Stagecoach 1848 by John Bartley - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1/10

[bartley]

As an interlude from ship building I decided to build a Concord Stagecoach.  These  were originally made by Abbot Downing in Concord, New Hampshire were common through the American wet in the 1860’s but were also operated in Australia and New Zealand by Cobb & Co as mail coaches and also transport to the goldfields.  This is a kit by Artesania Latina but will be bashed to achieve a more “Australian” look.

 

 

This initially seemed to be a quick project but has turned out to be more complex than I first thought.  The first task is to construct the wheels.  Here is a wheel from about 1900 on display at my local timber merchant.  It is probably from a bullock cart not a coach, but it gives an indiction of the mrthod of construction.

 

These wheels have twelve spokes arranged around a rim, which in this case is constructed from four segments.  In order to get these as perfectly round as possible I drew a circle of the appropriate diameter and then used the jig shown to make the two halves of the rim.

 

 

 

The two halves were then glued together:

 

 

  The spokes are made from 4mm sapelly rod, which were sanded flat on two opposing sides to achieve a final thickness of 3 mm.

 

 

The hub supplied was sanded smooth and the twelve holes bored at 30 0 to each other

 

 

A simple jig was constructed to ensure that the spokes were evenly spaced. This consisting of a sheet of ply with a hole in the center to take the hub.  the positions of the spokes were marked at the correct angles.  Four spokes at rigt angles were added first.

 

 

Then the rest added in a systematic manner

 

 

The rims and the front and rearof the spokes were painted with Vallejo Model Colour #79.858. The inside edges of the spokes were left un-painted.

 

 

And here are the four wheels completed:

 

 

[mtaylor]

I'm moving this to the non-ship builds area   The wheels came out looking pretty good.

[bartley]

 

2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

I'm moving this to the non-ship builds area   The wheels came out looking pretty good.

Thanks  Mark,

 

There's a few finicky bits to do on those wheels yet but I am moving on for the moment.

 

John

[bruce d]

Looking good, John.

From what I see, the spokes are butt-jointed at the felloe end: is that correct?

[bartley]

Thanks for your interest  Bruce,

 

Yes, they are butt-jointed here on the model but on that historical wheel that I showed they are let in at the felloe end as well.  In fact, on the model some of the but joints gave way and needed attention so it would not have been a viable system on a "real" wheel.

 

At the Toowoomba museum in Queensland one can observe a wheelwright in action making a wagon wheel.  First, all twelve spokes are driven into square holes in the hub.  Then "pegs" are cut on the end of each spoke.  Eight segments of the rim are made with holes bored at the correct distance.  These are hammered onto the spokes. And it all locks together,  NO GLUE!!

 

John

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by bartley

[bruce d]

The old-time wheelwrights were pretty clever people.

FWIW, and just because we all like a good technical point, I believe the real bullock cart wheel in post#1 is what is known as an 'artillery wheel' (which refers to the type of construction, not the user).

In broad terms, an artillery wheel did not have a proper hub: the ends of the spokes were longer and cut to the correct angle so when assembled they formed a solid middle. A substantial flange was then put on both front and back of the wheel, through bolted together and the axle passed through and locked mechanically in place. It was tough and well suited to mass production.

Your wheels look absolutely correct for the period and the colour works too. They will add a lot to the character of this old western-movie icon 👍.

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by bruce d

[bartley]

Thanks for the info, Bruce.  It sounds like I will need to be careful with an expert watching on!

 

John

[bartley]

The Main Chassis

 

This consists of three long beams connected to two suspension stabilizers.

 

 

 

You will note that these both show "clefts" where presumably narrow planks where joined to make  a wider board.  These were produced using a mill and a 0.4 mm Kyocera end mill.

 

 

After painting the two oposing edges, the beams were connected to the suspension stabilizers ensuring that everthing was at right

angles:

 

The final result looks like this

 

 

John

 

[bruce d]

2 hours ago, bartley said:

It sounds like I will need to be careful with an expert watching on!

Expert? Moi? Nah.

Several generations of the family on my father's side were blacksmiths, so put it down to a form of tribal memory 😉.

