Furniture Construction

A rack for holding and transporting pavillion poles.

Articles and essays on medieval and early-modern woodworking and furniture.

Includes chests, table, bench, chairs and a bed.

"A Period Rope Bed," "Building a Simple Period Table," and "Conjecturally Authentic Furniture."

Construction plans for a lectern or sheet-music stand.

(Also at www.medievalwood.org/charles/lecturn.html )

Here you will find information on various pieces of furniture that have been built by members of House Greydragon.

A list of books on the subject of medieval furniture. Medieval paintings and drawings are replete with examples of medieval furniture, many of them in extremely fine detail. The trick is to understand enough about how a medieval carpenter, joiner, coffermaker, etc. would have gone about their trade to be able to examine the artists interpretation of their work with a knowing eye and to separate information from embellishment. The references provided below a basis for developing that eye.

(Also at www.medievalwood.org/charles/oakley_resrc.html )

Most of the time, folks don't have easy access to period style hardware. Some of us use leather "hardware," such as hinges and hasps, on some of our wood working projects.

In the Middle Ages, like today, people sometimes needed portable furniture. While we tend to think of medieval furniture as usually large, massive, and immobile, there were many instances when furniture needed to be broken down and moved from place to place.

The problem in making portable furniture is in devising joints that are strong when put together, but that are easily taken apart and reassembled. Today we have a profusion of temporary metal and plastic fasteners, but in a time when nuts and bolts had to be forged and cut by hand, economical solutions were more limited. One solution is the tusk tenon. Also called a keyed tenon or wedged tenon, the tusk tenon is a kind of mortise and tenon joint that uses a wedge-shaped key to hold the joint together.

The design, construction, and decoration of furniture in Western Europe from about the 11th through the 16th century.

An ongoing site with articles & links on furniture as it applies to the Middle Ages & the SCA.

Discusses different sorts of dwellings and their construction, furniture, heating & lighting, and tents.