The steps, which are made to fold up and fit into recesses in the doors, or in the bottom, when they are not in use.
The lamps, which are fixed to the fore part of the body by means of iron stays.
The boot, on which is carried the coachman’s seat.
In carriages suspended from C springs we have in addition:—
The check-brace rings, to which are attached leather braces from the spring heads, to prevent the body from swinging too much backwards and forwards.
The collar-brace rings, to which are attached leather braces from the perch, to prevent the body swinging too much upwards or sideways.
The curve or rounding given to the side of the body from end to end is called the side-cant, and the rounding from the top to the bottom the turn-under. Some makers arrive at this curve by framing the skeleton of the body together with square timber, and then round these off to the required curve after they are put together. It must be evident to any one that this proceeding will greatly strain the joints, and under any circumstances will never give thorough satisfaction or good results, and the waste of time and material must be very considerable.
The proper way is to set the curve out beforehand on a board called the “cant” board, and the method of doing this is as follows:—
Take a clean pine board, plane it up to a smooth surface. Shoot one edge perfectly true with a trying-plane. This straight edge may be taken to represent the side of the carriage if it were a straight line. Apply this edge to the full-sized draught, and mark along it the various parts of the body (see [Fig. 8], in which the numbered points are those required to form the side-cant). By means of these points the required sweep can be set up or drawn, as shown by the dotted line C in the figure. Now, if you choose, you can cut away the portion between A and B, and a template will be formed to which the constructional timbers can be cut; and it possesses the advantage of being easily applied to the carriage as it proceeds, to see that the curve is true and uniform. As this template forms the pattern to which the timber, &c., is cut, great care is requisite in forming it, so that it shall be perfectly true.
In order to get the turn-under, the same process is gone through on another board. This gives what is called the “standing” pillar pattern, the standing pillar being the upright timber to which the door is hinged.