Wicker shield reconstruction

[john m roberts]

Has anybody here ever tried making a wicker shield, either with or without leather facing? I am thinking in terms of the pelta or other smallish shield. I'd like to know what materials and construction methods you used, and how they turned out.

[Neuraleanus]

They were suppose to weigh twice that of a normal scutum. I would very much be interested to learn how to make a scutum ex viminibus. Perhaps someone can put together a HOW-TO?

[Magnus]

I'd be interested in that as well...I'm not even sure where to source out materials.

[jvrjenivs]

If you just wait another 2 months I'll have a how-to ready. I'm planning to make some in the very near future (read: waiting for some materials at the moment)

[Marcus Mummius]

We would like to make these as well, just can't find a good pattern and we don't really know how to start...

[jvrjenivs]

It's pretty simple. You just have to give it a go. I can explain how to start, but I think it's better to wait till I have some pictures ready.

[Marcus Mummius]

It's pretty simple. You just have to give it a go. I can explain how to start, but I think it's better to wait till I have some pictures ready.

Yes, we'll wait for your pictures, thanks.

[john m roberts]

Actually, I wasn't referring to the heavyweight wicker training scutum, but to the light infantry wicker shield. But I'd like to know about the training shield, too.

[Matthew Amt]

Probably not exactly what you're looking for, but here's a (rather hypothetical) Bronze Age shield that I made a few years ago:

http://www.larp.com/hoplite/BAarmor.html#shields

Making pilum shafts out of ash lumber left me with a lot of leftover strips, so I figured I'd weave them together. Not the best basketry around, but... I would suggest that rawhide would make a vastly stronger facing, but for a shield like this, if you're using rawhide, the wicker is kind of pointless! Homer's descriptions of shields are all of multiple layers of rawhide (usually 4), with descending sizes so that the shield is thicker in the middle than at the edges.

Not sure how much bearing that all has on the Classical era, sorry!

Matthew

[john m roberts]

Matt,
Wouldn't the wicker backing help to give the proper shape to the rawhide facing? I've found it difficult to keep rawhide in a symmetrical shape. That is, when it's wet I can work it into the shape I want, but as it dries it tends to distort.

[Matthew Amt]

Matt,
Wouldn't the wicker backing help to give the proper shape to the rawhide facing? I've found it difficult to keep rawhide in a symmetrical shape. That is, when it's wet I can work it into the shape I want, but as it dries it tends to distort.

That's the problem, the rawhide exerts SO much force as it dries that I have the feeling it would just crumple the wicker into a ball! Safer to stretch the rawhide out by tacking it down around the edges as it dries, maybe stretched over a shallow dome (something SOLID) if you want some dishing. Farther down that page I posted, you'll see what happened when I put rawhide over a plank base--a potato chip! Probably I didn't let it dry long enough under weights, so now it curves the wrong way...

Experiments can get expensive...

Vale,

Matthew

[Lugorix]

I've gotten wicker materials from several places. There are woodworking specialty shops that have stuff for chairs. IKEA also sells bundles of willow and reed. I get my willow bundles from a shop at a local flea market who sels them as decor just like IKEA. Also there are lots of good how-to books available. Hope that helps.

[rusty myers]

http://www.franksupply.com/index.html

All types of wicker, and stuff, pretty decent pricing too. Natural materials for all sorts of stuff.

[Magnus]

I was wondering if those bundles of reed were any good from IKEA...would they work well? I've no experience with willow...how is that vs rattan? or wicker? Is wicker made from willow?

[Sean Manning]

Have you looked at these guys? The design is based of the Pazryk and Dura Europos finds, although I'm not convinced that (all, Thracian) peltai were made this way.

I hope to try a large sticks-and-leather design myself one day if I can source enough reeds or branches. It would be interesting to know how well they resist spears and arrows.