ASGARD CRAFTS, Jim and how it all began ...
Jim started making reproduction artefacts in 1999. Whilst working at the world-renowned Jorvik Viking centre he got to spend a long time looking at the original finds and wanted copies of these for his re-enactment hobby. Alas, many of these wonderful items were difficult to obtain, so he made it his own personal mission to learn how to make them for himself. He found his background in archaeology immensely helpful in undertaking his first project: a set of folding trader’s scales. Soon a toilet set and a ring pin followed and his new project was a Viking comb.
Through trial and error and a lot of hard work, Jim managed to make his first comb and in the process brought to life the ancient art of comb making. He has lost count in recent years of how many he has made, we estimate in excess of 100.
Soon, fellow re-enactors and colleagues from the Viking centre had seen his work and he was getting bombarded with orders to make more for them. And so, in 2002 we founded Asgard Crafts. Very quickly, it went from a part time hobby to a full time business. We realised very quickly that to do justice to our work, we had to be 100% behind the business and thus it took over as the “day job.”
So, here we are in 2007 with a great range of reproduction items and a shiny new website. We have been very busy over the last few years and Jim has spent a lot of time learning new skills. Those of you who have been with us from the start will see that we now produce a range of Viking silver and that our range of pewter is growing rapidly. Who’d have thought that a teenage passion for re-modelling war-gaming miniatures would come in handy in later years when carving intricate masters for all our cast items?
An exciting area of the business is museum work. It is such a wonderful experience to create a replica that will be seen by thousands of people. Our latest project involved a horse bridle, which is now on display in the Manx museum in the Isle of Man.
The Viking, Saxons and Picts are our passion, so if you want something that we don’t do, please contact us. It’s always nice challenge to make something new, and bring some more of our past to life in this new millennium.