American Carriage Builder

Is Columbus the Next Little Big Town?

2011-11-12T15:12:00.007-06:00

I cannot believe it has been one year to the day since I have posted a blog. Not sure what sparked me to post today other than I’ve been thinking I should get back at it once in a while. So I look at my last blog and my previous post was November 12, 2010. Not sure about you guys but I have been really into the whole 11-11-11 thing so this must be another sign of some sort. Seriously every time I looked at the clock in the last year it read 11:11. Dude that has to mean something.

So is Columbus the next little big town? I’ve always thought it could be. I always thought it should have been a long time ago. You know the town where everything is hopping and people want to be there. The town that creative people flock to in throngs to be part of the culture. Is Columbus next?

I’m thinking it was 1999 when we opened our shop in downtown Columbus in the former First National Bank building. There was some synergy then for a few years. Some new business’s opened and things started to move but for some reason it just didn’t last. Timing wasn’t right.

Something is changing. One thing I’ve learned in the last 12 years or so about this downtown redevelopment thing is it’s not about buildings. It’s not about City Hall. It’s not about the “downtown fix-it group” and maybe it’s not even about money. It’s about people and synergy. The most successful downtowns happen organically. It can’t be forced and getting the right mix of entrepreneurs that all kind of "get it" is the key. There is something happening here that I have never seen in the years we’ve been doing this.

There are different people looking at downtown. It’s a different generation and they want to live and work here. I have run into some of the most creative and energetic people recently showing apartments and storefronts and that has been fun. We have seen more interest in opening business’s downtown than maybe ever. These people appreciate the buildings and the character of downtown Columbus.

In the last few weeks I have met with just about every type of person you can imagine about downtown Columbus. From artists to merchants to big developers all seeing the same potential in this little downtown. It’s interesting and exciting and a few have taken the leap.

Watch for the grand opening of Hydro Street Brewery very soon. It is at 152 W. James Street and the whole town seems to be a buzz about the new hang out. Aaron and Sandye Adams have been working very hard to get the new place into shape and HSB will be a great addition to downtown. This is not the only one. I’m crossing paths with numerous people looking to set up shop in Columbus. In the tough economy downtown Columbus just might be the next little big town.

So stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted. Want to set up shop here? Call me! There should be a couple of really fun announcements in the next few weeks.

Have a great Weekend!

Ciao!
T

Brewster Park Drag #25895

2010-11-12T13:43:00.010-06:00

Every time I post a new blog I seem to say the same thing so let’s get that part over with and move on. “Sorry I’ve been too busy to blog, bla, bla, bla…” There got that out of the way. But we have been busy. Juggling a lot of balls, or flaming torches, or rubber chickens these days. Pick your pleasure. Some good restorations going on in the shop. We are about midway on an Albany Cutter, wrapping up a Portland Door Cutter and getting a good roll on a Studebaker Sailor Wagon. All good fun.

I wanted to share a number of photos from a recent project. It was a pretty good sized project and it turned out spectacular. It is Brewster Park Drag #25895 built May 18th 1912 for D.R. Hanna. This could very well be the last Coach built by Brewster. It has many unique features that coincide with the order direction to be built extra light. The axles are equipped with Timken Roller Bearing hubs per the specification.

We acquired the coach in New England for a client and dove right into restoration. The majority of the original finish had been stripped. Some of it was painted and some was stained and varnished. It had been in rather damp storage for a number of years but all in all the coach was a very solid and intact vehicle.

The wheels are traditional Brewster and all original. It appeared the hubs were a bit oversized to accommodate the original roller bearing boxing inside. All the original Brewster oil caps were in place and in good condition. This vehicle weighed in at about 1,800 pounds and with roller bearing hubs it moved effortlessly.

The original Brewster lamps were with the coach and in very solid condition.

Interior was all original and complete. Notice the simplicity. No buttons. I believe this was done to keep the weight as light as possible on this coach. The new interior leatherwork done by Greg Hunt was an exact duplication of the original.

