This loom is a project I started in early 2005 (February or March), and then set the project aside, only getting back to finishing it in June of 2006. This article is not about how to construct the loom, but about my experiences in making the loom, and my thoughts on what I would improve or change were I to make a second loom, re-do or change this first attempt. The diagram I based this reconstruction is from:

Christensen, Arne Emil. Osebergdronnngens Grav : Var Arkeologiske Nasjonalskatt I Nytt Lys. Oslo: Shibsted. 1992. ISBN 82-516-1423-6

A copy of the diagram can be found at this http://www.missouri.edu/~winsloww/archives/oseberg_stuff/textile_stuff/os_tabletloom.jpg link to Halvgrimr's Archives. Halvgrimr's Archives were taken down in either late 2006 or early 2007 and are no longer accessable. The previous cited link no longer works For the sake of portability and to make the loom a more suitable size for my use and available space, I made the loom at approximately 3:2 scale of the original. The original was about 2 metres long (around 6 feet), and my scaled down reproduction measures about 120 cm (4 feet). Another important fact, is I made my reconstruction from "craft quality" pine bought at the local hardware/lumber store, where as the original loom was contructed from beech wood (Some recent browsing on the internet led me to find another article written by another re-enactor about the Oseberg tablet weaving loom. This article states that the writer believed the original loom was constructed of maple {I would assume European maple} rather than beech. I will post the link when I can find it again.). The original loom was found as a part of the Oseberg Ship find from Norway (a Viking age ship burial of a Norse Queen). The ship and it's contents (including the loom this reconstruction is based on) is dated to the early 9th century (around 830 A.D.). This article is written with the mind-set that the reader knows what tablet weaving (or card weaving) is, and aslo has knowledge of woodworking terms and conventions.

Materials

• 120 cm of 4 cm X 4 cm pine (4 feet of 2" X 2" pine which is 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" actual size) cut into two 60 cm (2 foot) lengths.
• 120 cm of 2 cm X 4 cm pine (4 feet of 1" X 2" pine which is 3/4" by 1 1/2" actual size).
• 120 cm of 2 cm X 9 cm pine (4 feet of 1" X 4" pine which is 3/4" by 3 1/2" actual size).
• 30 cm of 4 cm X 9 cm pine (12 inches of 2" X 4" pine which is 1 1/2" by 3 1/2" actual size) cut into two 15 cm lengths (two 6" lengths).

Construction

The loom consists of four components, for the sake of this article I will use the following names for the components: two foot pieces, one base piece, two upright pieces, and one cross-beam piece. I began my reconstruction by cutting out the shape of the base using a electric hand jig-saw. Once cut out, I used a rasp and a hand file to smooth out the freshly cut peice. I then used a router to gouge out the grooves on both feet for the "tongue" portion of the base that fits into the feet. The shape of the feet were then cut using the jig-saw again to cut the concave shapes into the sides of feet, and a hand saw to angles into the front and back of the feet. The peices were smoothed using a hand rasp and file after cutting. I then used a spoke shaver to round off the top 30 cm (12") of the two uprights, again the peices were rasped and filed. I rounded off the round tenon using a hand rasp. Once the tenon was properly shaped, I measured the tenon and proceeded to drill the mortise into the base and feet to fit the tenons of the two uprights. To finish shaping the loom, I used a rasp and file to shape both ends of the cross-beam into round tenons, and drilled matching sized mortises into each of the uprights. Below are the photos of the four components that make up the loom and a photo of all the completed parts together but unassembled.

