Would jeweler's brass make an effective shield boss?

[Dan D'Silva]

Had a couple of ideas:

Do you think a half-inch-thick wooden boss covered inside and out with thin glued leather and a 14AWG/16SWG boss on top would stand up to use, or is it more likely to be a liability when the wood cracks?

I had also thought of just using a bell cymbal with a little piece of metal soldered over the hole and the lathed grooves planished away.  Cursory research indicates that they tend to be thick enough at 2-2.5mm, but are commonly made of bronze with a 20 percent tin content and prone to cracking when struck too hard.  And that's just with a drumstick, not a blunt steel spear. They're sometimes made of softer bronze, so maybe I can find one that would work.