Oseberg 178 Chest
The Oseberg 178 chest - the not so awesome one
Construction photos of The Chest of Oseberg 178 - the not so awesome one
by the totally insane Thatshim ( Gary Baker ) & Indunna ( Jenny Baker )
Just to prove how bat shit crazy we really are - we have decided to do a reproduction of the Oseberg 178 chest as well
Cause if you have made the other 2 Oseberg chests you might as well go and do the other one
Background history on the Original Chest
In 1904 a remarkable archaeological site was uncovered at Oseberg, Norway.
It consisted of an astonishingly well-preserved Viking ship that contained the remains of two women along with a wide array of accompanying grave goods.
This vessel, which is widely celebrated as one of the finest finds of the Viking Age, had been buried within a large mound or haugr.
The burial mound measured approximately 40m long by 6.5m high and it completely covered the boat.
The conditions within the mound were particularly damp and this meant that the ship and its contents survived nearly intact.
The Ship under excavation
Professor Gabriel Gustafson and the crew. Photo: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
You can read more about the Excavation at The Story Begins
Centrally placed on the ship were the skeletons of two women whose remains had been placed in a specially built wooden tent.
One of the woman was in her eighties and this was reflected in the condition of her bones which showed that she had suffered badly from arthritis during her final years. The second woman was younger and had died in her early fifties .
The connection between the two women is unclear; it is possible that they were related or more sinisterly represent the remains of a noble woman interred with her sacrificed slave.
Indeed, some have speculated that one of the women may be Queen Åsa, the grandmother of Norway’s first king, although this remains unproven.
For a List of what was contained with in the Ship Grave By the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Museum photos of the Oseberg 178 Chest
Photos from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
Details about the Oseberg chests from Osebergfunnet Vol I ???
Details on the Original 178 Chest
from Catalogue of extant chests and caskets by Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley)
Oseberg (Norway) Chest No. 178.
Photos of the Original 178 Chest taken by Sharon Turvey - July 2013
Our Friend & fellow Hodegon NVG club member Asea the well Traveled ( Sharon Turvey ) went to Norway on holiday in July 2013 and kindly took some awesome photos of the Osberg chests for us,
so we could get an idea of what the ends and other part of the Original chest's where like
This Photo filled in a lot of the gaps of knowledge we had on the chest - so we are very grateful to Asea
( Sharon ) for taking the photos for us
Our Reconstruction of the Chest details -
Project started 2nd Feb 2014
Project Finished on - Finished 9th Feb 2014
Construction time - 7 days ( 19 hours )
Just to prove how bat shit crazy we really are - we have decided to do a reproduction of the Oseberg 178 chest as well
Cause if you have made the other 2 Oseberg chests you might as well go and do the other one
- we are aiming to try and get this one as close as we can to the original size.
- It will be done in Pine - cause that all our $$$ budget will stretch too.
- And we will be making all the hinges and the lock ourselves
Special Thank you to
Sven the Merchant / Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley) , & Asea the well Traveled ( Sharon Turvey )
for their help in the research & construction of this project.
To get a full understanding of the 178 chest
- we drew up a full size spec drawings of the chest working off the Museum's Spec drawing
And this is what we found out :-
Oseberg 178 Chest
Slope Angle on the Front is 3 degrees
Slope Angle on the Ends is 5 degrees
Front & Back Length at the top of the chest is 62 cm
Front & Back Length at the base of the chest is 66.5 cm
Ends width at the top of the chest is 21 cm
Ends width at the base of the chest is 24 cm
Height of the Chest is 31 cm
Lid 62 cm x 21 cm
2 Hinges
Lock with 1 spring Hasp
So this was used as a starting point for our construction
Our Plans for building this chest can be purchased from
Sven The Merchant in PDF version for those who wish to make their own chest .
