Viking Shield part 2

Viking Shield part 2

 

As I was saying in my last post, I put together the shield, laid down some basic designs, gave it a good sanding and now I am almost ready to finish the project.

I then put a new coat of the iron oxide vinegar mix and aloud it to dry and then put one more application to some of the inside panels to make them stand out more.

Once everything had dried out, I then decided to put some colour into the decoration lines. I felt the best way to do this was to mask everything off and then use some blood red spray paint I had. I really thought this would work until I ran out of the red, but I did have a small can of blue, so I kind of mixed everything up. I know that this isn’t what the Vikings would do, but as it was my contemporary version of a shield, I feel it will look ok.

After the paint affect was done, I then gave the whole thing a coat of finishing wax and the shield was almost complete. The only thing left to do was the edging. I found out that shields had a raw hide edge that was sowed or nailed on while it was still wet and flexible. As the raw hide dried out, it became taught and really hard and tough.

The only raw hide I could find was from a pet shop and although this would have been ideal, it was just way to expensive as I needed 10 or 12 and they were about €4 each.

Instead of using raw hide I decided to buy a roll of jute webbing as used in upholstery. I sourced some on Amazon.co.uk and had this within a few days. It cost about €15 for 33m, which is a fantastic price and although I only needed about 3m, I will use it for other projects.

I first of all used a staple gun to fix the jute webbing and then drilled holes all around the shield. I then used jute twine to sow the webbing onto the shield and when this was finished, I removed all the staples. I used the jute twine on the grip or handle of the shield and then wiped the iron oxide mix into all the jute, which made it look old.

So this is the finished shield. To be honest, it doesn’t look as good as the blind carving when used as a wall hanging, but I will find a place to hang it some were in the house.

I have got to say I have enjoyed doing these projects and look forward to doing a few more. I really would love to have a small workshop so I could do some complex work and maybe start cabinetmaking again.

Once again, thank you for reading my blog and please feel free to comment if you wish.