The two "Feet"	The "Base"	The two "Uprights"	The "Cross-Beam"	The entire loom unassembled

Finishing

To finish the loom, I used varying grades of sandpaper, starting with a course sandpaper and then progressively using finer grades of sandpaper as I went along. I mostly focussed the sanding on the uprights, as those are the components that have all of the contact with the threads during the weaving process, and hence needed to be perfectly smooth (or as close as possible) to prevetn fraying, tangling or other thread or weaving problems. The sanding on the rest of the loom was just to insure aesthetics and to try to prevent any unsightly course portions were smoothed out. After the sanding was completed, I carefully brushed the entire loom down to insure no residual saw dust was present so I could begin applying a protective coat. I used rags to work in the linseed oil, applying the oil to each unassembled peice to maximise coverage and protect the entire loom. I chose to use 100% linseed oil as the finishing agent for the loom. Linseed oil was readily available in the Norse countries during the Viking Age, and hence a good choice. I used modern boiled linseed oil, as it was what I could find at the local hardware store at the time I was completing this process, but unboiled or raw linseed oil would probably be a better choice would I have been able to locate some at the time I needed it. I can not cite references for this next bit of information, as this information is derived from a conversation on an electronic message board (I believe a Yahoo group list) some time ago, but if memory serves me correctly, fish oils, and pitch were probably more commonly used as a finishing agent for wood during the Viking age by the Norse peoples. If I come across any solid reference to validate this information, I will add them to this article. The Viking Answer Lady's article on Woodworking in the viking Age has some information on oils and stains used in the Viking Age as well as references for the provenance of these wood finishes.

Another item of note, is I did not glue the pieces of the loom together. I did this in order to facilitate the looms ability to be taken apart and re-assembled for ease of transport to events and for storage at home. As the book detailing the construction of the original loom is in Norweigian, and as I do not read, or understand the Norweigian language, I can not say for sure whether the original loom was glued or bonded together in a permanent manner, or made in a "break-down" fashion as my reconstruction is.

What I would do differently...

• As I stated in the section on "Finishing", I would use raw (or unboiled) linseed oil rather than the boiled type I used on this project. I am not certain what if any visual or functional impact the use of raw linseed oil would produce, but for the sake of trying to keep the materials as authentic as reasonably possible, I would try to take the extra time and searching to aquire it.
• In using the spoke shave to round off the top half of the uprights, I ran across a knot in the tip of one of the uprights. The result of this knot in the wood was that one of the uprights ended up chipping and needed to be shaved down further than the other creating an unevenness in the two uprights. This didn't prove to be disasterous, and in fact it almost had a beneficial result as this permitted me the ability to slide the warped up weaving up the uprights to loosen the tension during weaving. Anyway, rather than spoke shaving the uprights, I would have put forth the extra effort to use a rasp to shape the top half of the uprights into a rounds.
• The type of wood I used would be another thing I would change should I make a second loom of this type, or give useful advice to someone wishing to make a loom of this type. Ideally I would use beech (as I believe the original is made from), as long as beech was available. If beech wood was unavailable or too cost inhibitive, I would use maple, as maple is similar in colour and strength to beech wood. Should beech and maple not be available or affordable, I would probably use oak or ash, as they were both widely used by the Norse peoples of the Viking Age.
• I would consider using a dovetail style groove in the feet of the loom, and appropriately angle the portions of the base that fit into the feet. The feet do fit well on my current loom, but have a way of wiggling loose or even off. I believe a dovetail style fitting would take care of and prevent that problem. Although it is not perfectly clear, the diagram of the original seems to suggest that a slight dovetail style join may have been used on the original.

Links

White Wolf and the Phoenix make and sell an Oseberg style loom.

As stated above Halvgrimr's Archives were taken down in either late 2006 or early 2007 and are no longer accessable. This link no longer works http://www.missouri.edu/~winsloww/archives/archives.htm Halvgrimr's Archives as noted above had a copy of the diagram my reconstuction is based on.

The Viking Answer Lady has an excellent article on Woodworking in the viking Age that may be of relevance and use to anyone wanting to undertake a project of this variety.

Danr Bjornsson's has a "pdf" (Adobe Acrobat file) version of his interpretation of a Oseberg Tablet Loom on his web page with all of his Research Projects.