constructing and mounting a porpax

[PMBardunias]

From an engineering point of view, a bronze rim less than 0.5 mm thick adds no "tensile strength" whatsoever

It does Paul. A 0.5mm wire might not, but the rim has not only thickness, but width. The force is spread across it. Think of the strength of a thin, but broad, plastic bag. Or better yet, think of this as Greek duct tape :wink:

In fact the thinness makes it less useful in stopping strikes and more likely to fulfil the function I describe.