 

It looks like a good kit. Can I ask what is your opinion of it now you have been 'hands-on' for  while?

[bartley]

Hi Bruce,

 

Early days yet so it is a bit hard to comment on the quality of the kit.  I think that the cabin will be the real test.  However, so far it looks OK.  The hubs are boxwood.  The laser cut parts are walnut/boxwood and seem quite accurate. There is quite a lot of "scratch" work such as fabricating the spokes from dowel.  This makes it a bit less like "painting by numbers"

 

John

[bartley]

Steering Mechanism and Haul Bar

 

This is quite a complex piece of woodwork and stars with four laser cut parts 5 mm deep, the curved steering bar, the haul bar and the steering struts:

 

 

The Haul Bar is cut from 5 X 5 mm stock walnut and the end fashioned to a "knob"  The parts are assembled in such a way that the haul bar moves freely between them:

 

 

 

Ironwork was then added.  In fact these clamps are actually brass, of course, but I don't think there would be much brass on these coaches so I chose to blacken them and then app;y a little weathering to make them look like iron.

 

The side clamps are showm prode of the haul bar but I chose to inset them a litle

 

 

The sqaew clamps were fashioned from 4mm brass strip and then the ends were silver soldered together:

 

 

 

The final appearance of the unit is shown below

 

 

Wheel Axels

 

The real axel is made from 9 X 9 mm walnut stock and  5mm diameter holes need to be bored in the ends to take the stub axels The length was too long to fit under my mini drill press so the firs method I chose was to use my wood lathe.  I have a  4 jaw chuck but it is not self centering and is difficult to set up.  I thought I had it correct but with the length of the axel there was some precession and the hole hole turned out slightly conical.

 

For the second axel I mounted my Dremel horizontally, chocked up the alxel and pushed it onto the drill.  Surprisingly this made a near perfect perpendicular hole!

 

 

In each case I stated at 1mm, then progressed in mm steps to 4mm,  Here is the front axel:

 

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by bartley

[bartley]

Bruce,

 

Those bands on the ends of the draw bar would have been heat shrunk on I presume.  Real blacksmith stuff that!

 

John

[bruce d]

2 hours ago, bartley said:

Those bands on the ends of the draw bar would have been heat shrunk on I presume.  Real blacksmith stuff that!

That was common practice, a pin or wedge was (I think) also used to 'cinch up' the assembly. The west was a big wide place and not all blacksmiths went to the same school. Many of them were immigrants or second generation Americans and were still doing things like they had been done in whatever country they learned.

It took the arrival of the railroads to make the idea of a 'standard' part make sense. These stage coaches were pretty much alike in looks but could have any number of small differences in fittings or repairs.

Careful, I might get on my soapbox 🤐

Edited August 19, 2021 by bruce d
fumble fingers

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, bartley said:

Those bands on the ends of the draw bar would have been heat shrunk on I presume.  Real blacksmith stuff that!

 

The process is called "Swaging" heating up the steel part to where they could slide it over the wood and then allowing it to cool, shrinking to an almost permanent fixation to the part.... Steel wheel tyres were installed the same way... (swaging didn't work with iron)

 

1 hour ago, bruce d said:

That was common practice, a pin or wedge was (I think) also used to 'cinch up' the assembly.

That was another method, but used for wrought iron... It didn't last as long as steel swaging... Another was to build the iron part square and the wood part tapered and press it on before pinning it....

Many very ingenious ways to do the same thing, it was after all, the beginning of the age of invention....

Edited August 19, 2021 by Egilman

[Canute]

They did that with steam locomotive drivers, too. Heat the tire rim in a furnaces so that it expands, move it quickly to the actual driver wheel and place it. Then cool it into place. Since the driver was two parts, occasionally the rim would separate from the wheel, with catastrophic results. The dynamic forces on the drivers were significant with the spinning wheels and the drivers and connecting rods moving along.

[bartley]

Fascinating background information guys and thanks for all the likes.  I am pleased there is so much interest. I thought that on a shipping site there might not be much interest in this project.  I might need to lift my game!

 

John

[Old Collingwood]

1 hour ago, bartley said:

Fascinating background information guys and thanks for all the likes.  I am pleased there is so much interest. I thought that on a shipping site there might not be much interest in this project.  I might need to lift my game!

