The Mästermyr chest is a Viking Age (793–1066) tool chest found in the Mästermyr mire west of Hemse on the island of Gotland, Sweden. In October 1936, the chest was found by farmer Hugo Kraft in a field owned by Emil Norrby in Snoder, Sproge near Hemse. [1] It was found in an area that was plowed for the first time.[2] It is the largest tool find from that era in Europe. The chest contained over 200 tools and blacksmith works or works in progress, making it the largest Viking tool find in Europe. [3]
The contents of the chest indicate that it belonged to a travelling craftsman who made repairs and produced new items. The tools show that he was a smith and a carpenter, and had some knowledge of locks. [2] The lock for the box itself was of a style 1,bolt release with vertical spring lift. The box also contained multipal parts of locks in various stages of construction. Including several pieces of style 2, sideways release of by-pass spring.
Of the items found in the chest were several small anvils (small anvils driven into a stump, rather than a free-standing large anvil), metal shears, tongs, chisels, punches, rasp, and several hammers. The hammers resemble modern cross-peen hammers found at Home Depot/Lowes today, but with longer heads. [4]
Original manufacture would have been accomplished with a wood/charcoal fire, but I worked with a propane forge due to constraints on my workshop and heat control on such a small piece.
I used an 1860s London style anvil; my handmade tongs; modern shears, chisels, punches, rasp, and hammer similar to what was found in the chest to recreate the iron pieces. The shape of the hammer dictates how the metal will move, and the approach outlined below can be inferred--Assuming the hammer the original smith used was of a similar design, that is.
The original lock was made from hammered iron face plate, iron fittings and springs, and fasted together with iron rivets, then mounted with iron nails. For this project I used a mild steel, 16-gauge sheet for the lock and a 1/8”x1/2” mild steel bar for the various bits and pieces.
For this project decided to reconstruct one of the style 2 chest locks. I used a mild steel, 16-gauge and 20-gauge sheet for the lock for the various bits and pieces.
The sheet for the face was cut with chisels from the 16-gauge sheet then the hasp and key holes were cold punched and chiseled into the plate. The plate was then heated and quenched to impart additional strength to the finished project. The lock body was chisel cut from teh 20 gauge sheet, formed to fit and brazed onto the lock face on one edge. The bolt was also chisel cut to shape and to fit within the body. The remainder of the 20-gauge sheet was then thinned to form the the spring stopwhich was then brazed into the other side of the lock body.
The key was also drawn out from a thin piece of the 16-gauge sheet, then chisel split at one ends and formed into the final shape. Aesthetically the key is my own design, as the original key was missing in the Mastermyr find. The key was then hardened by heating to 1800 degrees F and a water quench. Nails will eventually be made in the same manner but have not been created with this current project.
[1] Arwidsson, Greta; Berg, Gösta (1999). The Mästermyr find. Lompoc, CA: Larson Publishing Company. ISBN 0-9650755-1-6.
[2] "Tidigare publikationer om Mästermyrfyndet" [Earlier publications about the Mästermyr find]. www.historicallocks.com. Assa Abloy. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
[3] Enderborg, Bernt. "Vikingatida verktyg från Mästermyr" [Viking Age tools from Mästermyr]. www.guteinfo.com. Guteinfo.com. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
[4] "Beskrivning av kistan" [Description of the chest]. www.historicallocks.com. Assa Abloy. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
[5] "The Viking" [lock drawings] ISBN: 0-517-445530. retrieved 7 March 2021.
