Making an Aspis - Ring Method (Visual Aids)

[Chris B]

Okay. So we are at the inside metal work today.

First, place your porpax into the middle of your shield and take measurements from various hard points on your porpax to make sure its position in the shield is exactly where you want it. I center mine perfectly inside. Then mark your holes with a pencil where you will drill. Place the aspis on top of scrap wood and drill with the outer surface pressed firmly into the scrap wood, and it won't splinter out. Drill the holes slightly smaller than your nails so the nails will still grip inside the wood.

Next, take dome top brass nails or nails of your choice and hammer them through the shield from the back. Once again, keep the shield firm against the scrap wood to support your glued rings. This will keep them from separating at all and also keep the wood from splintering. When you pull the shield away from the scrap wood, it will have slightly stuck if you only use nails slightly longer than the shield's thickness.



Once you pull the shield away, make sure the nails are firmly seated in the wood. Next, you will make small, thin, square washers out of the metal of your choice. Mine are made from brass. Drill holes in the metal slightly larger than the nail in thin gauge metal. Use a dremel or a file to smooth the surfaces of the hole after drilling. Then cut out the individual washers.



Place the washer over the nail on the front surface and cut the nail to only slightly longer than the washer. Place something metal under the dome head on the inside and make sure it is secure on the metal. Take a small ball peen hammer and flatten the nail's recently cut side down over the washer with GENTLE small strikes UNTIL THE WASHER SLIGHTLY PULLS INTO THE WOOD. The washer should only barely bite into the wood and you will see that running your hand over the front of the shield is very smooth.