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How to make a buckler from an IKEA steel salad bowl for under 20 Euro:

These bowls are an IKEA "Christmas special" so availability is limited to the Christmas period, last year they were called "KOLD" and this year (2005) they were part of the "JULEN" series.

Materials needed:

First, carefully deform the handle, like so:

Bend both sides of the handle in small increases, checking repeatedly until the handle fits in the bowl...

Like this:

Mark the position for the top hole on both sides, taking care that they are about the same distance from the rim:

Drill holes through the bowl as marked:

Insert bolts, with washers on both sides:

Tighten the nuts:

A single bolt is without question sufficient to hold the buckler together, but since we like multiples of 3, we mark the positions of the other holes, remove the handle, and drill the extra holes:

Place all the bolts before tightening any. Depending on how precise the holes were positioned, this may be a little difficult. It's best to make the secondary holes a bit on the large side.

Finally, tighten everything. Congratulation, you now have an IKEA buckler. Here are a few I finished earlier: