Mind blowing! The 19th century heavy iron work and structural detail invested in moving loads of borax just leaves me slack jawed. Thanks for posting!

You look at the old photos,and think,yeah,that's a neat old wagon......but I had NO IDEA there were so many individual parts!And for you to take the time to film,and EXPLAIN what all the pieces do???I applaud you Sir!!!! I've had a load of white oak planks and 4x4's drying in the shed for about 10yrs,a cousin with a sawmill gave me to make some sort of wagon for yard art for the missus.I never was sure how I would do the underpinnings.After following several of your projects,I have a good idea in mind what to do.It's awesome you take the time to impart your knowledge for others to enjoy,learn,drool over!

Not only is that majorly heavy-duty, industrial-strength, "beefy" stuff-- it's an absolute work of art! I already knew that when bending metal, one side is under compression and the other side is basically stretching. When you explained that one step when you bent a 90-degree angle in the square stock and then "compressed the steel back on itself", a little light came on in the vacuum of my head. Wow! Brilliant! I'm not a metal-worker of any sort (okay, I've bent some aluminum sheet metal a few times... poked some holes in stainless steel. All just incidental to my work as an electrician, Once Upon A Time). But that step compressing the steel back on itself is so elegantly simple, I felt kinda dumb. THAT is one of the many reasons why I watch your excellent videos. Keep 'em comin'!

Watching all the skill and hard work that is going into these wagons I can't help but admire those original craftsmen who had no power tools or modern equipment. Now that's not to say Dave has a power tool junkies workshop, but her does have rather more than the original craftsmen. Those metal lathes to turn the hubs, for example, the electric blower for the forge, routers and modern drill presses and bits. Nor am I doubting that Dave would be any less capable without the modern advantages. It would take longer, be harder going and present more challenges.

This brings back memories of my school days. My route to and from school took me past a blacksmiths shop, quite close to the centre of town, where during good weather days when the doors were open, I could see in, and watch the works in progress. The highlight was the re-shoeing of some big dray horses that pulled the beer wagons for the local brewery. Alas, all since gone, during redevelopment, both the blacksmiths, and worse, also the brewery, where they made 'real' beer.

@niklar55

6 жыл бұрын

Enough to make one cry in their beer! I'm now living in France, and the ancient stone barn I bought, has two large 5' dia cart wheels in it, all thats left of the cart thats serviceable. There were two more, with almost unused iron tires, but they had been in the nearby wood for 20-30 years so were disintegrating, and 10 years on, are now in pieces. There is some remains of the cart, but most of the frame was rotted. I've even a wooden framed plough from the same period. It would be fun to resurrect the cart, but I dont have the time, or the cash, so the remains will probably go the same way as the wheels eventually. There are a few people here in the Dordogne, that maintain cart horses, and on festival days bring them out with their carts, but I doubt that will last many years longer. Who knows though, times could change, and horses dont pollute the air, well not much.

what an incredible amount of work is involved to build these seemingly "primitive" wagons. And what incredible craftsmanship is necessary to do those hundreds of steps of construction as beautifully as you do. CHAPEAU!

Your shop is a masterpiece in engineering. In order to build this prodject. You had to have the equipment to take on the job. And have the knowledge to see it through to its completion. Yes, I'm Amazed !!

This is my favorite segment, I think. As I have watched these videos I am reminded of just how important you and your colleagues are. I suspect the commenter below, who asked if you needed an apprentice, was entirely earnest. I know I would give up everything, move to big sky country, sleep on the floor of the shop and eat rice and beans just for the opportunity to learn at the feet of a Master such as yourself. You should be declared a national treasure. It is such a joy to know that wainrights and wheelwrights such as yourselves still practice your trades.

First off I'm extremely impressed! If I had to pick 10 people to ride out the Apocalypse,these guy's would be in my top five. Awesome work. These are the very type of men that built America,God Bless!

@shopshop-lx9hj

4 жыл бұрын

as impressive as the skill in his hands are I'm even more impressed by the skill in his head!

