Preparation
The project started with a daunting empty warehouse.
The wood arrives. One day this would be a wagon!
Teamwork was very important during the project.
Ash wood is strong, durable and smooth to touch; perfect for our wagon.
Planning involved researching into wagons and carpentry.
“The young people had a lot of skills to learn and new vocabulary to understand.”
Learning
Measuring carefully and accurately was essential.
Chamfering; cutting smooth symmetrical grooves into wood.
Making the chamfers
Learning to make all the joints our wagon needed. The right tools and techniques greatly improve your precision and speed. Every millimeter counts or you waste time and expense correcting.
“A basic skill of any joiner is joint making. On this project we had to learn lap joints, dovetail joints and mortise and tenon joints. Some of these joints can be traced back to Egyptian times.”
Building
A big job was preparing the enormous wheels! They needed lots of coats of paint and sanding! Each coat of paint must be sanded down before the next can go on. Sanding allows the stain and finish to penetrate and give a smooth finish.
The under-carriage taking shape
Attaching the wheels
