3. The principal kinds of wheel carriages made in this country, are the cart, the wagon, the gig, and the coach; and of each of these there are various sorts, differing in strength and mode of construction, to suit the particular purposes to which they are to be applied. The business of making these vehicles is divided into a number of branches; but, as the manufacture of the coach embraces a greater variety of operations than any other species of carriage, we have selected it as affording the best means of explaining the operations of the whole business.
4. In large establishments for making coaches and other vehicles of the best workmanship, the operators confine their attention to the execution of particular parts of the work; for example, one man makes the wheels, another the carriage and body, another fashions and applies the iron, another does the painting and polishing, and another the trimming. In smaller establishments, a greater proportion of the work is executed by one person.
5. The wheels of the coach, as well as those of every other vehicle in which they are used, are composed of a hub, and several spokes, and felloes. The hubs are commonly made of a kind of tough wood, called gum, which is reduced to the desired form in the lathe. The hole through the centre is made with a common auger, and enlarged with one tapering towards the point, and having through its whole length two cutting edges. The mortices for the spokes are made with a chisel driven with a mallet.
6. The spokes are made of white oak, and the felloes, of ash or hickory; and both are brought to the required form and smoothness with the saw, axe, drawing-knife, spoke-shave, chisel, and sand-paper. The constituent parts of the carriage, or running gears, are the axles, perch, and spring-beds, or bolsters, to which are added the tongue, or pole, and some other parts connected with it.
7. The joints in this part of the vehicle are made perfectly tight by the application of putty; whereas, in the body, glue is used for this purpose. The latter substance will not answer in the former case, since it cannot bear exposure to water. The wood generally employed for the carriage part, as well as for the frame of the body, is ash; and the several parts are sawn from planks of suitable thickness. In this part of the work, the operator is guided by patterns made of thin pine boards. The panels of the body are made of thin boards of poplar or bass-wood. The manner in which the several parts are dressed and put together is too obvious to need description.
8. The wheels and the carriage, after having received one coat of paint, are sent to the blacksmith to be ironed. The hub is bound, at each end with hoops of iron, commonly plated with brass or silver, and the outside rim or felloes are bound with an iron tire, and fastened with strong nails or spikes. The tires are made red-hot before they are applied, that they may be made to fit in every part with accuracy.
9. Bands, bolts, or strips of iron, are applied to those parts of the wood-work which may be exposed to friction, or which require additional strength. The axles are also made of wrought iron, either by the blacksmith who executes the other iron work, or by persons who manufacture them by the quantity for sale. The same remark is applicable to the thorough-boxes, which are inserted into the hub to prevent injury by friction, and to cause the wheel to revolve with freedom and accuracy.
10. The painting, varnishing, and polishing, of the body of the coach, when done in the best manner, comprise a tedious process. It is first covered with a coat of paint; the grain of the wood is then filled up with putty, and the surface is again covered with paint. Five coats of filling, composed of ochre, japan varnish, and spirits of turpentine, are next successively applied. After the surface has been rubbed with a solid piece of pumice-stone, it is again painted, and rubbed with sand-paper. Several coats of paint are next laid on, and the work is finished by the application of a few coats of copal-varnish, and by the use of pumice-stone. The painting and varnishing of the wheels and carriage part, is far less expensive and tedious.
11. The nature of the trimmings, and the manner in which they are put together and applied, need not be described, since a few moments' inspection of a finished vehicle of this kind, will give any one a clear conception of the whole of this branch of the business. So far as trimming the inside, and the manufacture of cushions are concerned, the operations are similar to those of the upholsterer.
12. Wheel carriages may be classed among the primitive inventions, although the first authentic notice we have of their use, we find in the scripture history of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in which it is related, that this great and good man "was made to ride in the second chariot" of the king's, and that he sent wagons from Egypt to convey thither his father and family from the land of Canaan.