Always create a design that appeals to you. Roundel spaulders can be Round, flower or oval shaped. Or when round doesn’t work for you, like the better known Visby find, design a teardrop shape.
You are therefore only limited in your design by the material and tools you have available.
Steel is not easy to work with if you lack the tools of the trade. Although a dishing stump is easily made, it might not be practical at home in some cases.
Here at Wilfred von Arendheim we all have our share of obstacles like lack of space, tools, or skills.
On the positive side some steel working plants sell their waste products. Circles that are punched out of sheet metal often already have a dished shape.. Just like roundel spaulders..
Also, to keep brass rivet heads looking nice.. Do the riveting on a block of lead so they don’t get deformed.
Meanwhile Getting inspiration from actual medieval artifacts is always a great experience, a lot of the visby artifacts are found in the Gotland historical Museum
After designing your Spaulders on paper. Aditionally transfer the design to your metal.
Depending on the material you have available, start by cutting out the rough shape.
If you have a flat sheet of metal, do not cut out the shape too closely to the lines, as the material will warp if you need to dish it out. This will ruin your design.
If the material needs to be dished, then a dishing stump and a hammer are needed. The following links show how to make a dishing stump and how to shape the metal
After achieving the dished shape, re-apply your design on the metal and cut it out meticulously.
Drill the holes for the rivets that will hold the leather backing.
depending on your preferred attachment method for the spaulders. Buckles, hinges or laces, drill the appropriate holes for those too.
File and sand all edges nice and round to prevent injury.
Paint the back of the metal with rust protection paint
Prepare the leather backing by punching holes where the rivets go through.
Then attach the attachment method and the leather backing to the spaulder with rivets.