Hello. This is how I made a shields and sword of my very own, out of wood nontheless! Protective eyewear is a must! :) K, first I have drawn a layout of the measurements that the sword and shield will more or less follow.
I had previously selected the wood the night before so I retrieved my selected pieces of wood and placed it on the work bench and traced my guide lines to cut the shield and sword layout.
After I had drawn an outline I then proceeded to cut along the lines with a rotery hand saw! :)
Then I started to work on the sword.
The sword was more difficult. Especially the edges (one needs a table saw to have a proper cut). Pre drilling the holes is very important so that the wood does not split. The hand protector piece is made of two longer pieces of 2 by 4 and two pieces of 2 by 4 a third the length placed inbtween the first two making it more solid. A notch is cut out for the handle as well about a half inch in on both sides.
Then sanding is in order. I used 60 grit. The smaller the number the more course the grit (60 is very course, of course, a horse of course, of courseThat is, of course, unless... Oh, lost train of thought).
Then both sword and shield are sanded. I used gloves because other wise the grit would be way harsh to one's hands.
Feel free to paint the sword and shield I thought and so I used a theme from my Love Cats (cartoon).
Spash! Splash! Splash! :)
The straps are tacked in from the inside and blunted flush with a hammer on the outside.
I used what shoe laces I had to snugly wrap around the handle.This project took about three hours and well worth it. I am considering making a second set so a friend and myself could travel back in time to the times of the knights! Making this creative art project reminded and gave me the feeling of "set prop making", wich I think is super neat!! :) Thank you very much! May your creative ventures by fun, successful, and innovative! :) Eric M. Rangel