One of the first steps is removal of the body.

There was only one cracked panel on the front boot below the toe board. Here we are in the early stages of stripping the main body and replacing the panel.

The chassis was dismantled, stripped and shown here in first coat primer.

The lamps were very solid and pretty straight for the most part. After minor repairs they were stripped and then into primer.

Here we have the body in final coat primer. It has been wet sanded and ready for first coats of base color.

Our wheels in first coat primer after sanding and ready for another.

The body in first coat base color black. Much wet sanding, color and clear to follow.

We completed the chassis, striping and all before we installed the body. Here the body is coming down and Dale is aligning the fasteners. Once it’s down with a couple bolts holding it in place everyone can take a deep breath.

Outside in the sun after completion.

Find a ripple if you can. Flawless paint and preparation by the crew at Frey Carriage Company.

Beautiful details.

The completed interior in a soft chocolate leather. The simple interior is very unusual.

The chassis was just gorgeous. Deep red with vermilion stripe per the original specification. We were lucky to find some original red intact on the window shades to make a match.

A very striking Coach at any angle. It was a privilege to bring it back to life. You can click on any photo to see a larger view.

We have numerous new arrivals at the showroom. Stop by sometime for a look. We are going to be planning some sort of open house in the near future but have not picked a date as of yet. We’ll keep you posted.

Have a great Weekend!

Ciao!
T

2010-11-09T14:26:00.001-06:00

Entrepreneurs

2010-10-15T08:13:00.008-05:00

I like being a entrepreneur. It’s not always easy, especially these days but it’s rarely dull either. Yesterday was a typical day in the life of this Columbus small business operator. A few things on the to-do list included fixing a furnace, meet a client to pick up a carriage, create a new magazine ad, anchor some gas pipes to a building, meet with our accountant and then try to get some work done in the shop. One of my biggest frustrations about my career choice is clothes. Is there one clothing option that can be used for cutting steel, meeting with clients, welding, fixing my truck and getting together with my accountant for breakfast? I make more wardrobe changes than your average Las Vegas show girl.

What makes an entrepreneur? I think you are kind of born with it. Sometimes you are forced into it. Maybe you grow into it but I for one never stop dreaming about the next big thing. Sometimes it’s challenging to think about the next big thing when you are buried in the task at hand. Sometimes that pressure pushes you into the next big thing. It’s not a predictable scenario for me anyway.

I’m really excited about a new concept that is developing in Columbus with my friends from across the street and a long time friend from Chicago. It’s a development program designed to help young entrepreneurs turn their ideas to reality. It’s too soon to get into details but I love the way this concept is evolving and it just might be the next big thing for Columbus. It’s a unique concept built on community development, sweat equity and mentoring. Much more to come so stay tuned. Speaking of the next big thing the photo above is our new Show Gig in the early stages.

We have also been working on the all new 150 Marathon and here is our first one in powder coat. It is looking good and I’m anxious to get it on wheels.

The Portland Door Cutter project is moving right along. Dale finished striping the runners and shafts making those parts ready for final assembly.

Here are the doors. Nice and shiny like always.

The body has also been painted black. A body like this usually involves two coats of black base coat, three coats of clear, wet sand and three more coats of clear. It’s looking very nice and now ready for striping.

Well my to-do list for today is about as diverse as it was yesterday. It’s looking like about three wardrobe changes at this point.

Have a great Weekend!

Ciao!
T

Do the Times Compare?

2010-08-20T21:54:00.007-05:00

It was a time of big changes. The photo is not dated but it probably dates around 1920. Some old car buffs ought to be able to date this one for me. The card is titled Sentinel - Autos at Columbus Wis. At this point the automobile has been solidly cemented as the preferred form of transportation. But it wasn’t too many years prior that photo would have been a street full of buggies.

The automobile was a huge mechanical advancement for the average American at that time. Such changes they were witnessing to go from the horse and buggy to a self propelled vehicle. The Wright’s had flown their airplane. What a marvel. Are we in the midst of similar times? It certainly seems that way. There are many difficult transitions taking place today much like the challenges that faced manufacturers at this time. But it lead to a better life for most families. Some my argue that but most agree for American’s easy travel meant easy street.

