COACH-MAKING. 



taste and judgment in the construction ; and his object! 

 ^ ff^ to combine elegince with strength, and to obtain 

 " "" such a fitnru of one part with another, that the carriage, 

 when finished, shall appear as a whole, not wanting any 

 thing that it ought to have, and not having any tiling 

 that it could apparently do without, endeavouring to 

 give as much ease to the body part as possible, not to 

 make any part heavier than absolutely necessary, and par- 

 ticularly to make it easy of draught, by having the best 

 finished axle trees set in such an exact manner that the 

 wheel* may run perfectly free, following one another in 

 the same tract. 



The different branches of coach- making, as commonly 

 practised, are, 



1. Body making. 



2. Carriage making. 



3. Wheel making. 



4. Smith's work. 



5. Painting. 



6. Trimming, and 



7. Harness making. 



Some of these branches may be subdivided, as in harness 

 making there is included collar making and saddlery. 

 The herald painting is done by workmen of great expe- 

 rience and taste, wno do not generally perform any of 

 the coarser work ; and carriage painting is often done 

 by a class of workmen different from those who paint 

 the body ; and in body and carriage making, the car- 

 ving is sometimes done by workmen, who practise that 

 particular department, although frequently by the body 

 and carriage makers themselves. The glass frames and 

 inside boxes are generally made by workmen constantly 

 employed in that way, who, in general, also put on the 

 plated or ornamental work, but arc considered so nearly 

 allied to the body makers as hardly to form a different 

 branch. 



I. Body Making. 



Body ma- That is, the making the wood work of the body or 

 .kii.e. thell, or that part containing the seat of every vehicle 



generally known by the name of carriage, whether open 

 or close, and having either two or more wheels. This 

 is considered the nicest branch of the art of coach- 

 making, and very deservedly so ; for to understand it 

 thoroughly requires a knowledge of mathematics rarely 

 to be met with in the lower classes, besides an accuracy 

 and delicacy in the junctions of the various parts, and 

 neatness in finishing, which no other part of coach- 

 making so particularly requires. The variety in this 

 branch is also much greater than in any ether, as almost 

 every carriage takes Us particular name from the shape, 

 tize, or construction of the body, without reference to 

 any other part of the vehicle, as for example, Lamleau, 

 Landeaulet, Coach, Chariot, Chaise, Phaeton, and Vis a- 

 vis, all differ only in the body, as all may have the 

 ame construction of carriage. In the present fashion 

 of carriages, with the body made round or bulged on the 

 tides, there are upwards of sixty frame joints in a chariot 

 body, and scarcely one of them square. To find the 

 exact length, of each piece, and precise angle of each 

 joint, (alfof them differing from one another,) would re- 

 quire a knowledge of mathematics, not to be expected in 

 ordinary workmen, and which, had they not been re- 

 duced to practical rules, would have proved an unsur- 

 mountablc obstacle to the immense variety now to be seen 

 in our modern carriages. But the principles once having 

 been fixed, and practical rules deduced from them, the 

 wccliznic find* it easy to follow and initruct bis pupil 



in the latter, without any knowledge whatever of the Coach- 

 former. nuking. 



The frame-work of the body in uniformly made of > ~""Y"^ 

 ash timber, the bottom (and roof of close carriages) of 

 fir, as being lightest, the paimeU of mahogany, (some- 

 times walnut tree,) as fittest from its nature to receive 

 the paint, and more pliable to take the curved form which 

 is required. The roof is covered with leather; the back 

 and upper quarters are sometimes made of mahogany, 

 but more frequently of fir, and covered with leather also. 

 The joints or the 'rame-work are all put logi ther with 

 white lead ground in oil, and the junction ol tin- ji inueli 

 with the frame-work is strengthened by small blocks of 

 wood being glued to both, and strips of c.mv.is glued at 

 small distances from one another across the re^-d ot the 

 wood, all over the inside of the pannels, reaching from 

 the frame-work on the one side to the framework on 

 the other. The curvature is given to the pannela by 

 holding to the fire, or to a piece of iron made red 

 hot, the side which is required to be hollow, and by 

 applying water to the opposite side, by whicn the one 

 side is contracted and the other side is expanded. Wtien 

 brought by this means to the deiired form, they are fixed 

 into grooves, or laid d<>wn with g:ue upon the. frame- 

 work until dry. and then cleaned oil"; the door pannels, 

 besides this, are secured with plates of bras-, attached 

 firmly to the frame-work by screw nails. The utmost 

 attention should be paid to use the best seasoned wood, 

 as the smallest shrinking of any of the joints, or contrac- 

 tion of any of the pannels after being painted, injures the 

 appearance, although not always materially, the security 

 of the carriage. 



II. Carriage Ma/cing. 



The carriage, as understood by coachmakers, is the Carriage 

 frame work which is necessary to support the body or 

 shell of the machine. It in general consists of the perch 

 or cranes which connect the bars upon which the hind and 

 fore springs are fastened, and the other bars behind and 

 before, upon which are fixed the spring-stays, the axles, 

 the foot-board behind, and boot or budget before. S me 

 carriages are now made without perches or cranes, but 

 stiil the bars necessary for the above purposes are all 

 that are technically called the carriage. 



This branch is considered next in importance to the 

 body making, and in lact, in the knowledge of these two 

 may be said to conoist the art of coach making, as it ii 

 possible for woikmen not regularly bred coachmakers to 

 finish all the other parts, as wheels by wheel-makers, 

 trimming by upholsterers, painting by ordinary painters, 

 harness by saddlers, and so on ; although tucrc are pe- 

 culiarities in each of these branches only applicable to 

 coach-making. The carriage-maker, although not re- 

 quired to finish his work with that delicacy which is 111- 

 disyensible in the body-maker, has neveithrless to put 

 together his joints with great precision and firmness, as 

 the strength and durability of the whole dependh much 

 upon the carriage ; for it undergoes more fatigue, and is 

 therefore liable to fail sooner than any other part, the 

 wheels only excepted. For this reason, the best seasoned 

 wood must also be made use of in this branch, that none 

 of the joints may shrink. In fitting the various iron 

 plates and stays, great care must be taken that they be 

 properly set to the required curves, and that their bea. 

 be quite correct before being fastened, as otherwise-, by the 

 force of the bolts in screwing them on, the wood work 

 would be twisted, and thereby not only disfigure the ap- 

 pearance of the parts, but materially weaken them. Smiths 



