RUGA - Gleann Abhann

Wood Selection and Other Ways to Make Your Project Look More Period – PRA06B01

(Created by Hrothgar Fiscabana)

Level of Content: Intermediate

Estimated Length of Class: 1 - 2 hours, depending on amount of student participation, supplemental information, and hands-on demonstration.

Course Description: This class will familiarize the student with some of the dominant woods used during the Middle Ages and suitable substitutions. The class will also provide tips to increase the period appearance of woodworking projects.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this class, students should be able to:

1. Be aware of some of the woods used in the middle ages and suitable New World substitutes;

2. Notice obvious modern characteristics to avoid;

3. Understand the process of clinch-nailing;

Suggested Teaching Resources:

Edlin, H. L. 1969. What wood is that? The Viking Press, New York. 160 pp.

Gardiner, J. and M. J. Allen. 2005. Before the mast: life and death aboard the Mary Rose (The archaeology of the Mary Rose volume 4). The Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, England. 732 pp.

Hoadley, R. B. 1990. Identifying Wood: Accurate Results with Simple Tools. Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut. 238 pp.

McGrail, S. 1982. Woodworking techniques before A.D. 1500. Archaeological Series No. 7. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. 325 pp.

Morris, C. A. 2000. Craft, industry, and everyday life: wood and woodworking in Anglo-Scandanavian and Medieval York (The archaeology of York volume 17: the small finds, Fascicule 13). Council for British Archaeology, York. Pages 2073 – 2452.

Porter, T. 2006. Wood Identification & Use – Revised and Expanded. Guild of Master Craftsman Publications, Ltd., East Sussex. 288 pp.

Ulrich, R. B. 2007. Roman woodworking. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. 376 pp.

Wilson, D. M. 1976. The archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London. 532 pp.

Syllabus kindly made for RUGA by Hrothgar Fiscabana, August 2007.