I'm not even sure what to say,you are a master of your craft Sir, I've been a welder/fabricator/hobby machinist for a long time but what I've seen here makes me feel like a child.I've come to realize I don't know as much as I thought I did,this kind of craftsmanship is what built this country.

@barrysimmons5489

5 жыл бұрын

I don't know Nuthin and I can prove it! The maxim that applies here is "Measure twice cut once." Ratz! It's still too short! 😳 Your patience and precision of your work product is astounding to behold. Thank you so very much Sir.

O my goodness. iv seen craftman in my 60 years iv seen wheelwrights iv seen black smith carpenters but NOT one man doing all three and bloody good at all three. Sir your an inspiration to us all that's all over the world. Many thanks for your input output everything. Next time I cut a bit of wood to short im gonna think twice about cussing. all the best to the best.

These wagons are a beautiful dance between exploiting the strengths of both metal and wood to create a masterful final product. My hat's off to the old timers who engineered and built these back in the day.

I love it. And I love he's able to do alot by himself

A lot of steel going into the wagons 👍👍

This will be a very nice collection of your skills to enable anybody to look back on for future reference. Love your multiple skills . Brilliant to watch .

Just found your channel. This is beautiful. I work in trucking and it is neat to see how things used to be done.

WOOW What in heaven are you going to haul with these beautifully built wagons? Boy this real craft work like the old days with the blacksmith. O the old days did not have power or fancy machines to help built such peices of true art !!

I am absolutely awestruck, the detail and workmanship are brilliant, and so is the presentation. The finished wagons are beautiful but functional, this is the difference between manufacturing and craftsmanship.

@clayz1

7 жыл бұрын

I agree. The combination of wood workmanship and blacksmithing arts in the hands of these experts produces a functional carriage that is really beautiful to behold. This design is state of the art for the time. Having more modern machine tools helps construction some, but it is really the ingenuity of the builders that makes it happen.

@exilfromsanity

7 жыл бұрын

Nick; I agree 100% and I think you said it about as well as anyone could have. I just sat open mouthed and shook my head in wonder and awe throughout the entire video.

That. Is. One. Hell. Of. A shear. Holy crap. Wish I had that when I was making knives. Hell I wish I had a metal cutting band saw. Would've beat the angle grinder any day.

No mater how many times I watch all your videos you have made on making all this lot it amazes me how much work and skills you have I would be totally lost with it as I do joinery and metal work but your skills totally amazes me thank you for showing us all 😀

This channel is way underrated. Craftmanship at its best. Regards from Hungary, keep up the good work!

An absolute master of his craft!!!! I never imagined the level of design and craftsmanship that went into these wagons.

Fascinating to learn where manys parts of modern language originated. In modern heavy haul trucks the "Kingpin" and "Shackles", in sports the "Heats" even the basic design of heavy haul trucks that evolved from wagon era technologie can be discerned. Truly interesting stuff, very educational. Thanks as always for what you do.

I like learning all the new names for the wagon parts! Axle Hounds!

This is exciding in own special way as I am learning how something was done 130 years ago. In France there is a living history group that learning how to build a medieval castle, using only the tools and techniques of the time.

I've loved your series on the borax wagons. What an inspiration. Thanks so much for taking time to share.

I don't wish to take away from you just how wonderful this was to watch but I'm minded of how difficult it must have been for waggon makers back in historical times before modern power tools.

Absolutamente lo mejor que he visto en este trabajo . Aca en Mexico trabajamos reacondicionando carretas y sus videos nos aportan muchisimo para hacer mejor nuestro trabajo. Congratulations. Sigan mandando videos son de mejor . Gracias

@francodeniro4524

7 жыл бұрын

Nissan 1985 keep

Ditto all the kudos to the master.

Beginning to appreciate how well these wagon were designed. Thanks for sharing.

Having watched this video a number of times, it is still absolutely fascinating. Wow, I say,...wow.

that man has magic hands. what a mechanic fantastic work.

