Improvements for the Northern-style concho

As I've discussed before, the early Achaemenid weapon belt included a shallow bronze concho which often had a flower design cast on.  In the absence of castings that could accurately replicate the originals, an acceptable substitute is a Northern-style concho.  However, it still has some differences, the most notable of which is that it has a small round loop on the back instead of a riveted bar.

 

Image from OIP 69, which you should go download right now.

You could, of course, leave your concho the way you receive it.  The alterations here are worthwhile if you happen to be set up for silver soldering (as of this writing, a low-end gas torch, tub of flux and coil of solder come to 20USD, give or take a few).

First the solder on the back is melted and the copper loop removed.  Unfortunately, it's too short to do anything with, so I tossed that one and used one of those huge copper-plated staples from a cardboard box, simply bent to shape with pliers and trimmed with wire cutters.

The advantages of this design, aside from a more accurate shape, are that it holds the concho closer to the belt, and that it can be used with either a thick, narrow leather lace or a flat, wide thong.

Before installing the back bar, I decided to beat the concho into a more conical shape with a small ball-peen hammer.  Unfortunately, my forging skills are mediocre and left it slightly lumpy, so I covered that up by going ahead and adding the classic flower design seen on some historical examples.

These designs were originally cast on, but a similar appearance can be affected by engraving or etching.  Since I don't know how to engrave, I etched it using some ferric chloride with permanent marker as a resist.  The chloride took about half an hour to make a good 3D design.

In order to let the flower stand out, I didn't burnish it as thoroughly as I could have.  Some of the permanent marker, dissolved with nail polish remover and scrubbed with a nylon sponge, tends to stick in the rough etched surface and provide a good contrast with the un-etched surface where the resist had been..