Shield Build Questions

[duckymcfeelgood]

So i needs me some sheilding. I looked around and I've seen what you've all said before, BUT....

I have a few shields i actually want to make. I need advice/ideas. There's a few of you I particularly want to hear from cause I've checked your gear and liked it, and i like the school of thought behind it as well.

First, I'd like to build an all foam round. I want to have a punch center and straps under that. How big should i go? And wheres a good supplier of said foam? And the best way to work the straps? I have a pretty good idea how to do the punch.

Second, a foam tower punch much in the style of an Edhellon, but i plan to cut it down. Same foam as above?

Third, a plywood round, slightly big but not huge. I know how to build this pretty much, but some advice on size, materials, or strap placement would help.

[Peanut of Loderia]

First: I cant help you, ask Mel.

Second: You can email ForgedFoam about shield foam. You might be able to work out a deal with getting the same thing they use for their shields.

Third: How big is slightly big?

[duckymcfeelgood]

Second: Im trying to get like a whole sheet cause i need to make a few. I'll hit them up.

Third: From shoulder to hip im 26 inches long. Should i just make a 30" with a 28" core? Or shave it down a little, bump it up?

[Peanut of Loderia]

Generally you add about 2 inches of edge padding which gives you a total of 4+ inches to whatever the core is. So if youre looking for a 32" shield than a 28" would be fine.

[Phoxly]

http://www.cratersandfreighters.com/cf/locations.do

We visit the location in Las Vegas quite a bit for polyplank of many different densities. They are way more popular in the east it looks like, might find one near you Ducky?

[Gamera]

For Strapping, I copied the method Peter the Quick posted here.

Did it for a kite/teardrop punch. It seems to hold up pretty well, but the punch grip complicates things somewhat since prevented my elbow strap from being as close to the center as I would have liked, but this should be less of a problem with rounds.

If you can't find good planks, you could try making the shield purely out of blue. There's a good tutorial on how to do it on youtube. It eats up a lot of blue rolls and DAP though, which probably makes it more expensive and definitely more time intensive than carving up a plank.

For the tower shield, depending on the exact dimensions you want, you may look into using a Thrift shop boogie board if plank foam in not available.

Hard to * up a wooden core round, not to mention they last forever. A 28" round, which would have a 24" core is the catchall standard. A progressive build as well as decent tap will help keep the edging from going.

Use T-nuts to make straps easy to remove for repair and don't forget to pad the inside. Aizen, bearer of the peanut shield, strapped his round so that the elbow is closer to center. He likes how it protects him better from wraps/flails and gives his arm better maneuverability.

[duckymcfeelgood]

Good info to consider.

[Woif]

Fitz has an awesome tutorial for the strap/punch shield.

http://www.calistonarmory.com/index.php/tutorials/

check the plastidip tutorial he has there, it's constructed the same way, just modify it as you see fit for a normal cover as opposed to the PD.

[The Great Gigsby]

I don't really see the point in making a shield both a strap & punch. Would somebody care to enlighten me?

Both styles of shields function differently and a punch can benefit from having more surface area whereas a strap tends to be much more harsh when it comes to shield size vs. shot selection. It seems to me that having a punch with the same dimensions and weight as a strap (or vice versa) leads to one style of gripping being less optimal in every situation, especially when you start dealing with unorthodox shield shapes.

Idunno. I like using a strap for serious tourney fighting and a punch for field battles and more aggressive shield work. I'm glad I have a few different shields to choose from.

[duckymcfeelgood]

The all foam plank round is the only one Im doing both for. And its just simply based on options.

[Peanut of Loderia]

It's for the lazy who dont want to go switch shields. Oh, and the amusement of seeing people's face when that dude who has been working a shield as a strap all day suddenly uses it as a punch.

[Forkbeard]

I'm with Giggles, except in the case of round shields.
The straps either staddle the hadle, which isn't bad, or are off center below the handle.
The handle being where the shield boos would be, in the center. You can have both easily and the shield(bein round) works the same.
I don't see why you want an all foam round AND a playwood cored round, though. THats wierd. Your all foam shield should be as sturdy as a plywood one(or nearly as sturdy) so it doesn't taco. Why have both?
My 36" round all foam shield wont taco if a sit in it.
FB

[Ryu]

I don't really see the point in making a shield both a strap & punch. Would somebody care to enlighten me?

i have a punch that is also strapped, so im gonna try to tell you as to why i like it. it is a 22" by 37" with a little bit of the bottom corners shaved and the sword side corner cut as well. i like the punch grip for when i fight more relaxed, usually sword and board. i will switch to my strap setup if i am fighting either a flail fighter(helps me manage the fishing shots) or a red(while holding my strap set it is harder to just flick my shield out of position). i hope that helped, if it didn't feel free to pm me and ill try to describe it better.

[konradr]

I have a 30" all foam round shield courtesy of Fitz Carlton. I put straps on it first, then later added a center punch and a back strap.

I like the straps when in confined fighting like on a bridge or in gates. I like the center grip for open fighting like in melee's. I like the back strap when fighting with spear or bow, and when carrying lots o' stuff to and fro.

Konradr of Barad'Dun

[Gamera]

My punch strap was more or less a result "Why not?" Part of the fun of building is testing out stuff for yourself.

Like Ryu I switch it up for basically the same reasons. Strap if I don't want wind to bug me and punch when I want to move that arm a little more.

[duckymcfeelgood]

Im going all foam for absolute min-maxing purposes. Im going plywood to keep Dag kids from crying and so I can stop red hits. Same reason im going to build a super light omiblade and keep building flat blades as well. I like options.

[Forkbeard]

It is an absolutly fallacy thay a corless shield performs any differently when hit by a red sword than a cored shield, oroviding the coreless shield is firm ebough bot to taco.
A coreless shield that does perform differently should fail.
That was my point. Good coreless shield are= to cored shields.
fb

[Gamera]

Minus the whole mass thing of course. It takes a lot more for a hit to move a cored shield than an all foam one.

[Dangus]

Minus the whole mass thing of course. It takes a lot more for a hit to move a cored shield than an all foam one.

Only if you are using a punch shield is it actually easier to move a core-less shield, and that has to do with the handle, not the foam. As for strapped all foam shields, they actually do a significantly better job at absorbing impact. 1.7/2.2# Polyethylene's real world application is for protecting large, heavy appliances (primarily) during shipping. For such a job, you need a material that can take a lot of impact from heavy things, over and over. Trust me, your 5lb glaive won't hit for **** compared to a 75lb refrigerator.

[duckymcfeelgood]

So im aiming at a plywood tower also. Any ideas on size?

[Arrakis]

2x3 punch or 28x3' strap.

[duckymcfeelgood]

thanks