9) Making your own replica.

The following are guidelines I would suggest in making your own replicas.

Considerations:

Your interest in a certain period of history will give a clear indication on the specific type of replica you wish to make. Choose from primary and secondary sources to support your design specifications.

With the period of history decided on and the sources available the type of replica should be obvious, however the following consideration will also influence your final decision.

The use to which you need a replica for should be considered. Swords will not fit in a casket and jewellery will be lost in a chest. For period encampments I suggest a range of storage facilities, each complementing the other.

The type of wood to be used will depend on level of expenditure and your desire for authenticity. Pinus radiata is cheap, easily available and in a range of plank widths, which enables you to make all of the chests in the catalogue. However, European woods are available in Australia and can be sourced from a range of supplies (see list), the only catch is the price and the width of planks available. It should be noted that chest designs can be made with any size of plank by using proportionality (a simple calculation whereby the dimensions of the original can be used to calculate the dimensions using a different plank width, I use an excel spreadsheet to aid the calculations).

It should also be noted that the skill level of the replica maker would have an effect on the difficulty of the project. If starting out I suggest starting with the simple boxes and with practice the more complicated design will seem less difficult. If you have carpentry skills nothing in the catalogue should daunt you. In regard to the metal work, the same applies, start with ‘hook and eye’ hinges and then move onto the strap hinges. Keys, locks and padlocks is a whole new kettle of fish…

Dowel or nail?

They did both dowelling and nailing. The evidence is clear from the extant remains, the Mästermyr chest is a good example. The timber joins are dowelled and the fittings are held on nails or staples. The Oseberg chest number 149 is covered in iron bands held in place by three rows of tinned head nails. Dowelling may have been cheaper but it could not be used to attach fittings.

The Mästermyr chest in fact held many tools including a tool to assist a blacksmith in putting heads on nails, such finds of nail headers in not that unusual.

Finish?

In regard to finishes, I have found no information so far. For my part I used one part boiled linseed oil to three parts turpentine to aid in the preservation of the timber of the replicas I construct.

Rope Handles on Viking chests.

There has been speculation that the Viking chest were provided with rope handles and a number of reenactors have made such chests. In my research I have found no proof that such a practice took places. I will acquiesce if new information comes to light but until then I will speak out against the practice.

The two holes in the ends of a Viking chest which lead to such speculation could in fact have been the two dowel holes used to attach the ends to the base board, such as in the Mästermyr chest. Rope handles in the ends of a Viking chest used at sea would allow direct access, or by ‘wick action’, to the interior to seawater, thus damaging the contents of the chest. Later period (18th century) sea chests show a wooden block attached to the outside of the chest with a rope handle going through the wooden block, a much better solution.

Most of the extant Viking chests were not moved around great distances and spent most of there time in situ. If they need to be moved, thralls could be used or simple rope loops can be employed.

KISS.

When deciding on a design and making a replica the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle should apply, unless you are trained in the craft. It is easier to make a hasp closure than a lock, and easier to make a rectangular prism chest than a trapezoid chest.

Making and fitting a lock that works takes about the same time or more that the time taking to construct a chest or casket.

There have been Visitors to this page

---

Return to the top of the page   Return to Sven's index page

---