Changing the Game

After returning home from my Pennsic Wandering Friar experiment I had various communications with a number of folks where I acknowledged my frustration with some aspects of the SCA.  While considering both my journal and those communications some thoughts were sparked in my head.  I would like to share those thoughts here.  I would like to compile a running list of ideas on ways to "change the game".  Feel free to send me your own practical, constructive and concise ideas.  Try and remember what it was like for you when you started.  Is the magic still there for you?  I'm curious to see what other people think are easy ways to improve our hobby. 
At every event/function you go to:

No snarking... ever.  Not in public and not in private. 

All forms of snarking degrade the experience of others and inhibits growth of our group. 

Example of snarking without compliments – “You know linen is very easy to find these days.  There is really no reason to make a shirt out of faux linen which is really a non-period fabric.”

Example of snarking wrapped compliments - I love that dress you made.  You know that the shirt isn't really from the same time period as your dress though?  It would look so much nicer if you tried to make a shirt which would match.  I love your work and look forward to seeing your future attempts.

Find at least one person who you have never talked to, smile, wave say hi.

I'm an introvert and talking to people I don't know is very stressful.  You don't have to talk to make a person feel noticed and welcome.  Smile, wave and nod your head.  That is often enough.

Find five people who you have either never or infrequently talk to.  Find the thing you like best about their "look" and tell them.  No constructive criticism, simply say "What you did there... love it!"

Don't: That dress is lovely.  Next time you should try adding some period trim.  That would really make look even nicer.

Do:  That hat... love it.  Looks wonderful!

While walking around at Pennsic as a mute I went up to people and tapped them on the shoulder.  Without talking it was tough, but when I pointed to an aspect of their garb and then gave them the OK and thumbs up, they knew what I meant.  A silent compliment always brought out a smile.

Compliment and thank your servers.  A small token of thanks means a lot to a volunteer.

We never think twice about tipping a waiter or waitress at a restaurant.  Even bad service warrants some sort of tip.  Why not offer a simple thank you to your server?  Even if you didn't like the food, a thank you to the server will be appreciated.

Compliment and thank your cooks in public.  Never publicly criticize the cooking staff.

I've attended great feasts and poorly managed feasts.  Nothing good can come from publicly criticizing the cooking staff.  Remember they are volunteers and usually doing the best they can.  Critiques and complaints are not often well received at the end of a day when the staff has been in the kitchen all day long working to make your meal.  Constructive criticism should be done in private and a few days after the event.

Thank a parent who brings small children to an event.  They are the lifeblood of the future, make sure you acknowledge it.

Seeing children at events has always been one of my favorite aspects of the SCA.  Managing at an event with children can be very challenging.  Let a parent know that you appreciate their effort since their children are the next generation keeping our hobby alive.

Even if you don't have children, participate in an occasional activity with minors.  Foster our future.

Children raised in the SCA will have even more insight and opportunity to make our community better in the long run.  To best foster the dream, foster their dreams.

Thank the water bearers

When you are in the heat of battle and caught up in the day's activities don't forget to say a simple thank you to those who support you.  While water bearing at Pennsic I encountered many who were gracious and thankful and for every jug of water offered.  There were others who never offered a word of thanks.  Playing the game of battle requires a lot of support staff.  Simply nodding and saying thank you at least lets your supporters feel that they are appreciated.

Thank the event staff who volunteered to set the stage for you fun.

Running an event takes a lot of work before the day begins and constantly throughout the day.  Make sure you acknowledge that effort if you want to enjoy events in the future.  Again, any constructive criticism is probably best packaged and received a few days after the event rather than the day of when everyone is worn down and tired.

Pay someone's gate fee if you can.  Drop the cost of a site fee at troll and secretly tell them to apply it to the next person who comes in with a minor or comes in without an SCA membership.  Leave a note "You've been a victim of a random act of kindness.  Enjoy the day"

If you do this don't make an effort to find out who benefited from your gift.  That may make the recipient feel awkward and beholden.  Simply enjoy knowing you made somebody's day and they may do the same to someone else someday.