So work on the Portland Door Cutter continues. After the new body panels were in place everything was trimmed and fitted. The new door openings needed to be cut to fit the existing doors which is really kind of touchy. There are a number of compound angles and curves going on so it can be a challenge to get a good fit.

The body was then primed in our urethane sanding primer. After priming the body goes through a sanding with 220 before heading back to the booth for the final coats of primer.

This photo shows the body after the final sanding ready for paint. The body has been wet sanded with 320 then 600 grit papers. The body is now very smooth, level and ready for a fresh coat of black paint.

The doors are ready for paint as well.

The runners and the springs were painted today. The original sleigh was painted deep maroon on the runners with black paint on the body. All striping was fine line gold so we are matching all the original details. By the next time you see this sleigh the body will be in paint and we will be ready to begin striping.

Have a great Weekend!

Ciao!
T

Summer Sleigh Ride

2010-07-20T21:03:00.008-05:00

Can you believe we are a month past the longest day of the year? As usual summer is going really fast. We have been very busy working in the shop on a number of different fronts. It’s great to be busy but that always tends to make the summer fly by.

Been finding some cool Columbus postcards lately. This one titled Fishing is Good at Columbus, Wis. is a great image. This photo has to be real. It was long before Photoshop. Some nice walleyes being pulled from the Mighty Craw. I’m guessing it’s been a few years since walleyes of that stature have been landed at the local watering hole.

We are well on our way through this project. It is a very attractive Portland Door Cutter that is in need of some serious attention. This sleigh is a Wisconsin family heirloom. I think that is the coolest thing. Family carriages or in this case a sleigh still around to pass through the generations.

We have really ripped into this sleigh over the month of July. If you look closely in the first photo the runners were completely rotted along the bottom in need of replacement. So everything comes apart, blasted replaced and primed in first coat as we see here. All the metal parts, springs and the whole shebang is hanging in the booth.

Don't ask me why this picture is yellow. I'm not sure what's up with that but the camera was not digging the lighting. The body was a bit worse for the wear as well. The dash and back panels were split and delaminating. The side panels were cracked and warped. We took the body down to the main frame and started from scratch. The original area for the doors had warped and the doors no longer fit the openings. It was like the body swelled leaving the door openings larger than the doors and way out of whack. We reshaped the side frame pieces and rough cut new sides.

The back panel was split and delaminating so we replaced that as well. That was the starting point. Back panel was installed and the sides were then made to fit. The openings for the doors were rough cut then finish cut after the installation of the doors.

Last but not least came the dash. Today Bob installed a new one. We normally cut the pieces oversized and square as shown here. A rough pattern of the finish dash is drawn on as a guide and then all glued up and fastened. In the morning Bob will remove the screws and cut the dash to the final shape.

I had a friend ask me to blog about the Independence Day carriage accident in Iowa. In case you have not heard there was a runaway horse and carriage in a July 4th parade in Bellview IA. One passenger in the vehicle was thrown from the carriage and died from her injuries. Multiple injuries along the route. This accident made big news. There was actually another fatality in Iowa over the 4th with another parade accident. That one didn’t make so much news. To be honest I’m not sure what I think of it. Horses are never 100% predictable. Sometimes shit happens. Sorry to be so nonchalant about that but it might just be an accident and nothing more. Without being there to witness any of this I would tend to believe that to be the case. Interacting with large animals can be dangerous at times. Most things in life worth enjoying involve a certain amount of risk and I guess sitting watching a parade does too. That being said I do hear from a lot of drivers that refuse to drive parades. When you think about the possibilities of a runaway and picture that happening on a street lined with people it is really scary. Can’t say as I blame them.

Have a great Wednesday!

