[Ansteorra] Plywood Shield Blank Question

[Lori Campbell]

I used to use 1/2" plywood (two 1/4" laminated sheets) but in addition to being kindof heavy, they never seemed to hold up very well. 

I've now been using the same plywood rectangle shield since 1994-ish... It hasn't seen much use the last few years, but even so, it survived well over a decade of hard use and shows no signs of disintegration. 

It is 3/8" baltic birch plywood (I believe it has 3 layers of 1/8" sheets laminated and the specific type of wood is very important). Off the top of my head I believe we kept the wood grain vertical, but I couldn't tell you why...  We used aluminum u-channel on all 4 edges (which was held on with wood glue and a few screws) and garden hose over that. It is light enough that I can carry it around all day. :)

~ Kat M.
Wiesenfeuer