I drove class 8 trucks, And worked on motorized vehicles. I can see the direct progression from this earlier technology. Really interesting.

Truely masterful. Clearly totally in control of your craft. Much respect. Evan, New Zealand

WOW! Great! Thanks for showing :)

I'm Amazed. After all the time acquired in the completion of this project--there had to be a feeling of accomplishment. But also sad to see it loaded on the truck and drive off to its final destination. Sure there was a cost in dollars but that's just a small compensation !!

Mega job ..very well done Sir... that's a lot of work and hours to get to that level of perfection.

I see now why the 20 mules. 18 to pull the wagon and 2 for the borax. The number of skill you've acquired across so many trades is amazing.

Amazing old world craftsmanship! Thanks for sharing it with us.

You and your work are a national treasure.

Wooow !I'm machinest and I have made a lot of old parts for old machines , but this is the first I ever see this , and I 100% agree with ilyas Ergin greetings master, this kind of crafstman ship I'm hoping its never lost to time and the so call modern times , again congratulations master...

@Bowtie41

5 жыл бұрын

Ditto!,from another old(well,at least I am,lol) machinist!

Craftsman and artist, all in one video, remarkable! ....13

Hi from the UK - found your videos recently - absolutely captivated by your skill and attitude - could watch this all day, beautiful work, thanks for taking the time to share. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Wow that is beautiful.

Wow! Very interesting videos! Thanks for taking the time to make and post these videos. I learned so much, and it's great to see that these skills are being kept alive! I look forward to seeing your other videos, too.

Your work, sir, is magnificent.

Nice job, I especially liked when the sharp corner of the 1.25 inch sq. bar was made I know what it takes. I also liked the semi circle sq. bars to stable the front of the wagon at turning. The vertical sq bars stabilize the axel-block has some springiness in them but esthetics needed too. I am surprised that where the round axel and flat bar meet is good enough for bending (60 years of structural steel design engineer). You are a very talented man working in more than one trade in the same time. We used to do a lot of forgings. I see you're working with the same type of hammer I do, I brought a few from Europe. Thanks for this excellent and enjoyable presentation. Old Bob

very fine work I very much enjoyed watching the build process these wagons were built to last

Just Beautiful work you do. Thank You.

Fantastic work and good quality all the way through the construction. Thanks for sharing this with us.

This is really interesting. As a motorcycle/car guy I never knew how technologically sophisticated some horse-drawn vehicles were. I'd like to know more about the original factory production of them. Even with the benefit of modern tools the level of craftsmanship you're achieving is incredible and must be an enormous amount of work.

Absolutely fascinating processes.

Awesome stuff, thanks for your effort!

What wonderful workmanship.

Outstanding dedication in keeping these skills going along with the finished wagons. Thank you for sharing. atvb t ..

Fascinating structure, proper job, first time to see this detail of construction

Beautiful work

Just beautiful work a pleasure to watch.

superb craftsmanship, I am learning so much.

Amazing craftsmanship great videos

Awesome project. Very interesting to watch

I wish I could hammer that fast. Great work as always.

Love your videos and I am so jealous of your skills. At 55 I am learning to do woodworking. My goal is to furnish my house as I wanted to in Jr. High School shop. I'm also a shade tree mechanic. It seems to me what you call the axle clips would be equal to the u-bolts on todays cars and trucks with leaf springs. A 'who'd a thunk' it moment for me. Thanks again for your videos.

craftsmen at his best thx for sharing mate

Great series Thanks

you are the best I have seen you do it all so perfect

The steel work is amazing

This is fascinating. Instantly my new favorite channel. The craftsmanship is unbelievable!

Master craftsman!

Congratulations great master.

Beautiful.👍🏻👍🏻

Beautiful

That looks absolutely beautiful, what a master craftsman you are it makes me jealous of my meager skills compared to yours.

Brilliant

Ipnotizzato !!

