ANST - exotica ... was: Shield Blanks

[j'lynn yeates]

On 7 Nov 99, at 16:34, Jeff Smith wrote:

> Excellent points.  That said, I'm just a middle man.  Members of my group 
> are looking for titanium (it's "shield envy"...I have titanium), so I'm just
> looking to see if any is still available.
> 
> I will pass your excellent points along to them, and I thank you.

based on those points, seriously doubt that you will find anyone with shield 
sized blanks .. about all i've ever been able to find are small strips, wire, 
and the occasional (rare and/or expensive) bar stock ... taking a wild guess 
slightly based on past experience, *if* you could find a metal supplier to 
fulfill the order, a "blank" of that size would probably run $200-300 range 
(possibly more) for materials and fabrication since it would be a "one of" job 
... 

added consideration, i'm not even sure that it's commonly rolled in a guage 
that would make a shield a practicality (a shield is useful becuase of it's 
mass, absorbing energy).  in the commonaly avaialble sheet guages i have seen, 
you will end up with a thin sheet that will transfer the energy into your arm 
instead of dampening it.  i have personal experience with a large steel round 
that did just that ... transferred the blows energy through it's matrix into 
your arm, numbing it short order, no matter how well mounted / padded it was  
.. not to mention ringing like a bell.  while the aluminum models i've 
experimented with over the years are much more intert, especially when a 
"aluminum over wood" design is used

back to cost issues, once you factor in the materials, fab charges, your  
fabrication time, aggravation, and tools (you'll go through a lot of blades and 
bits) needed to make the blank a shield, and your talking a potential $500 plus 
combat shield (call it the "pentagon model" ... and i think that's probbaly on 
the conservative side) that's more a show-piece than a functional combat 
shield. 

and after all that it's still going to be *flat* (try curving / dishing a small 
jewelry blank and you'll see what i mean) unless you have a industrial class 
hydraulic press sitting around and a framework to rivet it to so it holds it's 
shape.

makes the aluminum (already exotic and controversial enough) much more 
attractive, eh?  this exact subject has been the center of more than one bar-
discussion over the years.

titanium armour has always been a great fantasy (25 years worth of experience 
with that one ...) but like all fantasies, when you start applying the 
realities of the matter it quickly fades in practicality .... making small-
scale (*flat*) jewelry out of it is hard enough (and i didn't even get into the 
nasty acids and high voltages needed to produce the wonderful colorations that 
make it so attractive ... this and the fabrication problems mentioned are main 
reason most go to niobium instead)

'wolf
... now, don't protest your innocence, only the dead get off scot-free
- warren zevon
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