Ciao!
T

Political Pressure

2010-06-22T07:55:00.005-05:00

So I’m taking some heat from several of my constituents to get back to work blogging. Writing a blog is really quite fun but for some reason my ADHD gets in the way. I can’t remember a report card as a kid that didn’t say “Todd struggles to pay attention”. I get way too many ideas rattling around in this noggin of mine and I’m always compelled to act on all of them. So what have I been up to you ask?

Well I started running again. Here is a shot of yours truly ready to run his first 5K in a few years. I’ll have you know that I’ve been told that I look like Superman in running shorts in this photo. So with that I am inspired to run my next 5K in leotards, a Superman shirt, and of course a red cape. See if you can spot me in the lineup.

Remember the Trap Sleigh project that we started on in the last blog? Well it’s done. Damned if I can find the pictures of it but it’s done. So the placeholder above is waiting for me to locate those shots. It came together very quickly and turned out beautifully. As you may recall I had a very tight deadline so we really didn’t have a good chance for a nice photo shoot. I’ll track them down and get back at you on that one.

The Columbus Carriage Classic was this past weekend. That is always a big event for Columbus. We were busy as usual over the course of the weekend although this year I took a huge step back in my obligations to the show. The last eleven years have been a blast but sometimes a person needs a breather. We hosted a party on Saturday evening which was very well attended. Even until the wee hours of the morning. The photo above is by my buddy Rod taken at the 2009 Columbus Carriage Classic.

A big project that rolled out the door since my last blog was this Brewster Park Drag restoration. A spectacular vehicle that we are so proud to have restored. Projects like this are interesting but one thing about them is they seem to go on forever. Details, details, details. Whew.

We’ve spent the last few weeks working on a shop renovation. We were in pretty dire straights for some additional workspace in all areas. Adding on wasn’t in the cards right now so we chose to reorganize and make the most of what we have. Some of you may recall our former showroom at our farm. That building has been very underutilized since our move downtown. We’ve made much better use of that building by creating a new final assembly area there which allowed us to gain a little more metal shop shown above.

So last on the list has to be The Great American Time Machine Experiment. My friends are pretty aware of the GATME project but there are a whole bunch of you out there that are not. Well, I must say it’s the best idea I’ve had yet. We are going to move forward on that project this year with the GATME festival happening in 2011 in Columbus. Now that I’ve given you enough information to think I’m completely over the edge I think I’ll leave it at that. Maybe tomorrow I’ll expand on this thought to start the momentum.

Have a great Tuesday!

Ciao!
T

Midwest Horse Fair Weekend

2010-04-16T12:11:00.007-05:00

There are not too many equine events in America that rival the Midwest Horse Fair. The event starts today and runs through the weekend in Madison at the Alliant Energy Center. The event attracts over 50,000 spectators over the course of the weekend. If it has anything to do with a horse, it's there. Take a day to hit the fair. It’s quite the experience.

The Mustang Marathon is another one of the available options in our WCC lineup. This Mustang single horse marathon is FEI in weight and width. Weight is 350 lbs. It is priced at $7,995 including shafts. It performs as great as it looks.

Our Trap Sleigh project is in pieces. The body is really solid other than a couple of cracked panels that are being replaced. As you can see we have the lions share of the body stripped. We have some areas that will go into hard coat sealer and we should have the body in primer early next week.

The front seat sections that flip upward have been removed and stripped as well. This is the left side seat. They are in nice solid condition. Bob has the dings and nicks filled with polyester and this part is ready for primer.

This is the other side. It has been pretty much stripped and as you can see has some very nice detail. The louvered panels really add a lot of dimension to the vehicle. The rounded top of that side panel was a fairly typical detail on Traps such as this.

All of the wood parts needed for upholstery have been stripped and are ready for primer. As I mentioned the other day our plan is getting all the parts that are upholstered in paint first. That way we will be working on upholstery as the rest of the project moves along.

The runners are coming along nicely. They are just about completely stripped. The other side of the dash still has paint on that needs to be removed. By the end of the day on Monday I would think that should be ready for primer too.

