How to Make Steel Rivets for a Viking Shield
All Norsemen during the Viking age were required to own weapons. The predominant shield used by the Vikings was a round shield about 36 inches in diameter. Even though it was not required, the shield was most commonly used because the helmets and chainmail were too difficult to produce and expensive for the majority of Norsemen to afford. The shields were held together with rivets. The process to make a rivet is similar to peening -- hammering a rivet to permanently secure it into place with a ball peen hammer.
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Things You'll Need
- Ball-peen hammer
- Wire cutters
- 1/8-inch diameter steel wire
- Steel blocks (2)
- 1/8-inch drill
- Oil
Instructions
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1
Measure the thickness of the wood used to form the shield, the handle and the shield boss, the round piece of metal at the center of the shield.
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2
Add the thickness of the shield and handle together to get the length of the rivets needed to hold the handle to the shield.
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3
Add the thickness of the shield and shield boss together to get the length of the rivets needed to hold the boss to the shield.
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4
Drill a 1/8-inch diameter hole into two steel blocks. One steel block should be about 0.2-inch thicker than the thickness noted in Step 2 for the handle rivet block. The other steel block should be about 0.2-inch thicker than the thickness noted in Step 3 for the boss rivet block.
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5
Cut a length of steel wire about 0.4-inch longer than the thickness noted in Step 2 for the handle rivets or Step 3 for the boss rivets.
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6
Place a drop of oil into the holes made in the steel blocks.
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7
Insert a piece of the wire cut in Step 5 into the hole of the corresponding steel block. For example, a segment of wire cut to the handle rivet length in Step 5 would be placed into the handle rivet block from Step 4. A small part of the wire will stick out of the top of the block.
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8
Hit the edges of the wire sticking out of the block with a ball-peen hammer. Continue hitting the edges around the entire circumference of the wire until the top of the wire forms a dome shape.
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9
Tip over the block so that the rivet slides out.
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