Round Shields

[Inigo]

This is more for the Auckland Norse than anyone else. It's easier posting here than tracking down all their individual email addresses.

As per our discussions on Sunday, I've been trying to source timber for shields so we can make shields from planks, not plywood.

There are many different timbers that were used in the Viking period for making shields, the most common being lindin and fir / spruce. I've tracked down some douglas fir (which I think is a North American fir, not a European one). I can't find anything closer to appropriate.

We can get 150x50 douglas fir for $27 per lineal metre + GST, ex yard (see below for yard details).

I have a nasty crappy table saw we can rip 150x50 down to three widths of 150x13mm at which point we need a thicknesser to take them back to about 8-10mm thick.

To make a 90cm round shield we're probably looking at about 1.6-1.8 LM of timber so we're looking at about $50-$60 per shield for the timber alone.

This all hinges on being able to turn 150x50 into something a bit more shield shaped. The most important question is

1. Does anybody have access to a thicknesser??? And, ideally, a good table saw as well.

2. Is anyone able to get to Mt Roskill during the day and pick up some timber?

I've been talking to Chris Wiffen at TIMSPEC (Timber Specialists Ltd, Auckland). His contact details are:

Ph 021 283 6960 (mob)
DDI 64 9 621 0317
Office 64 9 620 0260
Fax 64 9 620 0261
email chris@timspec.co.nz
web site www.timspec.co.nz

The timber yard is here:
66C Stoddard Road
Mt Roskill