Making a Punch Shield for Jugger! (originally by Soul)

Today we are going to learn one method to create a punch style shield! This version utilises a boss on the front to allow space for the hand, and can be made with both a strap and a punch handle in one shield, so you can change up your style without having to swap out your gear!

For this build you will need:

Tools: Utility knife, scissors, patience. A jigsaw can be handy too.

Two sheets of coreflute Easily purchased from Bunnings or found discarded after election day ;-)

(Alternatively, a sufficiently large/thick piece of EPP foam. This tutorial will show the coreflute method, but for EPP go straight from cutting your shape to making a cavity in the foam for your handle - no need to glue multiple sheets together, or add foam on the front or around the edge! Beauty! Just make sure your shield conforms to the Australian Jugger Leage shield specs found on Jugger.org.au)

Adhesive Kwik Grip Advanced or Sika etc

Tape - Cloth Tape or similar. Duct tape is heavy and cracks with time, do not recommend.

Foam at least 1cm thick for the face of the shield - we find yoga mats are great! You will need a couple of layers of this for the front of the boss.

Straps - some form of strapping if attaching straps to the shield. Also recommend a small piece of hose if you want to grasp one of the straps in the hand

Plastic cereal bowl - this will be the "boss" on the face of the shield that your hand will fit in while it grips the handle, so ensure it's big enough for your closed fist.

Piping insulation - kflex or similar, one length in 13x13 and one length in 13x19. This is for the shield rim.

Alternatively, a strip of self adhesive foam (175cm - 200cm long, 24mm x 10mm) around the rim with a single tube of kflex may suffice, providing it provides 20mm of padding on the rim)

*Optional* Circle of fabric - if you desire to make a shield cover a circle of fabric 900mm in diameter is perfect. This can be taped to the shield or sew paracord/elastic or similar in to make a drawstring

Cut your sheets of core fluting (or shape your foam if using EPP). Assuming you plan to make a 60cm diameter shield, cut your sheets to a diameter of 56-57cm to allow for the foam padding on the edges. Take care to ensure your pieces are uniform - a paper or cardboard blank cut to size and traced over your coreflute is a simple and effective way to ensure a uniform edge. (pic 1)

Next, prepare and cut out the handle section. The punch grip handle itself is cut from the shield base, then reinforced. Start off by drawing in two half circles. I measured 3.5cm between the two 'D' cutouts, but it will depend on your hand size. (pic 3) If you also plan to include straps on your build, ensure you cut slits for them on each side of the D cutouts at a distance that will be comfortable for you to strap to your arm. (See picture at top of page)

Once cut to shape and the grip cutouts and strap slits have been made, ensure everything lines up and then glue your sheets together using contact cement (Kwik Grip Advanced, Sika etc). Make sure the direction of the fluting runs in different directions when glued together. This is important for the strength and longevity of your shield!

Alternatively, if you have a jigsaw (or enjoy a challenging struggle with a utility knife) you can cut the handle and strap slits after gluing the shield together. (pic 2)

Once your glued disks are dry and you've done any trimming necessary to make them uniform, tape them together around the edge. This not only helps hold the disks together, but reduces damage to the interior of the foam padding later on.

To complete the grip, cut two strips of core fluting the same width as your handle, and a few inches longer than the handle. Make sure to cut the strip in the same direction as the core fluting runs (you'll get what I mean when you go to cut it out).

In the above pic I pre-taped the handle before attaching the re-enforcing strips of core fluting. You can do that, but you don't have to. I did that for extra strength on the handle. (pic 1)

Tape your re-enforcement strips to the handle, making sure there is equal overlap at top and bottom, and then tape the overlap down too.

Next up, tape and wrap your handle. I use bicycle inner-tubing cut into long strips. You could also use hockey/tennis racket tape, but you can get away with simple cloth or electrical tape. (pic 2)

Next up, the boss.

Make sure you get a bowl that will give your knuckles enough clearance when you're holding the handle, especially seeing as you'll want to pad the inside of the bowl with foam as well as the outside. Just pad your bowl like crazy to reduce the chance of cracking it.... and buy a couple of spare bowls. (Pic 1)

Tape your bowl to the front of your shield. Only use two pieces of tape at first, then triple check it's on straight, and that it's comfortable to hold from the inside. Then tape the boss down securely.(Pic 2)

Your shield has to have a minimum of 1cm of padding on the front. (If your shield is made with EPP you're in luck - it's already padded by default! Yay!)

If your shield only has arm straps and a flat face, you can cut out a circle of foam and simply stick it on. If you have a punch grip shield with a padded boss, you can do what I did and cut out two donut shaped disks of foam, tape them together, then tape them onto the shield face

Take your piping insulation foam (the same kinda stuff you use to make spars), split them down the entire length on one side, and stick them around the edge of the shield as shown. Smaller foam on the inside, larger on the outside.

Make sure to tape down your foam padding around the entire edge of the shield, especially if you plan to use the shield as it without a cloth cover. Taping the foam down protects it from damage when it gets struck. Just make sure you tape the foam down lightly; no need to compress the foam at all.

Get creative and add a design to the front, or better yet: use a cloth cover! Cloth covers help protect the shield from wear and tear, but most importantly they look awesome! Covers can be made simply by taping a circle of fabric 90cm in diameter around your shield, or get heaps fancy and sew a drawstring into the cover, making it interchangable!