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The Æthelmearc Gazette

~ Covering the Kingdom of Æthelmearc of the SCA

The Æthelmearc Gazette

Tag Archives: woodworking

Last Call! The Arts & Sciences at Æthelmearc War Practice XXXI

27 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by Susan Verberg in Arts & Sciences, KMOAS, Teaching

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AEthelmearc Brewers Guild, AEthelmearc War Practice, Brewing, woodworking

Rumblings of War have reached our borders and to help prepare, the Shire of Steltonwald invites all to gather at Cooper’s Lake Campground May 19-22, 2022 for the Æthelmearc War Practice XXXI.

Class coordinator Lady Vika Vyborskaia would like to remind the populace that this week is THE LAST CALL to schedule your class or order meeting for War Practice!

The deadline being this coming Friday, April 27th. Get your classes and workshops on the schedule to make sure you have room inside the wonderful water proof and sun shading class tents. This is a perfect opportunity to dust off those in-person make & take classes we’ve missed so much during our Plague-induced shift to virtual class offerings. Please email Lady Vika asap as there are still a few time slots available for Friday and Saturday!

Merriment in the Brewers Tent – the brewers competition and social of War Practice 2019.

The Royal Æthelmearc Guild of Brewers, Vintners, and Meadhers plans a well deserved Round Table and Social of copious libations, lively discussions and stories of unusual plague brewings… We invite anyone to come hang out with us – and brewers, please bring a sample of whatever you concocted to share! Tentatively scheduled for Friday early evening. Contact Elska with any questions.

Master Robert of Sugar Grove teaching the Youth of Æthelmearc how to safely operate a hand plane, War Practice 2019.

The much anticipated Wood Workshop and Hand Tool Tastings will happen once again under the expert tutelage of Master Robert of Sugar Grove. He loves sharing his knowledge with those gentles interested in learning more about hand tool woodworking as well offer the opportunity to experience hand tools and equipment often unfamiliar to the modern woodworker.

But wait, there is more! Once again War Practice will have access to the Great Hall! Bring your projects in progress! Bring your curiosity! Bring your displays! Saturday from 1 to 5pm we will have A&S PLAY TIME! Stay tuned for more detail…

And during A&S Playtime, The Kingdom Ministry of Arts & Sciences will arrange for an A&S Consultation Table for those new, and not so new, to the arts & sciences to chat about projects, progress and inspirations as well as ask questions about research, documentation and entering for future events. The KMoAS is here to enable serve your A&S endeavors to the best of our combined abilities!

Come join us as we endeavor to explore all of the martial and arts & sciences activities the society offers. This will include Rattan, Fencing, Archery, Thrown Weapons, Combat Archery, and Siege with several Kingdom Championships on the schedule. The peaceful pursuits include an extensive A&S class track and meetings, as well as shopping, dancing, and more.

Shenanigans by Master Robert of Ferness and THLady Lasairfhiona inghean Aindriasa in the Brewers tent involving big and tasty balls… Chocolate Beer Bacon Brownie Balls – really what else could we mean?!

For updates as they become available, please visit the Steltonwalt website and keep an eye out for the Class Schedule next week.

-elska

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Let’s Build a Mary Rose Chest

24 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, Camping

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Camping, equipment, storage, storage chest, woodworking

By Laird Coinneach Mac an Leigh

It is common practice in the SCA to use small chests for storage as well as seating at camping and other events. With a little care, these chests can be made in a historically accurate way, enhancing the authenticity of our sites.

The chest in this article is called the Little Mary Rose Chest because it uses the same joinery techniques as the Purser’s Chest on the Mary Rose, a carrack in the navy of King Henry VIII. The Mary Rose was lost in 1545 in battle in the Solent, the strait separating the Isle of Wight from England. Raised in 1971, she is a treasure trove of Henrician artifacts administered by the Mary Rose Trust.

To build this chest, you will only need two boards: a 1×12 six feet long, and a 1×16 eight feet long. A 1×16 is probably a glued-up panel—a series of small boards glued and planed at the factory to make a wide board. If you feel like it, you could glue up your own panel, but this article won’t tell you how to do that.

Take the 1×12 and start by cutting the ends of the chest to 17-1/4” long. On each board, mark a line 3” up from the lower end, then a second line 0.75” up from the first. These lines mark the edges of a dado, a groove across the grain of the board with a flat bottom and square sides.

Illustration 1

An end board with the dado and boot jack laid out.

You can cut this groove by sawing on the waste side of each line halfway through the thickness of the board and clearing out the waste with a chisel. In period, the bottom of the dado would be leveled and smoothed with a tool called an “Old Woman’s Tooth,” which is an early form of router plane. Nineteenth-century router planes can often be found in antique shops. Of course, if you want to use modern tools, you can cut the dado with a router.

Now cut the “boot jack” on the ends. Mark a centerline down the length of the end boards. Mark the lower end of the board 3” to either side of the centerline and 3” up from the bottom. Cut out this triangle.

