02-28-2012, 04:47 AM
Daniel- Your idea has merit and is worth a try. Just to be clear the rim would look like a set of concentric circles, if I am wrong a picture might be needed. I have started my 3rd slat style Aspis and I am using 3.5mm slats - they require less than 1/2 hr of soak and only where an extreme bend is needed. With your idea in mind and since I have quite a bundle of slats of more than 2 meters, I tryed a quick wrap around a compleated Aspis bowl and it worked and this is without any soak. Also a quick calculation indicates about 12 layers of 3.5mm would be needed. Thicker slats would require soaking or maybe even steaming.
Keep in mind that the bowl slops to its edge; therefore, the inner surface of the rim would need to be beveled and this should take some care to assure a good fit between the bowl and the rim.
Your approach could well be stronger than my method of layers of flat sections and may as well be quicker to execute. Also you want pressure from the rim onto the bowl - the bowl made from this method (once it has cured) is very hard to distort.
My only concern is is there any wisper of support for this approach from archaeology?This is a small concern since of the many thousands of hoplite shields made surely a number of build approaches were used. Trying to fathom Greek arms and armor as to its construct rather than just appearance is experimental archaeology and as long as we use materials that would have been available to the ancients and methodology that would have been within their means - some of the time we may not be too far off the mark.
Good luck.
John Dann
Keep in mind that the bowl slops to its edge; therefore, the inner surface of the rim would need to be beveled and this should take some care to assure a good fit between the bowl and the rim.
Your approach could well be stronger than my method of layers of flat sections and may as well be quicker to execute. Also you want pressure from the rim onto the bowl - the bowl made from this method (once it has cured) is very hard to distort.
My only concern is is there any wisper of support for this approach from archaeology?This is a small concern since of the many thousands of hoplite shields made surely a number of build approaches were used. Trying to fathom Greek arms and armor as to its construct rather than just appearance is experimental archaeology and as long as we use materials that would have been available to the ancients and methodology that would have been within their means - some of the time we may not be too far off the mark.
Good luck.
John Dann
