Wodin bless all Craftsmen. And especially those with a knowledge of Carpentry. You see, I was given oath by a friend of my father's, who is in the process of becoming a friend of mine, that I would be in reciept of a quantity of 1/2" Oak planks, sufficient to produce a disc of timber some 36" in diameter. Without cost. Offcuts from a project he'd been doing, I believe. That wood has finally been delivered. And my father has arranged, at the cost of my agreement to do a spot of digging for another friend, for said friend to lend me aid turning this timber into a shield. A Norse pattern Round Shield. The original plan had been for a Gokstad pattern shield, but those were of Alder or Fir. Or possibly Linden. And were some 37" in Diameter. I lack the timber for that.
However, precise diameter has yet to be determined. We will start with a diameter of 36". And then, if that proves unwieldy, we will cut it down further. I hope to go no smaller than 32". So far we have planed the sides of the boards level with a tool called a jointer, paired them off, and glued the pairs together. Tomorrow, the plan calls for gluing the resultant boards together, giving me a board some almost 38" by anything ranging from 18" at the sides, to almost 48" for the center boards. We are using an outdoor wood glue which is water resistant, and creates a bond stronger than the boards themselves are.
Tomorrow night, I will detail out how we completed the next stages and what is planned as the next the project. This will continue until it is done, and I have a shield. Then I will simply require shoes and steel, and then I will have the kit of a peasant. Some form of polearm, I think, a spear or a daneax. Maybe a billhook. Or even simply a handaxe, if I can find a head. Hafting it will be easy enough, living as I do surrounded by a few hundred square kilometers of forest. And a knife. Dirk or Saex, much as I would prefer a Poniard.
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