Scutum Construction Phase 2

[M. Demetrius]

How successfully did the linen form to the corners of the bracing...it's here that I generally see areas where the cloth doesn't really match the angles of the wood.

I've not done rawhide edging, but I have done leather several times. I've found for me that the easy way is to use a scrap board on the inside of the shield, held or clamped in place (held on the curves, clamped on the straight runs) and drilled through with an electric drill, then sewn in a long "saddle stitch", for which I've successfully used about a 3/4" (2cm) spacing, more or less. I tie the knots on the back, so the front looks nice and neat.

Using leather, I first cut the strips, wet them and bend them to shape, then apply them to the shield, clamp them and let them dry in place. They tend to hold on that way, rather than constantly trying to escape. I suspect a similar tactic would overcome the rawhide. If you stretch and sew rawhide, with much stretch, the shrinking as it dries might do something bad to your stitching. Experiment on a couple of scrap wood pieces, and see how is best. If you can get a hide, you'll be able to choose the width of your strips better.