ANST - exotica ... was: Shield Blanks
j'lynn yeates
jyeates at realtime.net
Sun Nov 7 09:39:44 PST 1999
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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