Shield wood

[Sal Bertucci]

I've been thinking about making some wooden shields, and had a question.

Most people now days would just make a shield out of plywood. That makes sense in our day and age. The question I had though was on the thickness of the wood.

If one of you all were going to to make a shield what thickness would you use? What would be more historically accurate? Would you use something besides plywood? Why?

Thanks for the help.

Sal Bertucci

[CalebChow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-FyB9O-kcs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJjZbVBkwSc

Maybe this guy isn't too reliable a source, but it looks like the wood is really really thin. I think he uses 6mm lime.

The trick is in the leather combination I guess?

[s_taillebois]

Well for a non-specialist TV presenter Mr. Loades is not too off the mark.
In his training of novices for a sword sequence he did trouble to get the basic guards across.

As far as the type of wood, well it could be a problem insofar as a quality piece of something like linden could be difficult to get...same problem with those who'd desire to make a longbow or buy one. Many are made of everything but yew.

Thickness would be contingent on what it was intended for, the round Anglo-Saxon Viking, or the early forms of Kite shields for infantry would have had to be fairly thin, due to the concerns for lightness versus their size.

Something like the shields for tilting, joust etc could be heavier as the fatigue factor would not be a consideration.

However most repro shields do not have the leather covering, which seems to have had a great deal to do with how well these did work. In a peripheral sense, the leather itself could be effective. Historical plains shields did not often have a wood core (although sometimes a wood rim) and these were capable of turning an arrow or some blades.