, about 1/2 to 1/4 inch
down from the edge. After all this is tacked down GOOD AND TIGHT, cut off the
excess hide, and hammer down the "humps' of rawhide on the back of the shield,
tacking down where necessary.
        If it is summertime, set the shield out in the sun for about three 
days, and let the rawhide get good and dry, and very hard.
        Sand the face of the shield, and you're ready to put on the back.



        Cut a piece of medium-weight leather to the shape of the shield, and 
put on the back, and mark where your arm and hand go.
        Take it off, and SEW the enarmes to the leather, leaving room to rivet
them down also.
        Rivet the enarmes. Glue your padding-of-choice to the wood.
        Now: are you ABSOLUTELY sure of the placement of your enarmes? Get a
VERY strong contact cement, follow directions, and glue the leather backing to
the back of the shield, covering up the edge of the rawhide.
        Attach your shield-edging in the usual way, whether FIBER hose wired 
on, glued on, or whatever, or HEMP ROPE (period material) glued to the edge, 
and lashed with rawhide.
        Now: cover the edging with another piece of rawhide, applied wet and 
tacked and hammered down, or use tanned leather if you wish.
        Paint your shield using alcohol based leather dyes, and then varnish 
or lacquer the face.
        You now have a shield design that has been proof-tested against a .68
musket ball at 50 yds, and that should last you some time of use. Remember to
occasionally oil the leather, and don't abuse it by leaving it out in the 
rain! (remember rain? Water falling from the sky? I'm told it happens in other 
Kingdoms.......)
        If you wanna get real fancy, put a lightweight tooling leather on the 
face (BEFORE you put on the edging, dammit!) and tool your heraldry on the 
face of the shield....this is VERY period.

        Go hit people!