Even if you are not an A&S type person, go look at the displays anyway.  Lack of foot traffic is very demoralizing.

There are many aspects of the SCA.  The more you support and foster other's areas of interest, the more they will be willing to support yours.  Walk through, smile and say nice job.  Every artist will be thankful for such a visit.

When a performance art is offered, attend, watch, listen and applaud.

It takes courage to put oneself on a stage and perform for the public.  Make sure when you see folks performing you let them know you appreciate their effort by being courteous and respectful.

Create your own personal token.  Leave it at displays/performances you enjoy. 

One of the easiest things you can probably do to make a new person's day.  A person new to the SCA who receives such a token will be more likely to be proud of what they have done and come back and try again.

Give tokens of thanks to those who demonstrate all that is good in the SCA.  Tell them you appreciate what you witnessed.

I once did something simply because it had to be done.  Somebody came up to me and paid me a nice complement and gave me a small token of their thanks.  They didn't have to do that, but I was walking on clouds for the rest of the day knowing my work was appreciated.

Even if you are not a fighter, pick out a newer fighter and cheer for them loudly at the day's tournament.

There are many things that go on at events.  Branch out and see more than your little bubble.  Even if you are not a fighter, cheering and playing along will help grow the bond between the 'factions' in our hobby.

When you receive an award thank the signet and thank the scribes who made it possible.  Don't critique artwork even if you don't care for the period, style or design.

Many hours go into the production, collection and distribution of awards.  Be thankful for what you have received.  Don't critique the artwork publicly even if you hate it.  Remember that all the efforts are volunteer and many artists see their creations as they see their own children.  You would never walk up to someone and say "Wow your child is really ugly!"  so hopefully you won't demoralize an artist by complaining about a scroll in public.     

Don't leave early.  Go to court and cheer for awards, even when given to those you don't know.

Try and remember what it was like for you when you started.  Try and remember the dream.  Foster the dream in others.  Be respectful during court because you may be sitting next so somebody who is a friend of the recipient.  When you cheer for even those you don't know you are building a future for our hobby.

Don't sideline an instructor's class.  This is especially important when you can see that the instructor is inexperienced.

Becoming a new instructor is very stressful for some, myself included.  I have attended a number of classes which got sidelined by a well-meaning experienced teacher.  Even though you mean well and are only offering what you think is helpful, you may be scaring away future teachers in the room.

Don't critique an instructor during class.  Do so afterwards and only in a positive manner and only if you wrap it between two compliments.

Try and remember what it was like for you when the dream was fresh and real and you taught your first class.  Not everyone is an extrovert, so do not get hung up on critiquing somebody so much to show them that you know more.  A new instructor may be so overwhelmed that they simply decide never to do it again.  Without teachers for the future our community will not grow.

The following entries were added after the initial post as feedback from other SCAdians.

When a herald cries Oye, immediately cease your conversation and attend. .

The sooner everyone is quiet, the sooner the herald can deliver their announcement and everyone can get on with their activities..

If someone asks you a question, take time to listen to the question and answer thoughtfully and fully.

Compliment and thank your teachers.

A small gift or token for a teacher lets the instructor know that you are aware that it takes a lot of time to put a class together and that you appreciate their time.

Pennsic 42 - The Wandering Friar Experiment Conclusion

Well I spent quite a bit of time going through journal and memory to fabricate the story of the week I spent at Pennsic 42. The write up of the experience can be found on this blog under it's own page.
It's long, it's boring, but at least it is done and now I can move on to other things.


Pennsic 42 - The Wandering Friar Experiment

Waxed Tablets

Waxed tablets continued.  I started this project a while back and used three planks as a template to build the case around.  The planks I had used were cracked during the construction of the case.  I replaced the planks with the ones you see below. 

