Shield Progress!!!

Continuing to make progress last night, I cut out 20 ¼” plywood shield blanks. These will be put in a press and glued together to make 10 ½” thick shields. It takes one day to press each shield so it will be about 10-12 days until they are all pressed.
The shields cut out are for are sized for:
Ryan 1
15/16 year old 2
12/13 2
8/10 2
Russ(adult) 1
Robert(adult) 1
Loaner(adult) 1


Currently ¼” plywood is approx. $11 per 4’x8’ sheet. You can make 3 adult sized shields from one sheet and so each shield costs about $3.70 for the material. By the time you have added edging, straps, glue and a couple nuts and bolts, each finished shield costs from $7-10 or $10-15 depending on the edging used. For boffer shields you can use a very light edge ( just pipe insulation) but for heavy combat, it is necessary to put more layers or a better protective edge on shields and it’s reflected in the price.

I would like to handle the shields in one of two ways.

If you would like to purchase the shield it would be $8.50 for a boffer shield and $12.50 for a heavy weapons shield. That is for a completed shield and again will take up to 12 days to have them all done.

Otherwise, when finished, they are free for the use of the group and I would ask you to pass on the boffer shields to Teryll as they are outgrown. The heavy weapons shields can be given to Torashi or myself, as the fighter gets his/her own armor and shield.
For any of the loaner shields I will paint Stormvale’s badge on the front. If you purchase one you can have the fun of decorating it!!

Boffer shields should last forever, only needing to change the edging occasionally. A wooden heavy weapons shield on the other hand will not last forever. If you practice once a week it may only hold up for 6-10 months. In my experience wooden shields will last a bit longer since most of us have not practiced weekly but 18 to 20 months is a maximum if you are active.

I find it best to not glue the edging on but instead strap or lace it on, so that it can be taken off the broken shield and put on the new one pretty quickly.
Let me know who would like a shield or a loaner shield and I will start delivering them as soon as I can. Also let me know if I have missed anyone and need to make even more shields!!! I realized as I was typing this that I still have to make one for my son so I will be picking up more plywood anyway.