Carriage Building
Doctor’s Buggy or Piano Box Buggy found outside Kingston, Ohio
Like many of us, over the past 2 years, I have found myself scanning YouTube in the middle of night, trying to chase off the worries of COVID. As a building, I am always interested in how anything is put together so you can imagine my individual feed. Two authors have caught my eye: Tips from a Shipwright with Louis Sauzedde and Engel’s Coach Shop with Dave Engels.
My interest in wooden boat building began with Tom Bridwell and his stories of exploring north Florida in a flat-bottomed Pirogue he built with Harvey Alberts. We spent many coffee breaks looking at the Maritime Catalog and other boat building texts. We planned to build a wherry and explore the drainage systems of the Scioto River and Ohio River Vally but we never got around to it. After Tom’s death, I gave up on the idea. Louis has given the strength and inspiration to tackle that project. You’ll see one soon but that is another idea.
More to the point, Dave Engels has also given me the faith to try my hand at another interest. Carriages, Buggies and farm wagons have fascinated me ever since I discovered Eric Sloane’s Museum of American Tools and The Woodwright’s Shop with Roy Underhill. While I don’t own a horse, nor have much experience with them really, I love the mechanics of horse-drawn vehicles. Bringing wood, steel, iron and leather together to create a machine powered by shear will rather than fossil fuels is interesting.
I worked in my father’s auto body repair shop while I was in high school and that work helped me put myself through college. Being around cars gave me an mechanical insight that I value above everything else. With carriage building, I can bring my woodworking and upholstery skills together with my auto body experience. It sounds like a great idea and fate poked me one day when I was searching craigslist.
This Doctor’s Buggy or Piano Box Buggy was saved by Tom, the cattle farmer, outside Kingston, Ohio. I have looked at a lot of old buggies, carriages and wagons. Most are piles of metal and sticks and that was what I expected when I made arrangements to see it. One look at the hand-carved bolsters and ornamental hardware and I knew this was my chance. Tom didn’t know that much about it but something about it spoke to him. I’m glad that I’m not the only one. I am researching and I’ll do more posts as I get started and try my hand at practical carriage building.