                     

Two planks are 1/4 inch and one thicker version.  I wanted the planks to be bound together like a book and planned on cutting a wax pit on both sides of the thicker board.

Here you see the planks cut, smoothed and rounded out.  I sketched the shape of where the wax pits would go.  I also sketched the holes where the planks would be bound.

I cheated once again.  Time crunch, sorry, but I used a power tool.  I used a small electric pannel cutter to rough out the shape of the wax pits on each plank.

During the removal process I messed up one plank.  You see below a small section where I cracked the board.  Rather than starting over I decided to repare the damage.  I took another piece of oak and cut it down to a rough shape.

I used carving knives to get the piece to shape and then glued it into place.

 

Now to continue digging out the wax pits.

Roughed out with a power tool, but the detail work would still be done by hand.  I used the V-gouge you see below to straighten out the lines and smooth out the cut.  You can see the board I use for carving.  It is a 20 year old pine board with some wood pegs inserted.  I can use the pegs to hold my piece in place while I push against the piece carving.

You can see the side view of my board below.  It has a small lip to catch the edge of the table to hold it in place while I work. 

Finished pannels.  I used both a gouge and a knife to score some cuts in the bottom of the wax pit.  I figured the cuts would help allow the melted wax a surface to grab onto.

All three pannels cut and ready for filling up.

 

I tied the planks together to get a feel for the look when assembled.  So far, so good.  I then cut the cords to fill them up.

I melted the bees wax using the same set-up I used for making the leather canteen.  I used a small ladle to scoop out wax and fill the pit.  After filling the first one I got better at it.  Definite learning curve on this task.

 

After they were all filled up I let them cool and harden and then tied them togther again.  One pit was over filled and one under filled.  I could shave down the over filled one easy enough, but the under filled one posed a problem.  I used the stylus (created later) to smooth it out enough to use so I'm not sure I'll fill it in all the way.

Wanted to make sure when closed and bound the planks would still fit in the case. 
Yup, so far so good.

Can you read it?  Not too easy to read is it.  Oh well.  Maybe next time I should darken the wax.

"HELLO WORLD"

Not sure what I'll use to bind permanently yet, I decided to move on to carving the space for the stylus.  I set the stylus in place and sketched the shape out. 

Before carving I went back and worked the styus a bit more.  The version created earlier didn't quite have the right "spoon" effect which made erasing tough.  I went back and reshaped it and then polished it up a bit.

Some day I want a bone stylus, but no time.  For now this brass one will have to do.

Placed in position and carving begun.  I didn't want to risk power tools at this point so this portion was done by hand.

Cut, smoothed and finished up.

Now onto a better binding material.  Leather perhaps?  I took the collar off a recycled Salvation Army coat and planned on using it.

I cut it into strips and bound the planks together.  Looked OK,

Yes, I like the look, but the problem I faces was the knot.  I no longer could fit the tablets into the case since the knot on the leather was too larger.   Cut these off and try again.

After trying another version of leather I went back to the hemp cord.  Took two attempts here as well.  First attempt was too tight.  I couldn't flip the pannels open like a book.  Cut and made it a bit more loose the secone time.  I guess the following will have to do.

DONE!

Added a strap to the case and ready to take to war now. 



Final note.  I don't like the wax color.  I melted a big pot and didn't want to tint it.  In hind sight I should have darkened the wax.  It is really tough to read the wax as light as it is.  I may later melt off and refill with wax tinted darker with some charcoal.   Not this time though.  No time.

Spool

On a kick of projects involving splitting wood and making stuff out of it.  This project fell in line with a handfull of other projects recently done using wood from a friends pear tree cut down last fall.  The branch you see below was my starting piece.

I used a hand saw to cut about a 2 inch section. 

One good wack with an axe and we have a split.

I wasn't bold enough to wack it a second time.  I placed the axe along the line I wanted cut and tapped with a hammer twice.  Three hits to make three sections below.

I took the middle section and did a little smoothing with a small hand plainer.