Fascinating to watch. It’s hard not to think of the original builders of the wagon as a whole, the materials, the machinery, the craftsman, and era. Do you know the empty weights? Gross? There is a lot of engineering in the wagons. How many man hours would you guess in present time? When you are done with that anvil, let me know I can give it a good home. Thank you

Very Nice!

superb.

this is ART !!!!

MANY GREETİNGS TO MASTER FROM AUSTRALIA AND TURKEY

Man!! Whatta shear!!

True MASTER!

I love your videos. A small tip, when you upload a video youtube may say "We have detected your video may be shaky. Would you like us to fix it?" Do not select yes. They make the video smaller and introduce things that make it look like motion sickness or drunk vision in some of your scenes, especially the fast forwarded ones.

amazing engineering looks like there are two hundred years of experience and development required to arrive at this perfection. Would be good to have a few farms which work with draft animals and keep that craftsmanship alive.

As someone that spent a few years as an aprentice Blacksmith, unfortunately never finished, I would just like to point out that the tool you used to draw out the dowels for the iron hook is called a swage, not a fuller as you said. A fullur does the exact oposite by indenting a groove in a piece of metal as one would find running down the lenght of a sword or a dagger that's main purpose is to reduce the weight of the blade

what is the diffrence in time it takes to build the wagon the way you done it vices they way they done it in the old days. How often did they grease the axles and the place where the 5th wheel turned? inother words they didn't use a double three to hook the mules to the wagon; they uses chains stright off the harness of the mules. Thanks for a outstanding video.

... Art!! ...

Wonder how many are watching your videos of the Borax wagons because at some point in our lives we obtained one of the plastic model kits? Several years ago I came across a kit that was sold WITHOUT the mules (perhaps a re-issue?) but some of the parts were missing. That kit has sit for years because I could not figure out the configuration of the axles. THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING THE NEEDED DETAILED INFORMATION. Do have one question, were these trains ALL painted sky blue with red wheels or just the one on display in California? ( I do a good job of applying paint to give a worn look. Never liked the sky blue paint) Also: Now I have a better idea of my great great grandfather's trade. He came to Central Ohio circa 1830 and built/repaired wagons of that period.

@rogerc.roberts4705

5 жыл бұрын

@@EngelsCoachShop Thanks for the "inside info" on when any of the trains had sky blue paint. The color photo you have on one of the videos is the only one I have seen. As I mention in my comment I managed to buy what must have been a short run re-issue of the original kit (which I could not afford at that time) and the instructions called for the blue paint. Common sense told me they were not painted. During my life time my research. suggested the wagons of the migration west (after the Ohio Territory) "might" have been painted light blue w/ red wheels. I have yet to see proof. As mentioned my ancestor worked on/built wagons during the time period of the Ohio Territory. Those were the sway back wagons and they are rare today. I have seen only one side of a wagon on display in the small museum located in Granville, Ohio ( just west of Newark, Ohio) and it is possible my gggrandfather saw that wagon in his lifetime. His son saw the first railroads in Central Ohio, and then his son was a blacksmith for the railroad(s), my father was a printer, and I was a tookmaker for the plastic industry until I was forced to retire. Your videos give me a better understanding of my ancestors. I wonder what my ancestor would say if he could of seen your shop...

Very heavy assembly. A monument t the maker of it!

Did you arc or forge weld the square stabilizer bar to the flat bar? The video's about these wagons are great, thanks for making and posting them.

Dang.. Dats Perty..

You do beautiful work, wish I had a shop to build wagons in, its a lost art.Looking for an apprentice?

Your steel sheer looks like a dinosaur-scale toenail clipper.

MUY BUENO ! cuanto tiempo llevo la construccion ?

l master of master crafting

Wow

A couple long lags up through the axle, into the axle cap, would add strength.

Magnificent. When were the original wagons built, and how did you make the blue prints?

I missed something. That is, how do you put threads on the metal parts that will be bolted?

Prost Neujahr!!