bucket-yokes-msg - 1/24/98 History, design and construction of bucket yokes for carrying a pair of balanced buckets on the shoulders. NOTE: See also the files: basketweaving-msg, coopering-msg, p-backpacks-msg, rope-msg, travel-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:21:00 -0500 From: "Gray, Lyle" To: "'sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu'" Subject: RE: Info Sought: Wooden Bucket Yokes >I am thinking of making a bucket yoke--you know the kind, a bar that spans >the shoulders and supports a bucket at either end. It's made of wood, and >has a curved middle section for resting on the shoulders. > >Has anyone made one of these? Can you give me some general guidelines or a >pattern? My buckets are two gallon sized, rope handled, >narrower-at-the-top-than-at-the-bottom wooden ones. My period is >mid-ninth-century Norse. All of the extant ones that I've seen have a broad section over the shoulders, rather than a curved section, with a cutout for the neck and scooped-out section for the shoulders. That way the weight is born on the entire shoulders, not just at the base of the neck. I can't speak for Norse versions, though. >>How do you plan to use it? I got an immediate vision of picturesque water >>bearers, but it doesn't sound >comfortable. They're very comfortable, especially when lined with sheepskin. The trick is the shaping of the hollow. Lyle FitzWilliam Bergental, East lyle at quodata . com inceptum perage Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 11:05:12 -0500 (EST) From: Jenne Heise To: "'sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu'" Subject: RE: Info Sought: Wooden Bucket Yokes On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Rikki Mitman wrote: > How do you plan to use it? I got an immediate vision of picturesque water >bearers, but it doesn't sound comfortable. Made properly, they are much more comfortable than regular bucket hauling-- I speak as one who used a nineteenth century one when I was kid. Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Shire of Eisental; HERMS Cyclonus), mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 11:36:47 -0500 From: "Helen Schultz (KHvS)" To: Subject: Re: Info Sought: Wooden Bucket Yokes I don't have a pattern or anything, but I thought I'd just send you all an interesting way I saw one used several years ago in Germany at a commercial Medieval Dinner in a castle on the Mosel River.... they had a "servant" carrying two buckets of water -- one soapy and one clear -- in them for the guests to wash their hands in, his "tabard" was a towel, you wiped on either the front of back side of it.... great schtick!!! KHvS Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 15:54:00 -0500 From: rmhowe To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: Info Sought: Wooden Bucket Yokes Jenne Heise wrote: > On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Rikki Mitman wrote: > > How do you plan to use it? I got an immediate vision of picturesque > > water bearers, but it doesn't sound comfortable. > > Made properly, they are much more comfortable than regular bucket > hauling-- I speak as one who used a nineteenth century one when I was > kid. > > Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Shire of Eisental; HERMS Cyclonus), mka Jennifer Heise > jenne at tulgey.browser.net Speaking as someone who frequented very large flea markets for more than 20 years, I've seen a number of them that were turned before being hollowed out. Cuts the work down considerably and gives a nice balanced shape. Then I should take a saw and cut out where the neck shall go, keeping in mind to go over half way through because of how the neck sits in the shoulders. After that a quick way to get rid of most of the wood remaining in the shoulder areas would be to chisel away or drill near where the shoulders end, then enlarge it by using a hatchet or chisel with the grain to pry out the chunks between the neck hole and the place where the shoulders will end. If you don't have a bowl adze, at this point you will be down to some careful gougework, scraping, or a hell of a lot of whittling. I should think a small throwing hatchet would come in good for some of the axework. Over the shoulders they are fairly thin. Maybe 1" and tapering to an edge near the neck. Keep in mind the natural taper of your shoulders both ways. A cardboard template cut both directions would be a good start. I would make the length shoulder width, plus one bucket width, plus about 10-12 inches figuring for room at the ends to tie your cords, and room enough for your legs to move - unless you're shaped like a pear - in which case we have half a windmill. ;) Magnus Edited by Mark S. Harris bucket-yokes-msg Page 3 of 3