After smooth I used a hand carving knife to cut into the shape you see below.

More shaping, but no sanding.  I used a carving knife to ensure that all the sharp edges were gone and no spliters would snag my thread.

Done!  Oiled it up a bit with some olive oil.  I let sit a while and then filled up the spool with 50 meters of white linen thread.  I made a small V-cut in the end to feed the end of the thread through.  this will hold the end in place when not in use.

Pen Knife and Goose Feather Quills

What is a friar or a monk without a scribal kit right?  Well I wanted mostly for a method to write in my journal.  I like the idea of looking like a period scribe at the event, but journaling was the primary reason.  To write one needs a pen.  To make a pen one needs feathers and a knife.  To make a knife one needs a metal file and some bones.

I bought the following metal file from a flea market for about 75 cents.  Rock on!  The guy laughed at me when I asked for a "bulk" rate.  I bought about 20 files, a couple old hatchets and some other stuff.  He said "you must do a lot of wood work?"   I didn't have the heart to point out that these were metal files.  I told him that I was planning on making medieval knives out of them.  He looked at me like either he was drunk or I was.  We were both happy with our end of the bargain and that made for a good day.

Taking the rusty metal file I put it to the grinder for about 5 minutes to take off the rust and smooth our the metal ridges.

Since the edges are the only part that will show I spent more time assuring that those side had no sign of the prior life as a file.

I sketched out the shape of the knife on the blank and proceeded to cut it and grind it to shape.  Note that I could have worked the piece hot, but the benefit of using metal files is that as long as you keep the piece cool, quence often and don't over work you have a VERY hard piece of metal.  I didn't want to lose the heat treatment so I worked the piece bare handed.  Whenever it got warm to the touch I wet it again.  This was key to keeping the temper.

I cut this with a angle grinder with a cutting bit.  I kept spraying with water while cutting to keep cool.

After cutting I used the bench grinder to bring it to shape.

I then moved to a sander to fine toon the shape and help hone the edge.  I also refocused the bod of the blade to make sure it was semetrical.  I marked the pin placement and began drilling the pin holes.  Note this part was the worst.  The metal IS VERY hard as I have stated.  That makes drilling very tough.  I used a metal bit with diamond chips and it still took about 5 minutes of slow drilling to complete each hole.

Metal done-ish for now.  Move on to the bones.  Ox bone plates cut to shape.  This is the first set.  As you will see later, I broke this set.

Bone plates cut to shape, now to go back and work the blade some more.

Blade cleaned up as much as possible without the hinderance of the bone handle getting in the way of the sander.  I cut a small brass 1/8th inch rod into sections about 1/16th of an inch longer on each side of the handle.

I peened the brass pins down to hold the bones in place.

I first filed the brass pin flat to allow for an easy surface to start peening over.

... AND... here is the fail.  Missed the pin and cracked the bone.  I did the same thing earlier on the paternoster too. 

Two fails in the same day.  I used a cut off bit on my dremel to cut off the head of the pin.  I then used the punch you see below to push the pin out of the knife.

Round two.  Same approach, differant bones.

Cut and ground and sanded and peened.  Better this time.  No cracks.  I haven't finished polishing the blade and yet it is still sharp enough to shave with.  Yeah!  I love a sharp blade.

Now to play with some quills.  These are some feathers I collected with my kids around a local pond.

I sorted them out and cut the following to length.  I took only the largest, straightest ones for quills.  I used my new knife to remove the fletching from the shaft.

I heated up a bucket of clean sand in a cast iron pot and then used that hot sand to cure the quills and harden them. 

 

No detail pics of the cut quills.  I have tried about 1/2 the ones you see below and find that it is much HARDER than I thought.  I plan on taking a class about it during Pennsic.  Not sure if I am doing somethign wrong or if there is an issue with my quills.  They look great when cut, but are way too flexible to write with.   Oh well.... I tried.

Finished penner and quills.