Hand Carving an Apple Wood Water Bottle or Travelling Flask - Part II | Anglo-Saxon Green Woodwork скачать в хорошем качестве

Hand Carving an Apple Wood Water Bottle or Travelling Flask - Part II | Anglo-Saxon Green Woodwork

The Anglo-Saxons would have needed to carry water in a bottle or flask when travelling or on military campaign. Here I carve the body of a flask from apple wood inspired by finds from the period. During the Anglo-Saxon period, bottles and flasks may have been made from leather, pottery or wood. Wooden flasks have been found in a number of Merovingian and Alamannic graves on the continent, with find-spots including Oberflacht, Trossingen and Cologne, dated to the 7th century. These were high status objects and were originally turned from maple. The flask from Trossingen contained the remains of a hopped barley beer - one of the earliest examples of hops used in brewing. This flask was carved entirely by hand from apple wood as I have not yet built a pole lathe, therefore the opening to hollow the body needed to be larger than the originals. The wood had been seasoned one year prior to carving to prevent the warping and cracking that apple wood tends towards, although this meant it was quite tough to carve. The flask is sealed with a thin disc of apple wood. This was roughed out with an axe, and carefully hewn into shape so that it sat flush in place on the flask body. Once flush, it was thinned down into a fine disc. A rebate was cut around the edge of the hollow in the body of the flask with a chisel, in order to fit the disc with as tight a seal as possible. The disc was very carefully trimmed to fit into the rebate as tightly as possible; first by carving it so it was a hair's breadth larger than the rebate all round, then by taking very fine shavings until the disc could be pressed into the rebate. Reference points were marked on the body and disc with a knife. These helped to align the disc correctly, and to make sure it would not be carved too small, resulting in a loose fit. At first, the disc was so snugly fitted that it could only be removed by prising it off with a chisel. Unfortunately, the wood shrank further after fitting, so that it was no longer so tight. This could have been remedied by letting the thinned out disc dry even further before final fitting. Smooth, straight-grained woods like ash or maple, as used in the originals, are more suited to the task, being less likely to twist and warp. However, I pruned this branch from an ancient, perhaps century-old apple tree cared for by my family. The tree still lives and I wanted to make something beautiful, so that its lost limb would not be wasted. After some final smoothing all over with a knife, and dishing the inside of the disc slightly with a hook-knife, the pieces were ready to join together. Cheese glue, made of curds and lye, was chosen to join the pieces together due to its water-resistance and durability. Fresh spring milk was curdled with apple cider vinegar. The curds were separated, squeezed and rinsed to remove as much acidity from the vinegar as possible, before being laid out to dry. Wood ash was boiled in water, then strained, to extract the lye. The dried curds were mixed with the lye until they dissolved and the mixture was smooth. Meanwhile, a strip of leather was rolled, trimmed and sewn with flaxen thread into a stopper for the mouth of the flask. Cork, if available at all in Britain during the period, would have had to be imported from the Mediterranean and would have been costly. The flask was given a coat of linseed oil before sealing the inside with beeswax. The beeswax was gently melted over a small fire, taking care not to let it burn. Once fully melted, the wax was poured into the flask and swilled around until the flask no longer leaked. In fact, it leaked more than expected, which was quite painful! The join on the outside of the flask was also sealed with soft wax. It might have been wiser to seal the outside first, before the inside, to prevent the loss of so much hot wax. Beeswax was a valuable commodity in the Anglo-Saxon period. The flask was 'baptised' in the nearby sacred spring, which flows from a cave in the rock face. The water is cool and sweet, and smells pleasantly of honeyed beeswax from the flask. Despite any misgivings about the slightly loose disc, for now the combination of cheese glue and beeswax works well as a seal, and the flask is water-tight. This flask will be very valuable on future journeys and campaigns. It will be interesting to test the durability of the cheese glue and beeswax seal and see how long they last before they need resealing. With thanks to: Herknungr, Musician, playing 'The Wolf Chieftan'. Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe. If you would like to support me further, you can become a patron here:   / gesithasgewissa   Join this channel to become a member:    / @gesithasgewissa   Or make a one-off donation: https://paypal.me/gesithasgewissa   / gesithasgewissa     / gesithasgewissa