Medieval Turnshoes

I’m re-sharing an older post of some experimental turnshoes I made quite a few years ago. These were based on some Scandinavian examples from the archaeological record. They came out pretty good for a first try. My only modification would be to tighten the width through the arch and lengthen the toe area slightly. I […]

Leatherworking Images from the Middle Ages

Some things never really change… While looking through my image archive I came upon some leather working illustrations dated to the early 15th century. All but one of the images below is from the extremely informative Mendel manuscript dated 1425 created at Nuremberg, in what is now Germany. Creating leather from animal hides has been […]

Don’t Let Your Arrows Droop With Feathers Low

A sheef of pecok arwes, bright and kene, Under his belt he bar ful thriftily, (wel koude he dresse his takel yemanly: His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe) Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue, The Yeoman, lines 104-7.

How to make a ‘medieval style’ possible pouch; more traveler’s gear

Originally posted on Wild Tuscany Bushcraft:
Old style bushcraft: a medieval possible pouch During the Middle Age was common carrying small items like coins, keys, inside pouches or purses attached to the belt. There are many archaeological and iconographical documents, you can search for your favorite patterns, but there is a model that in my opinion, is one of…

Medieval Tinsmith

Tinsmiths were the sheet metal workers of the preindustrial days in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This almost certainly includes Africa as well but I haven’t been able to find any depictions yet. These craftsmen created many everyday objects and mended all sorts of metal. Here we see a smith creating a flask. I […]

Carpenter, 15th-16th Century

Prior to power sawmills and corporate lumber production, much of the carpenter’s project time was filled with simply making trees into boards. Most illustrations I have found of preindustrial carpenters feature someone hewing, planing, or chiseling with the occasional scene of sawing a board to length or width. An image or map is as much […]

Occupation, Bag Maker

Bag maker and salesman from the 15th century. This should inspire some Medieval era artisans out there. Cutting board and leather knife.

Occupation, Wood Turner ca. 1425

Still gathering old images of tools, occupations, and craftsmen. Now I just need time to edit and post them in a sensible way. To kick off this series, it’s a wood turner and his lathe from the early 15th century (German). I think the artist may have neglected to show the tool rest here. This […]

Haversack

Over the weekend, I was able to design and nearly finish a new leather haversack. I’ve wanted to make one for a while but I’m always hesitant to start a big sewing project if I don’t think I’ll finish it in a short time… I hate lingering unfinished projects (not to say I don’t have […]