Because I don’t have enough hobbies in my hobby.

During my hiatus from here (life’s got jokes) I was elevated to the order of the Laurel in the SCA (if you aren’t familiar with the SCA, it’s an award for arts that comes with prestige and responsibility). I’m honestly still trying to wrap my head around it, but that is neither here nor there.

For my ceremony I chose to make wax tablets for everyone who spoke for me and for my friend who heralded me in. And OMG guys, it was So. Much. Fun. After, you know, I got over the nerves of doing something COMPLETELY different.

Period wax tablets ranged from incredibly plain wood to ornately carved ivory and everything in between and were used largely throughout the world and through all the centuries of the Middle Ages so if you decide to make one do some research and decide what you’d have the most fun with.

I chose simple because I had to crank out seven and I am nothing if not a procrastinator. Now, in this tutorial you’ll see that I use some tools that aren’t super common for most people. I’m going to do my best to give you substitutions but I’m always down for better ideas so if you’ve got one, let me know.

So, I started with poplar planks that you can get just about anywhere. These were purchased at Lowe’s. The planks were 1/4” thick by 4” wide and I don’t remember how long they were but two planks made 8 ‘books’ (I gave myself one to mess up which was good because I did) with some scrap left over.

I made the tablets 4”X6” for ease of transportation and that’s pretty close in size to some finds. I marked internal squares to be drilled out a half inch from all sides. I did this to give as much writing space as possible while still maintaining the integrity of the frame. Poplar is pretty soft so I was nervous only giving a half inch but it seemed to be the sweet spot for this project. I ended up making a little pattern for the interior square just to insure uniformity. The interior is 3”X5”.

I used a table saw (technically a miter saw, whatever…) to cut the board down to its 6” increments. Table saws are pretty common but you can use just about any saw. I’d recommend a jig saw if you don’t have a table saw. Just expect that the larger the saw and/or teeth, the rougher your cuts are likely to be. So, regardless of the saw you use, make sure you have the right blade! Trust me, that can be a bad day.

After cutting them, my next step was to carve out the inside where the wax was going to go. Let me disappoint you now. I did NOT go old school and hand carve them. Poplar is soft and I don’t have a lot of experience carving and I didn’t want to destroy too many planks. If you feel confident, go for it! I used a drill press.

The drill press was amazing for a couple reasons. I could regulate the depth that the router bit went into the wood. I also had an adjustable vice mounted on it which allowed me to to move the wood in a specific pattern under the bit. So. Freaking. Easy. Now, I know most people don’t have that kind of equipment, I’m super lucky my husband lets me pilfer his stuff. However, a Dremel also will work pretty well though it will likely take a bit longer.

As you can see, it still left the board rough inside the pour area. I did not clean that up so that way the wax would have something to grip to. This is an important step, especially if you decide to use a Dremel because if it is too smooth, the wax will just pop right out of the cavity (learning that lesson actually saved me some time with a mistake later on, but hopefully you won’t do what I did).

Next I drilled three holes into the board. Two on one long side and one on the other long side. These were used to hinge the two pieces of wood together with cording as well as to tie the book closed. Therefore, it is important to make sure they line up on both pieces. I don’t remember the size I used but so long as you use the smallest size that you can still get your cording through, you should be fine. Any bigger and you risk compromising the structure.

Next, I took a little hand held sander and I cleaned up all the edges and buffed the wood so it would take stain better and also look more finished. I used a power sander, but you can do it by hand if you really want to.

Then, my favourite part! Staining! I used a combination of danish oil and boiled linseed oil to really seal the wood from the wax. I put down towels and everything and still managed to make a mess. Hopefully you’ll have better luck. But man, does it make that woodgrain pop beautifully. Also, it should be noted that these are both period preservatives (danish oil kinda depends on who makes it). Totally saves the whole project 😉

A quick note here, stain the cavity too. It won’t affect the wax color and it creates a bit of a barrier to keep the wax from just soaking into the wood.

After letting them set and wiping them clean of any residue oil, I got to start working on the wax part of my wax tablet.

Now, I’ve never worked much with wax except making waxed linen covers and boiling leather so this was a learning experience for me. The biggest thing I learned was how to appropriately color wax. I’m sure there’s books, and videos and probably even blogs on how to do it, but I didn’t read any of them and learned by old fashioned and infuriating trail and error.

First, use beeswax(though I’ve heard people have good success with crayons). It has a higher melting temperature than other waxes and if you take this thing out to events, you don’t want to end up with no writing surface and a bag/pouch full of melted wax.

I used beeswax granuals but if you use wax bars or blocks, you’ll want to break them up pretty fine. I don’t recommend a blender or the like for this unless you have one that can be a dedicated ‘craft blender’. Next, you want to mix up your color separate from the wax if needed, then pour the color over the wax and mix it up with the wax still hard. This is important, if you don’t, you’ll be like my first attempt and the color will not blend with the wax and you’ll end up with a splotchy mess. I unfortunately didn’t take a picture of it, but trust me, you don’t want it. Fortunately, I was able to just pop the wax out because the interior wasn’t scored.

After blending the color and wax, then I started heating it in a dedicated crafting pot. Beeswax won’t hurt you, but it’s not a tasty surprise, I don’t care how good it smells. Then it was just a matter of carefully pouring it into the carved out spaces and waiting for it to dry. Don’t worry if it looks splotchy while drying or if you over pour.

Once it dries completly the splotchiness will go away and you can either scrape the over-pour off or carve out all the wax and try it again. If you scrape it to the right depth, like I did, use a heat gun to re-smooth the surface. If you don’t have one, you can pop it in the microwave until it melts.

Next, is just running the cording through the holes to hold the book together and then making a tie for the single hole. I dabbed a bit of glue to hold my hinge knots but you don’t have to. Or you could decide to go super fancy and do riveted leather hinges or whatever floats your boat. Wax tablets came in all shapes, sizes and manner of construction, so do some research and go wild. I needed to make a bunch of these and quick so I kept it simple.

I thought about carving on them, or wood burning, or painting, but ultimately, I decided I didn’t want to risk the structural integrity of the soft wood any more that I already had, and I didn’t really have time to paint, so plain they were! Though if I make more (and I want to) I’ll definitely be painting them at the least.

I did totally stamp gold pineapples on them though. It’s the little things.

The part I don’t have pictures of was making the stylus. But it wasn’t any engineering feat. I took thick brass wire, straightened it, lightly hammered it till it was hardened, flattened one end with the hammer and sanded one end to a point using a belt sander. I based it loosely off of this extant stylus. Obviously, mine weren’t this fancy.

And, there you have it. Quick and easy medieval wax tablet. They are fun for events and make a great reusable gifts especially for heralds in your life because once it fills up, you just heat it to smooth it out again.

I hope you enjoyed my first post in a while and as always, if you have questions, or know how to do some or all of it better, please leave a comment. I’m always down to learn new tricks!