While you are traveling to and from the Horse Fair stop by our showroom. We are a little over a half an hour from the Horse Fair site. Sounds like it will be a lovely weekend in Wisconsin.

Have a great weekend!

Ciao!
T

The Season Is Upon Us

2010-04-12T12:52:00.009-05:00

If you have not had the chance lately take a look at our website. We have just completed a pretty serious redux and I’m quite pleased with it. We are adding some new features that we will be expanded as time goes by. We have included a new video page with some of our favorites. You can find that on the main menu. Speaking of video Tim Maloy has another new one out called Montage. Kind of a collage of 2009 competition in slow motion. Very cool and I have attached it below for your viewing pleasure.

Driving Montage from Tim Maloy on Vimeo.

Now that I have you all fired up about the 2010 driving season you will need a new vehicle too. We are in the process of building up our WCC inventory so keep watch for new arrivals. We are putting together a container as we speak and at this point we are focusing on the WCC Mustang lineup.

We are a few months out on receipt of our container but we will be bringing in some new inventory a little sooner than that. Shown above is the Mustang M200 Compact Wagonette. Coming in at 440 pounds this vehicle works well for both singles and pairs. Shown with pneumatic tires it’s also available with solid rubber tires. It sells complete with your choice of pole or shafts for $7,995. Equipped with both for and additional $550 and set up with two sets of wheels for an additional $1,200. This carriage is an ideal combination training, pleasure and marathon carriage.

As the week progresses I post more photos of the WCC Marathon carriages. Meanwhile back the ranch we are just in the process of diving into the Trap Sleigh restoration. The seats have been removed and we are in the early process of removing all the metal parts for blasting.

Our schedule is pretty tight on this project. We have a little less than six weeks to pull this project from here to the finished restoration. Part of the plan is beginning with the seats so we can get at the upholstery while the guys at the shop are still working on the rest. The seats have been pulled out, cushions removed and paint stripping will begin tomorrow.

This is the rein rail and the arm rests removed form the body. These parts will be plated and so they are going to be shipped off this week.

In the trim shop Ryanne is going ahead pulling together what she can so she is ready to upholster as soon as parts are ready. The existing fabric was a green wool broadcloth which we will be matching both in fabric and color. She has sewn up enough piping and webbing to trim out all the seat cushions.

Other than that a pretty uneventful weekend. Worked around home on Saturday and picked up a load of hay on Sunday. What a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. Loading hay. woohoo.

Have a great Monday!

Ciao!
T

Slow Boil Just A Simmering Away

2010-04-07T13:17:00.012-05:00

The atmosphere in little ol’ Columbus is running at a slow boil. I like that. A steady slow boil. It is such a change of pace from where we have been. From ice cold to boiling over the pot and spilling all over the place. For years our little town was a political hot potato. Fighting, name calling, kicking people out of office, and just a whole lot of negative energy being spent unproductively. Of course the television stations in Madison just loved the ruckus. Always knew there was something happening at City Hall when the satellite truck was parked out front. Of course there are always unhappy people in any community. Always finding something wrong with whatever is going on at any given time. But Columbus is changing for the better.

It strikes me that City Hall has a vision. Very little positive can happen without a vision for the future. I can’t say as I have really felt that way until now. Projects are moving forward. People are communicating effectively and harmony is much more prevalent. Speaking of projects our City Council approved a resolution last night to support a major downtown redevelopment concept proposed by the CDA. This is a huge step in the right direction for the betterment of the entire City. Hat’s off to the CDA, Council and City Administration for taking this project forward. With all this forward thought I decided to share a photo of the downtown from sometime in the 40’s I would guess. What a great image.

So what’s on deck? We are starting in on this nice little Trap Sleigh. This unique and elegant cutter was practical, functional and attractive all at the same time. If you look at the above photo it shows this nice sporty two person sleigh.

From the rear it has a nice deck lid but if you look closely there are some joints in the back deck.

