scutum edging

[Anonymous]

Avete Omnes,<br>
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Awright, here's what I got so far. florentius.com/index.htm From the home page click on the cleverly titled "scutum edging" link, and you'll find a bunch of pics, and my instructions. It's a little hastily written, and not all as articulate as I'd like, but hopefully it'll help. I have not put the sides on yet so I don't have any finished pics. I'm debating whether or not to cut new ones since I was retarded and they are too short. How cheesy would a "patch" be? Maybe I can solder it in so you don't really notice it. Or maybe, my scutum got perfectly symetrical battle damage, and had to be repaired. Yeah, that's it! It sucks because I almost got the whole thing in four pieces. Anyway, this is why I say finish the top and bottom before you cut your sides.<br>
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Good luck everyone, show us your results.<br>
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Qvitnvs Florentivs<br>
LEGVIVICPF<br>
www.florentius.com <br>
<img src="http://img70.photobucket.com/albums/v212/jaredfleury/tabulimgif.gif" style="border:0;"/><br>
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[Matt Lukes]

Avete!<br>
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Qvintvs has described the entire process PERFECTLY in that link- I made the initial bends rather more simply (just with a pair of pliars at first then hammering lightly on a wooden form), but overall the look of each step matches what I encountered to... including the slight problem with measurements Luckily I my top section was a little long and the sides a little short, so all I had to do was adjust the curve of the top corners. A very tight fit though- I'd have prefered some slight overlap. Since I really do feel that 9mm for each of the edge and tabs to be too small afterall, it looks as if I'll be re-doing the whole thing, and will put the lesson of measuring AFTER making the corners into practice<br>
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I've also been re-working my Imperial Gallic helmet using the excellent images on Matt Amt's site- and something caught my eye: in some of the beautiful reconstruction helmets, the thin brass edging around the neck-guard and cheeks is held in place by a <em>separate</em> tab wrapped around the ends and riveted in place. Now it occurred to me that integral tabs caused a LOT of brass wastage, but I'd never seen any pictures that had anything but a one-piece Scutum rim. The idea of separate tabs had occurred to me early on, and now seems to have precident in helmets- is there any reason this isn't used on the rims of Scuta too? It certainly makes more sense to do it this way (to me, anyway ) and from the perspective of not wasting metal, does too in a historical sense (granted, that is assuming the Romans used thin sheets of brass and cut them as we do).<br>
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Oh and Qvintvs, it occurs that 'patches' might not be as cheesy as you think- I would think that Roman 'Scuta Edgers' may not have had long sections of sheet brass to work with, but more likely had short sections- or at least more than just 4 plus 4 corners. I'd think that multiple sections going to make up the sides and top/bottom would actually be more authentic- especially if they're not entirely symmetrical. Sure, if the edge is purely decorative, it'd be made fairly nicely, but I, myself, don't see anything wrong with multiple-section long pieces.<br>
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Vale!<br>
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Matt <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Ave Matt L,<br>
Interesting question. Here's what I've got- In Connollys Greece and Rome at war he states that "Many pieces of this (bronze) binding have been found,..." (pg233 center column) and his illustration shows pieces cut out in the standard manner. Bishop and Coulston has two illustrations of brass binding (pg83), one of a corner, one of a side, which both have the lobate tabs. He describes it as "U-sectioned brass binding, normally fastened to the wood with brass nails inserted through lobate expansions..."(pg82) Although the waste is pretty substantial esp. over many scuta, I'm sure that they would have just remelted it It would sure be easier to cut straight strips and add the tabs over the top, however, I have not found that Romans generally did things in the most obvious, straightforward, or practical manner. Ah well...<br>
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I have resolved my differences with the patches, starting with the idea that my scutum is DONE, and moving along from there. They don't leap out horribly, and without waisting all that brass and cutting time I get a pretty solid looking shield. Mostly I hate my nail job, and I think I'll try rivets next time.<br>
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Vale, Quintus Florentius<br>
LEGVIVICPF<br>
www.florentius.com <p></p><i></i>

[Matt Lukes]

Ave!<br>
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Ah, okay, I figured that the way the edging is usually made is based on some artifact(s). Actually, upon further reflection, it wouldn't surprse me if the sections were actually made by hammering a thin bar or something and that the tabs were actually created during the process rather than by cutting anything. That way there'd be no scrap, and it would be simpler than using separate tabs- probably a lot more sturdy too. Given the Suctum's purpose and the rigors of daily use, sturdy was probably the name of the game.<br>
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Does the image/illustration of the side piece show it as a single long section or is it shorter suggesting there might have been multiple parts?<br>
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Vale<br>
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Matt <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Ave,<br>
<br>
The illustration in Conollys' book shows the scutum edged in four pieces, as I tried to do. One each for top and bottom, and one each for the sides. The illustrations of real artifacts in B&C shows a corner, with two tabs, one on each side, and the channel extending beyond that for a bit. It is not clear if the ends are broken or cut. The long piece, I say a side because it is not curved, has a tab at one end that looks like a clean end. Then it has three more tabs, and just past the third one, the channel appears to be broken. Bear in mind that these are all drawings, so some details may not be clear. It also shows the back of one of the lobate tabs, which does clearly show a nail end bent over in a curve. By the scale, it looks like the section with four tabs is about 35 centimeters long. If the tabs are about 12 centimeters apart, and the end is indeed broken, that would suggest there is at least one more section with tab making the unbroken piece at least 48 centimeters or about 18 inches long.<br>
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Am I reaching? Certainly makes sense to me. The fewer pieces the stronger the whole unit'll be. If it was hammered out as you suggest, then that helps the waste and cutting problem. They could even have been poured to rough shape in ingot form, then thinned and finished by hammer.<br>
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Vale, Quintvs Florentivs<br>
LEGVIVICPF<br>
www.florentius.com <p></p><i></i>