 

John

Lots of knowledge and frindship here John,   you will always get friendly  replies and  the occasional  talk about food....

 

OC.

[bartley]

Wheels Part 2

 

In view of all of the information above about swaging, I thought it was time to but some "steel" treads  and hub supports on my wheels.

 

The tread is 5 mm X 1mm walnut which was bent into a rough curve using heat and a little water. It was stained with Japan Black spirit based  stain and then glued to the rim of the wheel with CA:

 

 

Reinforcing bands on the hubs were made from 4 mm brass strip.  This was curved to shape using a mini rolling mill:

 

 

A curve close the the correct diameter could be produced:

 

 

The final shape could then be achieved by simply squeezing together a little more by hand.  These bands were glued to the hub with CA.  All of this metalwork was then blackened and weathered a bit so it looked like iron.

 

 

This only one wheel - three to go!  I also need to insert simulated bolts into the rim at each spoke position but I think I will complete my steering gear first.

 

John

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by bartley
spelling

[popeye the sailor]

unique looking coach.........looking good so far   

[bartley]

Steering Mechanism -Part 2

 

Quite a complex piece of woodwork this and it had to be strong because the horses were directly attached to this unit.  First the axle bracket is made by gluing together two 4 mm parts  Rebates are then cut into this unit to fit into the steering bars:

 

 

 on top of this is glued the steering bar:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I neglected to photograph this stage but here is a photo of the unit after the metal clamps are added:

 

 

The nest task to to add the metal struts which strengthen the haul bar.  These run between the axle bracket.  and the haul bar, Drilling the hole in the axle bracket to take these was tricky because no pin vice I had would fit between the two beams:

 

 

Finally, both metal struts are in place to complete this unit:

 

 

 

John

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by bartley

[bartley]

Brake Assembly

 

The brake shoes are glued to the brake bar after making a cleft in the brake shoes as they would have been assembled in two parts.

 

 

The two push-rods are then nailed to the brake bar:

 

 

These will be assembled onto the main chassis in due course.

 

John

 

 

 

[bartley]

Brake Assembly Part 2

 

Before the brake assembly itself is installed, I glued on the forward anchoring bracket and the rear axle bracket to the chassis:

 

 

 

The first part of the braking mechanism involves installing a metal bar which rotates to move the brake push rods .  This bar is made from 2 mm diameter brass rod and needs to have 2 1mm holes drilled through it to connect to the push rods.  I did this using a mill and a V block:

 

 

The three clamps to hold this rod to the chassis were fabricated from 3mm brass strap:

 

 

The instructions have this rod sit on top of the chassis breams but I chose to inset it slightly with a round file in order to locate it more firmly:

 

 

The next task was to make the brake bar clamps - once again from 3 mm brass strap:

 

 

These are nailed to the chassis beams.  They are wider than the brake bar in order to allow it to slide:

 

 

The final assembly will look like this:

 

 

The next task is to construct the brake lever itself but I need to pause on this build while I return to complete my Cheerful build.  I have been making a plinth and some rope for that and those tasks are now completed.

 

John

 

[bartley]

Brake lever

 

The brake lever was fabricated from 5 X 5 mm Sapelly with a 3 mm dowel glued in one end:

 

 

Two brackets were then made from 3 mm brass strip and the end of the brake bar bent out right angles on its outer end:

 

 

The brake bar was then secured to the brake lever with the two metal brackets:

 

 

John

 

[bartley]

Suspension Brackets

 

These hold the suspension itself which was a strong leather strap on which the cabin was mounted.  This was an innovation for the Concornd coach. Apparently the ride was not as good as claimed but it was less tiring for the horses.

 

These are made from 5mm wide brass strip.  They are made in two parts – an inner and an outer part:

 

 

The top section is rolled using needle nosed pliers in such a way that the diameter of the inner section is a slightly smaller than the outer section.

 

 

In this way the inner section will fit inside the outer section.  Since they are not symmetrical, it is important to realise that there must be a left hand and a right hand pair which are of course mirror images. The assembly is then bent into a curved shape using a steel socket of the appropriate diameter.

