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+--- Thread: Historic Scutum Experience part IV (/showthread.php?tid=9725)
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Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-21-2007
I was inspired to try a new way to glue up a scutum in the new versions of the Leg IX HSPA scutum press.
As usual I soaked the horizontal slats, about 18hours.
Instead of pre-bending them in a jig and letting them dry I glued them in, damp.
First, I worked them by hand, bent them one way then the other, leaving them slightly curved. Let them dry to a point that the water could no longer be squeezed out of the wood.. damp.
Next, layed them across the craddle, applied a layer of glue, layed down the vertical slats, a layer of glue, then the inner layer of slats.
The pressing was spectacular! A slow steady compression allowed me to adjust slats as necessary. Each layer pressed down smoothly, without overlap, without spreading.... all with minimal adjustment!
Since the wood was damp I expect that it will take a few days longer to dry... maybe 4 instead of 2. I expect that this will be the best pressing yet!
Because of this I opted not to glue up three scutums at a time in the three presses as I previously stated.... next week!!
The new press worked so well that it squeezed glue out. See the pic.. glue on the shop floor. In the past, prior pressings left voids inside the scutum blank... the pressure was not evenly applied. This is interesting in light of the fact that we tested our first scutum blanks with 3 and 4 guys standing on them! These new scutum blanks should be even stronger simply by the nature of a better bond.
Excellent work! - Caius Fabius - 06-21-2007
You know, the folks on this forum continue to give me more ideas than I have the energy to try! Thanks for the ideas! Laudes awarded!
hock:
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Robert Vermaat - 06-21-2007
Quote:See the pic.. glue on the shop floor.I first thought it was blood... :oops:
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Chuck Russell - 06-21-2007
hehehe and here i thought he was so excited he pee'd a lil
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-21-2007
Blood? yeah baby!! We do have a tradition of bleeding on our gear..inadvertent.. one soldier earned his cognomen... Sanguinarius... if it was sharp he put it to use...
Pee? well no, but I did do a happy dance... I was very pleased with how it worked.. the proof, of course, will be in the end product...
I'm going to buy a wood moisture tester today to see if that will help determine how dry the scutum blank is and becomes. I'd like to be able to pull each blank out of its press as soon as its ready so another can be put in its place. We have a backlog of 6 right now and need to press 20 more by September
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-22-2007
Well....
..... pressing slats damp did not work as well as I wanted it to in that there was just too much water in the slats, which when pressed squeezed out of the slats, diluted the glue and forced it out of the scutum board. I put a few small sections of damp slats into the vice, and the water flowed out.. like squeezing a sponge! ...oh well...sighAlso, the slats shrunk as they dried sideways... shrunk because the glue was so diluted that it did not offer any resitence to the slat's shrinkage.
The board also rebounded, about 1".... glue not set well enough.. so we moved the whole contraption out into the sun.. we'll give that a two-day, see what happens.
If this had worked it would not have saved time, just some fussing with the slats as the press was tightened.
NOT a HUGE loss! ... afterall, knowledge was gained and no one will need to make that mistake again...
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-26-2007
The damp pressed scutum board... salvaged! A couple of days in the sun did the trick... Glued a layer of linen on the inside, hide goes on the front today. A good scutum for the loaner collection.
Another scutum came out this morning.. pressed with precurved dry slats. This pressing was spectacular! The absolutely best ever... having many "portals" in the design of the press is the key.
We're going to cut enough lumber for 3 scutums today and get the slats into their presses for pre bending.
Each scutum when complete will have cost about $200.. materials.
I cannot express how spectacular it is to work with a bunch of guys willing to work this hard! Another of the advantages of joining, committing to and working with a group...
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-27-2007
Well, that was a new experience!
The outer layer of slats was planed thin of course and a coiuple of them buckled because of the moisture of the damp rawhide!! The wood swelled, the glue loosened...
A couple of sandbags solved that dilemma.
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Gaius Julius Caesar - 06-27-2007
Sun????
Whats that?
hock: :roll: 
(
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-27-2007
Sun...
Its 21c; just enough clouds to call it partly cloudy; a wee hint of ocean can be caught on the breeze and I'm about 2 miles inland; hasn't rained since.. well, I don't know when.. only had 5.5 inches of rain this year...
but enough of that....
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - sulla felix - 06-28-2007
5.5 inches - that is a monsoon !
45 degrees C here, last time it rained Jesus was still an apprentice carpenter!
Rain.... - Matus turpis ferinus - 06-28-2007
Just to let you guys know. Last week we had 2 inches of rain in 45 minutes
hock: and more followed and followed and followed.It washed away the railway tracks and road bridges. People were wading chest deep in some towns.
Never seen the like!
Historic scutum - Paullus Scipio - 06-28-2007
As someone about to embark on the whole scutum building experience, ( I need to build a couple ) and being slightly nervous about the whole "scutum press" thing, this thread has made for alarming reading....
It's all beginning to sound quite hard ! I'd be grateful for as many tips as possible, either by PM or on this thread ( I've read the various threads here, and Matt Amt's article on the XX legio website etc )
Getting the press right seems to be the all important factor ???? ( I've built curved mediaeval kite shields before but they didn't need a press)
On the weather front, while parts of Oz are flooding, here in Brizvegas our reservoirs are running very low, and we will be completely out of water by early 2008, unless some serious rain occurs soon....which is not that likely, winter being our "dry" season............
Re: Historic Scutum Experience part IV - Hibernicus - 06-29-2007
Paullus, If you can hold out for a few more weeks we'll have a proper step by step... pics, text, what not to dos...
I suppose its best to let us dicker and fuss .. ought to save you a few OZ dollars!
The press looks more complicated than it really is. Takes less than an hour to cobble together. The trick is in the cranking down, minor adjusting of the slats followed by patience! We've pulled a few blanks out of the press before their time!
"The scutum blank must ripen to perfection in the press. A three to four day bath of warming sunshine, lovingly protected from the dew at night, and the scutum blank will emerge firm and unyielding, eagerly awaiting the plane and the gradual peeling back of its toughened outer skin, revealing the bold inner..."
Historic Scutum - Paullus Scipio - 06-29-2007
Crikey !!! ( as the late Steve Irwin would have said ) - couldn't ask for better !
I already have my materials, but am more than happy to wait a few weeks...just hope it doesn't drift into months ('scuse my eager impatience
wink: