Making and Purchasing Shields

How to make a Spartan Dipylon Shield (for fighting)

Materials:

• curved 1/8" aluminum shield blank,
• 12' of acrylic irrigation tubing, wire ties or weed wacker cord,
• 1.5" leather strap and 2 buckles to fit, 1" leather strap and 1 buckle to fit,
• .25" by 1" carriage bolts (6), lock nuts with nylon inserts (6), large diameter .25" washers (6)
• spray paint: gold, red, black, blue easy-remove masking tape, newspaper
  

***The best gold paint that we have found is "Gilded Brass" by KRYLON, it comes in a slightly smaller diameter can. In fact KRYLON paints seem to work best in all of the colors. Also, sticking to one brand should prevent the "alligator
skin" cracking that you can get by putting one brand over another.

Tools:

adjustable wrench, razor knife,

Procedures:

Straps:

1. Cut 2 straps 1.5" x 20", and mount 2 buckles (1.5") on short straps.
2. Cut 1 straps 1" x 12", and mount 1 buckle (1") on a short strap.
3. Also cut 6 leather washers, 1.5" square.

Attaching the 1.5" straps and buckles:

1. Draw a box, 6" x 6", in the exact center of the shield.
2. Drill 4 holes, .25" diameter - one at each corner of the box - for the 1.5" straps and buckles.
3. To attach the straps to the upper holes and the buckles to the lower holes with the carriage bolts-
   Insert the bolt from the outside of the shield - then, inside the shield, put the straps onto the bolt, followed by the leather washer, the metal washer, and the lock nut.

You should now have 2 strap loops so that you can slide your forearm through them horizontally, one after the other, ending with your fist at the keyhole in the side of the shield.

Attaching the 1" strap and buckle:

1. Slide your forearm through the first 1.5" strap. Then, instead of putting it horizontally through the next strap, angle it up at a 45% angle. Mark for a hole on each side of your fist.
2. Drill the 2 holes and attach the 1" strap to the upper hole, and the buckle
   to the lower hole.

You should now have the straps arranged so that you can put your arm through the first 1.5" strap and then grasp the l" strap with your hand.

Edging the shield:

1. Drill 3/16" holes, 1" from the edge, 3" apart, all around the edge of the shield. Use 5 equally spaced holes around each keyhole. De-burr the holes.
2. Split the acrylic irrigation tubing down one side, for the full length. Be very careful to cut it straight, without cutting through the other side.
3. Also be very careful to avoid cutting yourself - the razor knife will have a tendency to cut very slowly and then suddenly release.
4. Slip the tubing onto the edge of the shield and hold it in place with the plastic wire ties in each individual hole, or with the weed wacker cord by spirally "sewing it" on.

Painting the shield:

***sand it before painting - at least as fine as 220, the 400 might be even better.

1. Spray paint the inside of the shield red or gold (whichever you prefer, you may later want to paint some personal design on the inside, so this will be your background for that design).
2. Spray paint the outside of the shield gold.
   
   ***use the blue easy-remove masking tape and newspaper to mask the areas around the sword, border, or lambda...
3. Paint a vertical black leaf-blade sword on the lower half of the front of the shield, centered form side to side, point down. Use the standard pattern. (You can get it from your Phylearch.)

• Veterans of foreign wars may paint a 4" red border around the outer rim of the shield (ignore the keyholes when taping the border).
• Spartiates may paint a red lambda on the center of the shield. Use the standard pattern! (You can get it from your Phylearch.)