 

 

Clamps made from 2mm brass strip were then squeezed with pliers in order to hold the top section together. 

 

 

The brackets were then nailed either side of the stabilizers.

 

Support struts for each bracket were nailed to the rear axel or the front anchoring bar:

 

 

They were then silver soldered to the back of the suspension brackets. The instructions recomend the use of CA but i feld silver solder was more  secure and CA eill not take paint should any touch up needed.

 

Here is the final result:

 

 

Next links will be made to connect these to the suspension proper.

 

John

 

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by bartley

[bartley]

Completing the Suspension

 

      1. The Suspension Links

 

These consist of two brass outer face plates connected by two short brass bars. The face plates are supplied:

 

 

 

and the links are cut from 1,5mm brass rod:

 

 

 

 

 

The instructions suggest connecting these with CA.  I felt that Silver solder was more secure but to ensure that the connecting rods were perpendicular I inserted them in vertical holes in some scrap timber and then soldered the l ink on top: 

 

 

The second link is not added at this stage so that the suspension itself can be slipped over the open link.

 

.

     2,  The Suspension Proper

 

 

The leather “springs” are simulated by laminating together three strips of 6 X 2 mm walnut:

 

 

These are glued togeyther with Tightbond held in the appropriate curve and clamped together while the glue dries:

 

 

The connectors between the suspension “springs” and the links are made the supplied from brass plates which needed to be folded exactly in half so that the four holes line up.:

 

 

Four aligned holes are then drilled in the ends of the suspension  “springs”, The end plates are the “bolted with two U shaped pieces of 0.8 mm wire.  Although not detailed in the instructions:

 

 

I silver soldered the back of mine to secure them.  The suspension “springs” unit was finished off with two clamps on each end fabricated from 3mm brass strip. 

 

 

 

Finally, the completed suspension units were connected to the links and the second face plate added to complete the chassis unit:

 

 

 

Time to move on to the cabin

 

John

 

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by bartley

[bartley]

Fabrication of the cabin.

 

With the chasis complete it is time to start on the construction of the cabin, The skeleton of the cabin is made up from the laser cut parts below parts below, which are all supplied in the kit.

 

 

The curved upper beams are glued to the side panels to establish the curve of the side panels:

 

The second lager curved panel (which is in fact the floor) is then glued just below the door and the two sides are connected together with the short (95 X5 X 4 mm)  beams:

 

I found it  simpler to build the cabin upside down so that squares can be used to ensure that the side walls are vertical and that the corners are at right angles:

 

 

 

 

Next a 1.5 mm sheet of basswood was wrapped around the sides and bottom of the basic skeleton to form the end walls and the bottom of  the cabin.   Application of a little water allowed the soft basswood to be bent into a smooth curve to follow the curve of the side panels.

It was glued in place with Tight-Bond and clamped for an hour or so:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After trimming of the excess and sanding smooth the basic cabin was ready for lining with mahogany veneer.

 

 

 

John

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by bartley

[Kevin]

looking better than mine already

[Javlin]

John seems you have a decent shop/tools at your disposal and I like the work it helps you to produce top notch metal/wood coming through.

[bartley]

7 hours ago, Kevin said:

looking better than mine already

Don't know about that one Kev! There are a few mistakes that I am not admitting to!

 

John

 

[bartley]

Lining the Interior

 

The interior of the cabin is lined with 30 X 0.6 mm mahogany veneer.  This turned out to be trickier than it seemed.  There are some difficult angles.  So I made some card templates like these:

 

 

 

So here is the first sheet installed:

 

 

Petty well complete mow - as is often said "you can never have too many clamps"

 

 

 

The floor is planked with 1X3 mm mahogany much like the deck of deck of a ship but much simpler - no bow or stern to allow for! 

I cut these planks accurately to length using a jig attached to my RP cutter - I have had a few versions of these cutter but this is the best so far - all metal construction and gives very reproducible results:

 

 

Just a couple of curved planks to go behind the doors:

 

 

 

 

and so the completed interior looks like this:

 

 

Now to the exterior planking.

 

John

Edited March 17, 2022 by bartley