Here we see the essence of a Trap. There are Trap carriages and Trap sleighs all though I’ve seen much more of the carriage variety over the years. This sleigh has very attractive lines and here we see how it all functions. Both sides of the body swing upward to create an opening to the rear seat. The rear deck folds up as well to create that rear seat.

This is what the sleigh looks like in its four passenger variation. The term Trap is derived from your inability to exit from the rear seat once you are seated. Basically you are trapped until someone up front lets you out.

Some very nice details to this piece. All of which will be recreated as we complete the restoration. We will be following this project pretty closely over the next few weeks so I hope you enjoy the process.

Check out our website. We have given it a new look and I will be adding some interesting features over the next month or two. We have also added a new domain www.freycarriage.com. The old www.colonialcarriage.com still works and will for some time to come. Changing the name of a business is a long process. Things are slow boiling at Frey Carriage Company too as spring comes in early.

Have a great Wednesday!

Ciao!
T

Columbus First National Bank

2010-04-02T10:24:00.005-05:00

How in the world did I end up liking history? Is that something that just comes with age or what? Maybe it’s a connection with something tangible. I’m not sure but when I was a kid history was the most dreaded class of the entire day. Could not stand it and could see little point in studying things of the past. Of course in High School I could see no point in studying about much of anything for that matter so go figure.

This is a historic shot of the First National Bank Building in Downtown Columbus. I’m really not prepared to write anything of substance about this today but I really need to pull together all the loose ends I have about this building. It has an interesting history both as a bank and in the afterlife since. I’m thinking it’s been close to twenty years since it has been a bank. It is currently vacant but something cool is going to happen here in 2010 one way or another. There are a couple of new things waiting in the wings for this old building and either way it will be fun.

We restored this sleigh last year for a client in Pennsylvania. It was a local treasure from a prominent family in their area and we were proud to bring it back to life.

Like most projects it starts with reducing it to a heap. Everything comes apart. The wood runners were solid but if you look closely you can see the upper dash support is broken. That particular break needed to be addressed before we installed the new dash.

The outer skin of the body was in really sad condition. We ended up replacing the majority of it using the original for patterns. Here we have the body in hard coat sealer awaiting the first sanding.

The sleigh turned out beautifully. The original colors were black and maroon which we matched. The patterns of the original mohair upholstery were matched in the new upholstery as well.

A cream stripe really set it off. There were remnants of original striping still in place which we duplicated. The sleigh was delivered just in time for Christmas and it spent the winter in their home next to the fireplace.

Was 80 degrees in Wisconsin yesterday and more of the same today. It is surprisingly dry though for this time of year. It sounds as though there may be a little rain on the way for tomorrow which will be nice. It will be the first official warm rain of the season. That should put the grass into overdrive.

Have a great Weekend!

Ciao!
T

So What’s New?

2010-04-01T11:35:00.012-05:00

Well quite a bit I guess. There is a lot of energy developing in little ol’ Columbus on a number of fronts. First is the renewing interest in the historic downtown. Like many small towns the heart of Columbus has been battered and bruised. Many people including ourselves have committed ourselves to the preservation and redevelopment of the downtown. The City as a whole along with City Government and the CDA appear to be on the cusp of a substantial downtown redevelopment project that would be a big step in the right direction. That is really exciting.

Carriages and driving are another big topic in Columbus. Over the years the Columbus Carriage Classic has been a signature carriage event for our community. Since that time a winter sleigh rally has been developed and coming on Memorial Day weekend a carriage driving clinic. Numerous clinics will be hosted at the newly formed Midwest Equestrian Center in Columbus. You can find more information at www.midwestequestriancenter.com.

There are some new arrivals here as well. The very top photo is a replica of a Brewster Dos a Dos Phaeton built by Frey Carriage Company. It was shown successfully for one season and is now a trade on another new vehicle. It’s in like new condition and sells complete with shafts and lamps for $7,995. The photo above is an Extension Top Surrey in recently restored condition. It is a very solid carriage, looks beautiful and is all ready to drive. It sells complete with pole, shafts and lamps for $2,995.

