Woodworks

I like to make things. Not all of them are made of cloth, in fact most of the things I make are made of wood. Not everything I make is of the renaissance, but a lot of it is and I need a place to keep records of my various period-related woodworking projects, many of which are scattered around the internet on other sites. 


This will be a sort of clearinghouse for projects of that kind, not directly related to garbing guys, but still related to reenacting and breathing life into the lives and cultures of the 16th century.  


~ Scott

The Pennywise Peasant Builds a Barrow on a Budget

A few years ago, I built an iconic renaissance wheelbarrow based on images from the Lutrell Psalter and a  painting by Aertsen. Made entirely of stud pine from Home Depot, the whole thing cost about $27.00. It is now seven years old and has never been stored in doors. It lives under a tree in my garden and I still use it around the place for hauling wood and bags of soil and miscellaneous whatnot.

Much as with sewing, I've always been a big believer in machines for woodworking. However, before he would let me near any power tools, my grandfather taught me a lot of hand-tool skills. This project was the first time I'd revisited them since childhood. Except for two screws I used to enable the changing of the tire, the whole thing was assembled with dowels, through-tenons, and rosehead nails. (As you can see below, I eventually added some bracing to correct wheel-wobble). Just as when I first embraced hand-sewing, this was an epiphany for me. I've since made a journey to Missouri to retrieve my Great Grandfather's tools so that I could re-focus myself on hand joinery.