Making an Aspis - Ring Method (Visual Aids)

[Chris B]

I am starting a new aspis tonight using the ring method. Let me start this thread by giving all credit to Matthew Amt for this construction method. Through various threads people have asked questions on how to construct one and I have been asked repeatedly how I did mine so I will document my process with lots of pictures and a few short videos over the next few days to help anyone to make one for themselves.

First: Read Matthew's method and become very familiar with it because I use it except a few minor modifications in methods.

http://www.larp.com/hoplite/hoplon.html

I will start tonight and slowly add pictures and descriptions of steps over the next 10-14 days to completion including how I paint the designs. Feel free to add ideas if you want!

[Chris B]

Okay. Here is the first set of photos. My saw broke tonight so I will have to buy a new one on the way home from work and pick up where I left off tonight. I would normally already have the bowl and rim glued together in two pieces drying. No big deal.

I usually use two 1/2" sheets of Birch plywood to make my ring method shields. You can do it with one, but I would rather keep my rings solid and have extra in case. For $30 additional dollars it is worth it to me.

First I mark off where I will place each ring. Using Matthew's measurements, I combine the following rings inside one another: 10/4, 7/1, 9/3, and 8/2. That leaves layers 6 and 5 as separate rings on each sheet with scrap inside themselves.

Lets just start with one ring, #10. I measure 35" leaving 1/2 on the edges and mark off 35" of the plywood measuring from the width end. Then I cut that measurement in half and mark my center line at 17 1/2". Then I measure 24" up the center line to give me the center of this marked area.

I take a metal yard stick that has a hole at the 1" mark and nail it to the center mark. I add 1" to the radius for ring 10 (17" = 1 = 18") and hold a pencil at that mark on the yard stick as I pull the yard stick around the full 360 degrees. Basically I just make a bar compass. I have a pretty steady hand so this works well for me. I then repeat this for all 10 rings.

Next, I cut each of the six sections into rectangles with a skill saw to make them a more manageable size for cuting the rings with a jig saw. Then I slowly cut out all 10 rings with the jig saw. Next, I lightly sand the edges of all the rings so I do not get splinters when gluing them up.

I glue rings 10 and 9 together and weight them to dry for the rim and leave them separate as it is easier to sand the rim separate from the bowl. I glue the rim to the bowl after the outside is sanded for the whole shield, but before the inside is touched at all.

I usually lay one ring on top of the next layer and slowly adjust its center by measuring every few inches with a ruler around the circumference until there is equal spacing. Then I trace the smaller ring on to the larger ring, glue the inside of the area where the smaller ring will rest, place the smaller ring back on to the larger ring, and weight them with whatever I have lying around with significant weight. I do that for rings 1-8 to get the bowl. I usually glue 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, then combine 1/2/3/4 and 5/6/7/8 and then combine all 8 to cut down on the time I have to wait for the next step. It usually takes me 48 hours to get a bowl and rim ready for sanding.

Since I am behind, I will wait and post a few videos and pics of sanding in a few days next to show some tricks I found for sanding extremely quickly and efficiently. I finish the WHOLE shield with a Porter Cable variable speed belt sander. You CAN get all the angles on the inside with a few tricks. I'll show them once I start sanding.

Here are three progress picks of what I just described.

[Kineas]

Should some sanding be done BEFORE gluing?

this is great!

[M. Demetrius]

The glue ought to bite better if the surface is not totally smooth. The "roughness" you feel with your hands gives more surface for the glue to fill in, at least that's the "don't sand before gluing" theory.

[Chris B]

There really is no point to sanding before gluing. I have already made a few of these type shields and see no point. The glue adheres and bonds well and you do SOOOO much sanding with the belt sander to shape it that you would be wasting your time at this phase. You'll see when I post pics and vids of the sanding phase.

I will start sanding the outside of the bowl and rim tomorrow and post pics and vids Saturday to show it.

[Chris B]

Okay. Today I sanded the outside of the aspis. At the start of the day, the aspis was in two pieces (1-8 and 9,10). I mis-spoke in the video and these are the correct ring numbers. It is easiest to sand the bowl apart from the rim for the outside work. This allows you to sand holding the belt sander perpindicular to the ground while you work on the bowl and allows you to get the right angles on the rim which would be impossible if they were together.






I use a 21" variable speed belt sander with 60 grit sand paper. It does leave a few very minor tears using coarse sand paper that will have to be wood puttied, BUT I have found that it does no worse to the shield than using finer sand paper and takes a fraction of the time. The entire sand job for the outside only took me 2 to 2 1/2 hours to complete.

I hold the belt sander perpindicular to the edge of the shield and work on a few rings at a time holding it across the outer edge of the rings.

[Chris B]

I usually put the shield on a few boards to prop it off the ground which helps when sanding the lower rings so you don't hit the ground. I start from the top and work my way down. I also let the sander travel around the circumference of the shield being careful to keep it perpindicular to the edge.

You will notice that the gap/distance between the edges of each ring will get smaller and smaller until only a little bit of wood shavings will protrude from the shield. Then they will disappear. I work on 45 degrees to 90 degrees of the shields full 360 degree perimiter at a time being careful to blend them.

Here is a video link to youtube showing this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDVqg2KEyag

Stop sanding a section once the gap completely disappears and go on to the next section until the whole bowl is finished. Then turn the sander parallel to the ground for ring 8 and the bottom of the bowl and make sure the outer edge is smooth and uniform. Then go back over the whole shield sanding lightly to make sure it is uniform. You end up with this.

[Chris B]

Now we will go on to the rim.

First, place the bowl on the rim and measure from the edge of the bowl to the edge of the bowel and slowly adjust it to make sure that it is centered. Take a pencil and trace the bowel's circumference on to the rim very darkly. Also place a reference mark on the bowl and on the rim in one place to make sure they meet up once your done. Once you take the bowl back off the rim, you will also need to carry the reference mark to the inside area where the bowel was resting since you will sand off the outer mark.





Now you will sand the rim. I usually weight the back of the rim with a 30 lb dumb bell weight so it stays in place. You want to sand across both rings leaving approximately a 1/4" thickness to the lowest ring. DO NOT SAND INSIDE YOUR MARKED OUTER EDGE OF THE BOWL. This area needs to remain flat so you can glue the two halves together once the rim is sanded.

Video for Rim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSO_qNBbMTM

I work my way around the rim until it is finished and then glue the bowel and rim together before I start sanding the inside.

[Chris B]

Here is what the finished rim looks like when sanded.

[Chris B]

I will work on this over the next two weeks and show you everything I do to get my shield to look the way it does, but it may be slow going for several days. I start training on Sunday for 10 days straight to get certified to teach Suzuki Method Violin. I will complete it within two weeks, but I may not be here to respond to messages.

[M. Demetrius]

What do you use for filler in the voids in the plywood? I'm asking, just because I've often used a paste of saw/sanding dust (you should have generated a good bit of that!) mixed with the same glue as what holds things together. I usually use off the shelf yellow carpenter's glue. Mix it thick, putty knife it into the holes, and it sets, not shrinking much. Sands and paints pretty well, but is not the same color, so can't be stained.

[Chris B]

I just use wood putty that I have at home for other projects. I cover all my shields with linen, leather or canvas anyway so color doesn't matter much once it is covered and painted.

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hello Chris. Well done! Is this plywood marine plywood?

[Chris B]

No. I don't think so. I am just using standard birch plywood that you can get at any Home Depot here in the US. Well I am off to do the inside. I'll get those steps and tips up later today as long as I can beat the rain.

[Chris B]

Today I am sanding the inside of the shield. First, this is now what the shield looks like with all rings glued together.