{"id":454,"date":"2015-12-09T18:18:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T18:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swordmaiden.schuylerhouse.com\/?page_id=454"},"modified":"2015-12-09T18:31:49","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T18:31:49","slug":"buckler-construction-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/?page_id=454","title":{"rendered":"Buckler Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bucklers come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and strap configurations. Borrow and try out a few before you make your first one, but given access to a saw (hand or powered jigsaw is probably best) and a drill, they take less than three hours and $4 to make, so don\u2019t be shy\u2026<\/p>\n<h3>Your First Buckler<\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019ll assume you want the most common kind, a simple round shield in the ballpark of 12\u201d-18\u201d diameter. Choose a different shape if you like; surface areas up to 314 square inches (a 20\u201d circle) are perfectly fine, though larger is not necessarily better\u2026<\/p>\n<p>You will need (pretty standard at any hardware store):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some thin plywood. I prefer 5-ply \u00bc\u201d. 3\/8\u201d is a bit more durable, but heavier.<\/li>\n<li>A piece of soft plastic tubing long enough to cover the perimeter. I prefer Tygon tubing, with an inner diameter equal to your wood thickness, and 1\/16\u201d wall thickness (i.e. \u00bc\u201d ID, 3\/8\u201d OD for \u00bc\u201d plywood). Get a few more inches than you think you need.<\/li>\n<li>Some lightweight cord or string. This holds the tubing to the shield edge.<\/li>\n<li>Two \u00bc-20 bolts, dome or flat head, 1\u201d long<\/li>\n<li>Two \u00bc\u201d wingnuts. Normal nuts are fine but harder to adjust without tools.<\/li>\n<li>A scrap of leather about 2\u201d x 8\u201d, at least 1\/8\u201d thick (thinner is less durable)<\/li>\n<li>Access to a saw and a drill with a \u00bc\u201d bit, and a 1\/8\u201d (or so) bit.<\/li>\n<li>A razor blade (or heavy scissors) to cut the leather and tubing.<\/li>\n<li>Sandpaper and paint to decorate the finished buckler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, get to work:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Layout the circle (large bowls are helpful for this) and cut your plywood.<\/li>\n<li>Drill 1\/8\u201d (or so, big enough for your string) holes around the perimeter of your buckler, no more than 2\u201d apart and 1\/2\u201d from the edge. It helps to mark starter holes with a nail.<\/li>\n<li>Draw a diameter on the back of your buckler. Draw a parallel line \u00be\u201d away.<\/li>\n<li>Center your hand on the offset line, and mark \u00bd\u201d from each edge of your hand.<\/li>\n<li>Drill \u00bc\u201d holes at these two points. Countersink on the front if using flat head bolts.<\/li>\n<li>Sand the front and back of the buckler. Coarse paper is just fine, it\u2019s a buckler\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Split the tubing open with a razor blade or scissors.<\/li>\n<li>Put the tubing over the edges of the wood. Overlap \u00bd\u201d at the tube ends.<\/li>\n<li>Lash the tubing onto the edge with the string. You can glue it, but it\u2019s less reliable<\/li>\n<li>Cut out the buckler strap, placing the holes 1\/2\u201d wider than the hole spacing on the wood.<\/li>\n<li>Bolt the strap onto the buckler and test the fit (with gloves on). You want it to be tight, and leather stretches. Wet leather stretches more, if need be.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the strap, and give the buckler a base coat of spray paint. Decorate as desired.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Variations:<br \/>\n(keep playing till you find something you like, give the \u201cfailures\u201d to friends)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Size and shape. Some of the ones I\u2019ve seen are shown in the bottom margin.<\/li>\n<li>Wrap the buckler in leather or fabric. Rivet or glue it down. Now you don\u2019t need tubing.<\/li>\n<li>Substitute a metal handle for a strap. I hate these, but some people love \u2018em.<\/li>\n<li>Move the strap around on the buckler, change its angle, or add a second strap<\/li>\n<li>Try a different material: metal, wavy plastic, and hardened leather have all been tried.<\/li>\n<li>Decorate with carved or filigreed leather, rivets, conchos, appliqu\u00e9\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Written by: <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20090406174859\/http:\/swordmaiden.com\/recognition\/todde\/\">Todde mac Donnell<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bucklers come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and strap configurations. Borrow and try out a few before you make your first one, but given access to a saw (hand or powered jigsaw is probably best) and a drill, they take less than three hours and $4 to make, so don\u2019t be shy\u2026 Your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":42,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-454","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467,"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions\/467"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmaiden.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}