The Museum's Plan of Oseberg 178 Chest
Chest Plan from the Kulturhistorisk museum - the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
Construction Materials Used:
wood - pine from local hardware shop
28 Forged nails - from Talerwin Forge
Lock & Lock hasp spring & key - made by us - spring made from an old hacksaw blade
2 hinges made of 4 mm flattened wire & metal - made by us
Chest dimensions -
This chest is being made as close as possible to the original chest size and measurements
Length Front & Back - at top 62 cm
Length at base 65.5 cm long
Height 31 cm
Width of the Ends at top edge 21 cm
Width of the Ends at base edge 24 cm
Construction photos - The Great work starts
We have decided that in the making of this one that the Back wont be nailed on until last
- this is give us room to cleat over the hinges and securing nails on the lock
Day 1 - Making of the Chest - making & fitting the base board and the ends
Doing a test of what the rebating on the front and back will look like
Base board coming thru
the end / side
and looking a test of what the rebating on the front and back will look like
Checking all the measurements to make sure we have it close as possible to the original chest size
The end / side - the width at the base ( 23.5 cm)
The end / side - the height
( 31 cm)
Day 2 - rebating and fitting the front
It this was the moment we realized you have to rebate the bottom edge as well as the sides of the front
Both the sides and the bottom edge are rebated on the front
Checking that the top of the Front is level
Its only when you get it on the kitchen table do you see how small the chest is
Day 3 - fitting of the back , lid and starting on making the hinges
The back will be nailed on after the lid is hinged
Both the sides and the bottom edge are rebated on the Back as we have done for the Front
Back of the Chest
Frount of the Chest
Marking the Hinge staple where to bend it and where to drill holes in the chest for fitting it
Hinges - note : the bottom half of the hinges aren't clinched over yet - as you need to take them back off in the fitting of the top part of the hinge
The back will be nailed on after the lid is hinged
Day 4 - making and fitting of the hinges
making the top lid part of the hinge
Measuring where the top part of the Hinge will sit on the lid
You now have to connect the two parts of the hinge ( top & bottom ) and then put the top part of the hinge on to the chest
lid has been cleated over
but the chest back hasn't yet
- to allow us to take out that part to fit the top of the second hinge tomorrow
they will be also trimmed shorter tomorrow
the back also isn't yet nailed on to the rest of the chest
to allow us to take it off and lay it flat to cleat the hinges over
Day 5 - finish making and fitting the hinges and started to work on the lock & Lock plate
now the trimming off the excess and clinching happens
- because the lid and back are not yet nailed on to the chest you are able to lay them out flatter to get in and do this
Day 5 - finish making and fitting the hinges and now started to work on the lock & Lock plate
we made a decision not to nail on the back yet - so we would have room to get in and do the lock on the Front
Day 5 - Making of the Lock
Museum Spec drawings of the lock of the chest
Proto type - working our how to make the Lock and how it would work
we have used an old hacksaw blade to make the spring
Looking and studying how the original chest lock and lid look like to make sure we are getting it right
Making the lock parts
note: make sure you make the key at the same time and make sure it will work
Outside view of the chest lock plate
Inside the chest looking at the cleated over nails of the Lock plate
Day 6 - fitting of the lock , Back & Oiling of the chest
now all the fiddly clenching over of the lock plate nails on the front and hinges on the Lid & Back are done - The Back can be nailed on
we have oiled the whole chest inside and out with Stephenson's Orange furniture oil - Jenny loves the smell of that and it brings out a beautiful colour to the pine wood
there are only just two jobs to be done now - the making of the key and the connecting of the lock spring to the Lid
Day 7 - The Finished the Chest
References:
The Kulturhistorisk museum - the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
key search words : Kiste or Kister = chest Osebergfunn = Oseberg Find
Link the Museum's Plan of the Oseberg 178 chest
link to Drawing of the 178 chest Lock
The Story Begins Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Oseberg Fundet, Vol. ii & Vol. III- Brogger and Schetelig,