Weapons Test Fun with Sharp Things

OK, so we like to use swords, spears and javelins... Bryan and I decided to test out the effectiveness of our weapons on the old shields that we harvested the hardware from. namely, we wanted to know the damaging effect of our weapons versus the different coverings we use on our shields.

Weapons
leaf bladed gaiso (javelin)
barbed gaiso
Roman pilum (heavy javelin)
vogaison (barbed javelin)
bayonet spear (semi-blunted)
sword

Coverings
wool felt
leather
rawhide
All shields painted and then covered in bees wax.

Test 1- Javelins

From a close range of about 1.5 meters, we took several throws into each shield. Yes, we enjoyed ourselves...

We noticed, that the leaf bladed gaiso did not penetrate the felt covering very well. the fabric seemed to dissipate the energy and it bounced out of the shield every time leaving a superficial mark. The barbed gaiso penetrated well, sticking in every time, and breaking through the shield, this was also the case with the pilum. As both weapons were used to disable shields it made sense that this was the outcome.

The vogaison did the most damage, by penetrating deep into the felt often breaking through at least 1-2cm each time.

The most devastating impact was on the wooden spine. the leaf bladed gaiso punched through the shield with ease. this would have cause a devastating hit with much trauma to the individual holding it. Splitting the spine, and driving 4-6 cm past where the grip was, it would have caused sever damage to the warrior's hand and wrist.

 (photos by: K. Beckham)

The leather shield was punctured with each throw, as was the rawhide. the javelins often penetrated into the harder surfaces with greater ease than the softer. Rawhide covered shield had the most damage from the javelins.

Test 2- Bayonet point

All I have yo say is "WOW!"

standing from 2 meters off and one handed this weapon cause a lot of damage. It punched through every shield with ease, damaging the felt covered, leather, and raw hide with equal damage. It was even tested against two shields at once...

(photo by: K. Beckham)

The bayonet point punched through both shields leather and rawhide... many time the spear would punch through 4-6 cm... exceptionally devastating given that this shield had a semi-blunted tip. This just demonstrated the power of any weapon with a small point to punch through any material.

Test 3- Sword

We sued a standard Gallic infantry sword on these shields... and it was shall we say... OMG FUN!

Both Bryan and I took swings at the shield on edge simulating an attach from close range.

The felt shield disintegrated before our eyes with each hit. the fibers laminating the shield did very little of reinforcing the wood. large chunks of the shield disappeared with each hit...

the leather shield did a little better taking a little more time to break apart. the cuts seemed to twist in the shield making it easy to trap an opponents weapon and still remain functional. still cut the shield in half...

The rawhide shield did the best... the double edging made it difficult to cut and the rawhide was amazingly rugged against each cut.

The results....

Felt shields are good for repelling javelins, but make sure there is an iron boss...

Leather is decent all the way around.

Rawhide amazing in heavy combat, but can easily be damaged by javelins.

Shields (Back to the Iron Age)

This weekend my buddy Bryan came down to my place to learn the art of making an Iron Age shield. This is kinda involved process, and needs to be done every few years...

So the first step was to create a stencil for the different types of shields common to the era. a Gallic shield basically an oval 1.1 meters tall and .55 meters wide, Germanic shields which are hexagonal and about 1 meter tall and .5 meters wide, and Britonic shields which are similar to the Germanic in size, but more of a lopsided pill shape (based on the Battersea shield). 

I also started work on a scutum (Roman shield) press designed for a Caesarian era, mid first century BC shield. 

anyway, We started by laying out the shields to get cut out on half inch hardwood plywood. 

(photo by: K. Beckham)

Then we cut the shield shapes out of the wood. Bryan had some difficulty with this at first (he also started on a difficult shield (the British one).

(photo by: K. Beckham)

After the shields were all cut out, the edges needed to be sanded, traditionally, this would have been done with a draw knife, and an iron rasp, but we opted for a modern palm sander. this took time as we needed to taper the edges and round them completely. after several generations of building shields he found that a rounded edge was easier to work the covering over, and it was also stronger. This is actually where a lot of the day had gone.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

Also pictured above is a show (non-practical) Viking shield Bryan wanted to get edged...

The next step was to glue a linen backing on the shield.I was a bit low on line canvas this time, and couldn't really afford to purchase more, so I simply used what linen I had laying around... We took a thin layer of glue and covered one side of the shield by hand. We the stretched the linen as tight as we could across the glued surface. this assured a niche clean backing. some shield makers skip this step, but, I like how the linen takes the paint and wax later and it also helps, in my opinion to laminate the shield to make it a little stronger.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

The glue needs to cure, and we put these shields aside until next time.

To make sure we had enough hardware for the new shields, we harvested the bosses, nails, and handle reinforcements from some of the old shields... Then we had a weapons test... :D 

Construction Braies (linen shorts/ underwear)

Ok, so the braies are essential to the kit. From my research braies were worn by men of both classes and usually of a white or natural linen color. I went with Fabrics-store.com's IL019 Krista Natural. It is fairly light weight and easy to work with. I also stitched it with 5090 White linen thread from W.M. Draper.

After laying out and transferring it with pencil, I cut it out. simple enough to do, but linen is not the best for cutting straight lines. After I cut out all the pieces I started sewing right away. The first step was to sew the crotch piece to the leg. The pattern suggested a running stitch, which is problematic, (linen will fray and disintegrate with wear). So I opted to fell the seams with a double running stitch. (a felled seam is  one that is rolled on itself for strength) think of it like the seam on a pair of jeans. All steps are duplicated for both sides.