Illustration 2

Dado and boot jack cut.

Cut the board for the bottom of the chest from the rest of the 1×12. Make it 23-1/4” long. Carefully fit the bottom into the dadoes of the ends and secure with nails. You can use regular modern nails, but if you can find cut nails they will both hold better and be more authentic.

Now it’s time to take the 1×16 and cut the front and back of the chest. Cut both to a length of 24” and a width of 14-1/4”. On each end and one long side, mark a line 3/4” in from the edge. This marks the edge of a rabbet, a shoulder cut in the edge of the board. Saw along the waste side of the line half the thickness of the board then remove the waste with a chisel. There is a specialized plane called a rabbet plane designed to cut these joints. You could also use the router again.

Illustration 3

Inside of front board showing the rabbets. The back is identical.

Now carefully fit the ends and bottom into the rabbets in the front and back pieces. Secure them by nailing through the front and back into the ends and bottom.

Cut the lid so that it overhangs the chest on all sides by about 1/2”. The original chest on the Mary Rose had its lid secured by strap hinges on the outside of the back and the underside of the lid. If you can’t find strap hinges you can use modern butt hinges or, for more authenticity, you can use snipe’s-bill hinges. These are easily made from a pair of cotter pins joined at the eye and inserted through drilled holes in the chest and lid.

Illustration 4

Cotter pins joined to make snipe’s-bill hinges.

 

To do this, drill a 1/8” hole in the back of the chest at the edge, at about a 45-degree angle downward.

Illustration 5

Drilling the back of the chest for the hinges.

Slide in one of the cotter pins and spread its legs on the inside of the chest. Hammer the legs flat. For the lid, drill your 1/8” hole at an upward angle, insert the other cotter pin, and spread its legs as before.

Illustration 6

Drilling the lid.

Two or three such hinges provide a historically accurate way to hold the lid to the chest.

Illustration 7

Three snipe’s-bill hinges. Left: tips of the legs bent outward. Center: bending the legs outward. Right: legs hammered flat.

The original Purser’s Chest is an article of furniture, but the Little Mary Rose Chest is more an item of luggage, so you should think about adding some sort of handles. There are several types of handles seen in other chests from the Mary Rose, and they can easily be adapted.

The easiest handles to make are simply ropes passed through two holes in each end of the chest and knotted on the inside. You can make the ropes as long as needed to make the handles convenient.

Another option is to attach wooden brackets to each end, with a hole in the bracket and a loop of rope (called a grommet) through the hole. You can make these grommets by unlaying a strand of rope, then re-laying it around itself three times. This is a very attractive option; if you do it well, people will say you know how to make rope heal!

A third option, more difficult than the others, is to attach square iron plates with iron rings to the ends. This is a more expensive option, but quite attractive.

So there you have it. You now have a small chest, 24” long by 12” wide by 18” high. You can finish it with oil-based paints for historical accuracy or any other finish of your choice.

 

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Pennsic 46: A&S War Point Competition

17 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, Costuming, Fiber Arts, Pennsic, Scribal

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Tags

A&S War Point, archery, carving, Pennsic A&S War Point, woodworking

Master Cynwyl MacDaire’s Hand-carved horn with silver embellishment

By THL Elska á Fjárfelli (Susan Verberg)

Lord Otto Boese’s 13th century Magyar (Hungarian) archery kit. All photos by THL Elska.

For the Arts & Sciences portion of the Pennsic War Point this year, last year’s participant Mistress Fredeburg selected and organized this year’s contingent of Æthelmearc artisans.

Lady Shirin of Susa’s Canon page from the Armenian Gospels of Gladzor

As in previous years, each side could choose 12 entrants consisting of five Laurels and seven non-Laurels.

But this year, different from previous years, the item to be displayed could not have been entered in any previous A&S competitions, making this competition quite the last-minute challenge for our artisans.

Master Robert of Sugar Grove’s “bench for His Excellency”

To preserve anonymity performance entries were also not allowed, as were cooking entries for public health safety.

While in previous years only awarded artisans (Sycamore or higher) could vote, this year all Pennsic attendees could participate. Each person wishing to vote for their A&S Champions of choice would be given three beans to place in any of the entrants’ cups. At the end of the competitions the beans would be counted and scored for a winner-take-all for the 2 War Points.

Lord Hrólfr á Fjárfelli’s weaving broken diamond twill fabric to create a Viking-age apron dress

Although our side did not win, the results were very, very close with a difference of only 82 points from over a total of 1,800 votes cast. The quality of entries was incredible and I think our Æthelmearc artisans deserve a big thank you for giving it all they had!

Our artisans were:

  • Master Robert of Sugar Grove
  • Master Cynwyl MacDaire
  • Lord Hrólfr á Fjárfelli
  • Lord Otto Boese
  • Lady Shirin of Susa

Thank you Mistress Fredeburg for organizing such an amazing team, and thank you Lady Shirin for stepping in at the last minute when one of our allies had an artisan drop out.

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