thegirlsclub

Isabella E · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 6:24 am Post subject: Started a new shield.

While I was working on Max's shield today, waiting for it to dry, before my eyeball situation became completely intolerable, I started working on the blank I cut out for myself before I started school.

It's a flat Italian teardrop, same width at the top as my heater but a few inches longer.

First, apply edging. I drilled holes for all my hardware first, but you can do it any time before covering it in fabric. The edging is a cheapass garden hose that blew out last summer. Split with box knife. Do not cut self. Tape liberally so your hose lays smooth and flat as possible. It doesn't matter if duct tape and hose is ugly as hell because we're gonna cover it anyway and hose does a pretty good job of keeping the edge of the plywood from getting torn up. I think it is because there is still some space between the hose and the wood so it's sorta springy and takes some energy out of a shot.

Tomorrow while waiting for more stuff to dry, I will glue the fabric on and show you how I do it. You can see one of the nails I annealed in the wood already, but you can use bolts or whatever. They're getting covered so it doesn't matter. I think flat looks nicer though so I decided to rivet my hardware on. Last tie I fiddled with countersinking bolts in the wood and it was an enormous pain in the ass.
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Isabella E · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 4:02 am Post subject:

Next...GLUE. Lots of glue. And fabric. I used cheap white craft glue like Elmers. Cheap as I could find. Water it down a little.

First, drape the fabric over the face of your shield. Wet it all down with slightly soapy water. The soap changes the surface tension of the water and makes it penetrate further and easier into the wood fibers. Then paint with lots of glue. Let it dry then put more glue on it. Do this as many times as you think you should. I did it until I had no more glue left. (I used a standard size bottle of glue like you get in school.)

Flip over. Trim fabric if you have not already. Spray edges with adhesive, or use contact cement. It has to be something that will stick to hose and duct tape.

Smooth the edges down the best you can.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff347/isabellaevangelista/mykit/bcd98c74.jpg

Flip over again and let dry.

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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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Isabella E · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 4:09 am Post subject:

If you're covering an aluminum shield, use the spray adhesive or contact cement to clue your fabric down and flip it over, smoothing down the edges of the fabric as best you can with some overlap onto the back.

Next, primer.

After you have sufficient coats of primer to give you a good painting surface, it's time to finish the back. You can do the face as well but I like to get the back together so my hardware is fastened down well. If you're using rivets you will have to touch your primer up anyway.

Glue felt or fleece to the back. Something that doesn't fray when you cut it raw and glue it on is convenient and looks nice. Use spray adhesive or contact cement. Poke holes or snip to smoosh your hardware through.

Attach straps. The straps I made for my new shield are made from a nice smooth vegetable tanned leather. I stitched the skinny straps to a wider one because that's what I prefer. Here's some construction details.

Cut straps, dye and finish.

Cut a slit for your buckle.

Poke holes with an awl or something similar to pass your needle through. Sew together.

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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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Isabella E · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 4:14 am Post subject:

Put straps on shield. And your basket if you're using one.

The next thing I do is mask off a nice border and paint it black so the paint job blends in to the covering on the back.

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alanagoodewyn · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 5:57 pm Post subject:

That's a really snazzy looking gauntlet.

(Also, thanks for the step-by-step process.)
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Isabella E · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks! I got a good deal on them, even custom made. They were $400, which is not bad for finger gauntlets.

Paint! All it needs now is clear coat.

The back, next to a curved heater I strapped and covered.

You don't need any special tools to do all this, particularly if you use bolts or whatever modern fasteners for your hardware, which is what I used on the first shield I did this way. All you really need is a jigsaw and a drill.
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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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barrychen · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:39 am Post subject:

Hi, I'm a new guy who is going to come out here im barry and im just new here as i was looking in your piece and that's really a great job thank u for sharing this to us..

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I love my almar

Isabella E · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject:

Thank you, and welcome.
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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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barrychen · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:13 am Post subject:

your welcome

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I love my almar

maxntropy · Club Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 103 : Items

Isabella E · Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

It's not in the picture stage yet. It looks all weird unfinished and none of the painting makes any sense to anyone except me.
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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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