C O A C H-M A K I N G. 



. we thai), therefore, merely mention, that almost every 

 "king, piece of wood in the carriage it supported by, or 

 . ~~* suc^thmed with iron, attached to the wood work by 

 bolts or rivets passing through both. 



A considerable degree of art and practice is required 

 in putting the tire or iron hoop round the rim of the 

 wluels ; the holes for the nails to fasten it to the felloes 

 are first made, the bar of iron is then turned round and 

 formed into a circle of the required diameter, and the 

 two ends welded together ; it is then heated all round 

 red hot, and the wheel being laid with its face (that i*, 

 the out-head of the nave undermost) upon a flat piece of 

 stone-work or metal, plate, the iron hoops, from the 

 great expansion occasioned by its heat, goes easily up- 

 on the wheel ; the iron is then immediately cooled, and, 

 by contracting, binds all the wood work together ; the 

 nails are then put through the tire into the felloes, and 

 the wheel, being cleaned off, is finished. Formerly the 

 iron was, very generally, put round the wood-work of 

 the wheel in separate pieces, having nothing to fasten it 

 to the felloes except the nails, but this practice has al- 

 most gone into disuse. 



The iron work for carriages, which open at the top, 

 requires to be made with more than ordinary nicety. It 

 is sometimes done, along with the other iron work, un- 

 der the coach-maker himself ; but it is more generally 

 procured, along with a vast variety of small hard ware 

 articles, such as locks, hinges, nails, &c. from makers at 

 Birmingham, who do nothing iUe. 



V. Paiiitin". 



O 



l-iiniing. The first process of painting the body of a carriage, 

 is to lay it all over with any common colour, in which a 

 considerable proportion of japan and a little spirit of tur- 

 pentine are mixed. Of this colour the body ought to 

 get three or four coats, always increasing the quantity 

 of turpentine, and diminishing the Japan : this is called 

 priming for the grounding. After this, two or three 

 coats of filling up, or grounding, composed of powder 

 ochre, japan, and a considerable proportion of turpentine, 

 must be laid on, betwixt the two first coats of which, if 

 there arc any holes above the heads of nails, or other 

 small indentations in the pannels, they ought to be tilled 

 up with white-lead, ground in turpentine, and mixed up 

 with japanners gold size. When all this is quite dry and 

 hard, the painter, having flattened a piece of pumice- 

 iione on one side, applies it with water to the pannels, 

 and by constantly and regularly rubbing them all over, 

 produces a smooth even surface. After this the body is 

 laid over with a colour, preparatory to that with which 

 it is to be finished. If the colour is ultimately to be 

 light, the preparatory colour must be light also, and the 

 reverse if the colour is to be dark. In this part of the 

 operation, which is called priming for the body-colour, 

 two or three coats will be necessary. When all the.-.e 

 previous coats are quite dry, the body-colour is laid over 

 them : and it depends upon the particular colour and 

 shade what number of coats will be necessary. One coat 

 must succeed another, until the colour is quite solid, 

 that is, until there is no cloud or inequality of shade per- 

 ceptible in any part of the whole. After this, the best 

 copal varnish ought to be made use of; and a body can- 

 not be well varnished without six coats, and seven if the 

 pannels arc to be polished. Betwixt each coat of paint, 

 the pannels ought to be smoothed with sand-paper ; and 

 after every coat of varnish, they ought to be well rubbed 

 dawn with pumice-stone, reduced to a very fine powder, 

 put upon a piece of woollen cloth, made up into a roll ;is 

 aard at possible, and moistened with water, cure being 



taken to smooth the pannch in this way ai much as pos> ( 

 sible, without rubbing through the varnish. The body- m 

 colour sometimes requires to be laid with varnibh alone, " 

 and sometime* it i necessary to mix a little of the co- 

 lour with the two or three first coats of varnish. To 

 produce a better black, the upper quarters, roof, and 

 back of the body, are done with japan in place of var- 

 nish, immediately after the colour ; and to render it ca- 

 pable of being polished, one or two coats of varnish are 

 put above the japan. When armorial bearings or letters 

 are to be painted upon the pannels, the proper time is 

 betwixt the first and second, or sometimes betwixt tin.- 

 second and third coat of varnish, after which such a num- 

 ber of coats ought to follow as will render the whole 

 pannels smooth over the anus, crests, or letters. 



Pannels ought not to be polished sooner than a month 

 after the last coat of varnish is given them ; and if the car- 

 riage is used during that time, or even for a longer period, 

 before polishing, so much the better, the varnish by expo- 

 sure to the atmosphereacquiring a harder consistency, and 

 consequently becoming more susceptible of a fine polish. 

 The first operation in polishing is to rub down the pan- 

 nels as before described, with very fine pulveri/.ed pumice 

 stone and water, thereafter with purified rotten-stone, 

 and afterwards by constant rubbing with the palm of 

 the hand, using a small portion of dry rotten-stone to. 

 remove the gummyness off the skin. When by there 

 means the pannels are brought to a good polish, a little 

 flour and sweet-oil rubbed over, gives a tmouthncA to 

 the whole, and finishes the work. 



As herr.ld painting depends entirely upon the justness 

 of the eye, the neatness of hand, and the taste of the 

 painter, we shall not presume to offer any general rule 

 tor the execution of the work ; neither can we give such 

 a description of its progress, as will enable our reader* 

 to make any estimate ot the difficulties to be overcome 

 in this department. We shall only observe, that long 

 practice, great taste, and persevering attention, are requi- 

 red to attain to eminence. 



In painting carriages, there is nothing particularly 

 wotthy of remark. The painter's chief care is to re. 

 move all grease or oil from every part before he begins, 

 to paint, and as the work goes on, to smooth every coat 

 with sand-paper before laying the next. In ornamenting 

 the bars and wheels every thing depends upon the stea- 

 diness of the hand in drawing the lines clean and well de- 

 fined. The carriage, after being painted, ought to get 

 two or three coats of varnish, to give it a lustre cor- 

 responding to that of the body. 



VI. Trimming. 



The trimmer's business is to cut the lining, give direc- Triinmin> 

 lions for sewing it, to arrange the lace properly upon 

 the different parts, and, after being sewed, to stuff quilt 

 and to fasten it into the body. This requires a consider- 

 able dexterity and neatness of hand. Much of the com- 

 fort of a carriage depends upon its being well lined and 

 stuffed ; and as every part ot it is immediately under the 

 eye of the people within, if any thing is left undone, or 

 any error committed, it cannot escape notice, nor fail to 

 give a bad impression of the whole machine. The trim- 

 mer has also to cover and finish the glass frames, blinds, 

 shutters, budgets, footsteps, trunks, imperials, and to 

 do every thing belonging to the inside (and outside lea- 

 ther work) ot the bodies of either close or oprii carria- 

 ges, &c. The lining of carriages is generally made of 

 woollen cloth, sometimes of Morocco leather, and some- 

 times partly of both, trimmed with Uce manuiactured 

 for the express purpose, made a fancy pattern, or wjth 