(photos by: K. Beckham)


The next step was to sew a running stitch along the back seam of the pant legs. most ancient and medieval pants put the seams along the back of the pants because, seams along the inside of the leg ware with horseback riding.

Both legs are now closed up and I notice there is room for me and a friend in these braies.

I felled this seam, this time instead of with another running stitch,  but with a whip stitch.

(photos by: K. Beckham)

After both seams are felled (again both sides of the seam need to be stitched so it doesn't bunch and become uncomfortable, and possibly tear out, I had to stitch the waistband with a running stitch.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

(photo by: K. Beckham)

The next step is to hem and sew on the belt loops, since knit fabrics were uncommon, all pants were belted. I had to cut 12 squares and hem the two sides. The quickest way is to double fold the fabric in on itself and use a running stitch. this was fairly quick, but still boring...

(photos by: K. Beckham)

The next step is to evenly space the finished belt loops, and stitch through all the fabric with a running stitch. I made sure not to have the hems on the belt loops and the felled seams, line up because that would have been nasty to sew through. I used a running stitch again to secure the loops on the braies.

(photos by: K. Beckham)

After all 12 loops are sewn on I had to make the belt for it. It could have been a linen or wool cord or a strip of fabric. I decided on a vegetable tanned leather belt cut 4 inches past my waist size, and 2 cm wide. I tapered the three inches from the ends. I soaked it in water for about 10 minutes and then stretched it to gain another four inches. now to let it dry then condition it with lanolin.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

Next step on this kit is a pair of chauses.

Construction Sword

So, not having access to a forge, I decided to purchase a period sword. Most of the places i searched were very expensive, and I am working on a limited budget, so I hit up Amazon for a 12th century sword. knowing the typology of swords from Oakshott's book, I found one for a decent price. unfortunately the scabbard was lousy.  (it looked like it was based on a migration era find. (500-700).

(photo by :k. Beckham)

The blade needs some work, and unfortunately I don't have my shot up and running enough to get it done right. The blade is heavily rebated (blunt) so I'd need to grind an edge onto it. the quillions (cross guard) is loose, so I'd need to grind the rivet on the pommel (the very end of the blade) and then hammer it back down or add in a leather wedge to tighten it up.

I decided to do a quick job on the guard and simply redo the grip. (as you can see it isn't pretty and did not go with my idea of a matching sword/ scabbard/ sword belt.

as i have never wrapped a handle of a sword before, I looked up how to do it. the simplest version I found is on Ye Olde Gaffers.

 http://www.yeoldegaffers.com/project_grip_2.asp

I didn't want to use non period items so I went with a stitched grip rather than with a glued one that was shown.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

First I cut and unwrapped the handle. the leather they chose was worse than the stuff on the spur straps... and the wire wrap looked like crap to me.  I decided that I wanted to do a solid leather grip with no raised areas. 

I measured the grip top and bottom, and then I made a paper pattern taking 1/8 an inch the sides. I then traced the pattern onto a clean piece of 3/4 oz. vegetable tanned leather, and I punched the holes using a four prong punch so that both sides would match up when it was stitched and then soaked it in warm water for about 10 minutes.

The next step was to sew it on to the handle. I used a double needle method, to join the ends. Basically, I used one needle on either end of the waxed linen thread to sew through the two holes.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

It has the appearance of the stitching on a baseball, but I noticed that the leather was too thick to stretch properly. 

(photo by: K. Beckham)

The grip is now extremely comfortable, and looks real nice. I let it dry then applied a generous amount of red dye. (I pick one out earlier for my Iron Age and Roman era work that looked like it was achieved with madder root dye).

(photo by: K. Beckham)

The next step will be to oil or lanolin the grip depending on what was more commonly used during the 12th century. 

When I redo this handle, I will use a 2-3 oz leather and use a 1/16 " so it fits properly.

Construction Spur Straps

I have started building the kit.

I started on some of the accessories, such as a pair of silver spurs, and an Oakshott XII sword.

The spurs I ordered are accurate for the 12th and 13th centuries so they will be right for the impression.

I purchased them from Revival Clothing, (http://www.revivalclothing.com/12-13thcenturyprickspurs.aspx), because they came with the period straps.

When they arrived, I wasn't happy with the straps... Way too thin and not the best leather. They'd last less than a day, so I measured them then harvested the buckles from them, but cutting the leather away from the buckle.

I laid out the straps on some 3-4 oz. vegetable tanned cow skin. 1 cm wide by 40 cm long. I soaked the straps in water to make them easier to work. I folded over one end about 2 cm and punched four holes in a square. I try to work in metric on reproductions because its more reliable, and all the archaeological data is listed in metric. Then on the fold I used a 1/2 inch chisel and cut out a slot for the buckle. I i moved the prong through the hole and stitched the strap closed with waxed linen thread. then set them aside to dry. I still need to punch the hole for the spurs to be strapped to the turn shoes, and they need to be oiled or sealed with lanolin, but I'll wait to do that when I have more leather work done.

(photo by K. Beckham)

Straps ready to punch and oil.

(photo by: K. Beckham)

Time to look up leather care in the 12th century...