12-28-2007, 11:02 PM
Speaking on aspis construction; i haven't made an aspis per-se however i have made a reenactment ready domed round shield.
i at first came up with the method that seems to be popular in greek reenactment, of donut layers of wood that would theoretically be the simplest method (please note at this point i hadn't looked up aspides for sale on the internet, or methods of their construction.)
nonetheless i then decided against this and instead used a perfectly authentic construction method of steaming a collection of planks to the right curve then assembling them into the afore mentioned reenactment dome shield, i made the shield of two layers of these planks with the grain running perpendicular to each other, and fastened the layers with glue first then treenails.
this method is no more difficult and requires only a few more tools and equipment (i.e. a fire, a water container preferably with a narrow neck, and another container to fit the planks in...)
the main point is this version costs far less wood and is more likely i think how the greeks would have made their shields considering it is unlikely they would have wasted immense amounts of wood on one shield, even moreso considering that to obtain wood of 3 foot by 3 foot size before modern plywood would require a tree 3 foot wide, there would be such trees but only in small numbers, certainly in ancient greece; thus not particularly practical for production on a large scale, each plank from the steaming method can be cut verticaly from the tree (also therefore adding to it's strength) while requiring a far thinner tree.
i could post further and more precise detail on the method if anybody's interested?
also. hello this is my first post, nice to meet you all.
i at first came up with the method that seems to be popular in greek reenactment, of donut layers of wood that would theoretically be the simplest method (please note at this point i hadn't looked up aspides for sale on the internet, or methods of their construction.)
nonetheless i then decided against this and instead used a perfectly authentic construction method of steaming a collection of planks to the right curve then assembling them into the afore mentioned reenactment dome shield, i made the shield of two layers of these planks with the grain running perpendicular to each other, and fastened the layers with glue first then treenails.
this method is no more difficult and requires only a few more tools and equipment (i.e. a fire, a water container preferably with a narrow neck, and another container to fit the planks in...)
the main point is this version costs far less wood and is more likely i think how the greeks would have made their shields considering it is unlikely they would have wasted immense amounts of wood on one shield, even moreso considering that to obtain wood of 3 foot by 3 foot size before modern plywood would require a tree 3 foot wide, there would be such trees but only in small numbers, certainly in ancient greece; thus not particularly practical for production on a large scale, each plank from the steaming method can be cut verticaly from the tree (also therefore adding to it's strength) while requiring a far thinner tree.
i could post further and more precise detail on the method if anybody's interested?
also. hello this is my first post, nice to meet you all.
Malcolm H
- Ex Norman reenactor, archaeologist, love reconstruction experiments. Bit of a Jack of everything really.
- Ex Norman reenactor, archaeologist, love reconstruction experiments. Bit of a Jack of everything really.