This Spider Phaeton is as beautiful a vehicle of it’s type that I have seen. It epitomizes the elegance and beauty of a traditional Spider Phaeton. It was built by Flandrau & Company of New York, NY. It is wearing an older restoration that could be turned out or also could be a good candidate for complete restoration. The lamps are modern reproduction. It sells complete with shafts, splinter bar, no pole but includes the lamps at $27,500.

Here we have a very nice original Extension Top Surrey. It is rock solid with beautiful original leather upholstery in excellent condition. It could use a new top as you can see but that is something that the professionals at Frey carriage Company can restore. The dash and fenders are all original. A nice carriage with shafts and original electric lamps for $1,795.

And lastly this very early and rare single horse Chaise. Perfectly restored with full leather top and upholstery. Body slung on leather. This rare carriage would make for an excellent investment for your carriage collection. It sells complete as shown for $13,995.

One more interesting Columbus tidbit. I am just fascinated by the Badger Motor Car Company. This business was formed late in 1909 and folded by the end of 1912. In those three years it set out to manufacture automobiles and that they did. Unfortunately they could not survive the long haul but the short history of the company is a who’s who of local Columbus lore. In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the production of their first vehicle I have developed a commemorative logo that we are using on T shirts and other clothing items. We will have these items available at the showroom along with a growing history of the Badger Motor Car Company.

Have a great Thursday!

Ciao!
T

Another Dandy Day

2010-03-16T14:08:00.010-05:00

It’s a great day to be outside taking some pictures. But before I get to that I attended the Community Development Association meeting last night. Lots of positive things happening in Columbus these days. My friend Steve Sobiek our Economic Development Director has been a busy guy. Steve’s position is both Economic and Energy Sustainability and he certainly has been putting Columbus on the map as a leader in green energy.

The media likes anything green these days so Steve has been a popular fellow. This month he is featured in Wisconsin Builder magazine showing off the groundbreaking projects that he has in the works. In other CDA news Columbus was just awarded an LED Street Light grant. This grant will make Columbus one of the first cities in America to convert its street lights over to LED. This is just a couple of the projects he has in the hopper. Steve is one person making a big difference.

We thought it would be a good day to pull the Show Gig out for some pictures. It is nearing the finish line and turning out just lovely. It is black and maroon with a gold stripe and tan wool broadcloth upholstery. A rich combination.

The body is traditionally built with the rear chamfer on the back deck and louvers on the body side panels.

The two tone black and maroon body make for a nice subtle contrast with the fine gold stripe.

The wheels feature roller bearing hubs with solid brass caps.

Looks great from any angle. At this point the only thing we are waiting for are the lamps. A nice pair of black and brass rectangular lamps with polished nickel interiors. The one thing left to set off this great carriage.

Get out and enjoy the weather. Sounds like it’s going to be cooling down again this weekend. Have a great Tuesday!

Ciao!
T

Summer Has Arrived!

2010-03-15T09:38:00.013-05:00

Was yesterday nice or what? At least in our little part of Wisconsin it was. Two weeks ago we had a foot of snow on the ground and snow banks everyplace. For all practical purposes it’s gone. Few little chucks of ice here and there but it has disappeared in a big hurry. It was pushing 60 degrees yesterday afternoon. Same for today. After a typical Wisconsin winter an early warm up in March is most welcome.

We are getting a lot of great new (antique, but new to us) vehicles in these days. One of them is this single horse Chaise which is pronounced “shay”. This is a pretty early vehicle. Maybe pushing a couple of hundred years old. They were made in Europe as well as in the early American states. This type of carriage was built before steel springs where commonplace so the body is suspended on leather.

This particular carriage was restored in Europe a few years back. It is beautifully done in traditional high gloss brush paint. The top and the upholstery are all done in genuine leather. These vehicles are a popular collector carriages because of the early construction. This one is ready to go and priced at $13,995.

Out at the shop Bob has been working on an early Country Sleigh. It came to us pretty much intact but as we were taking it apart the wood was marginal in more areas than not. We ended up replacing most of the wood on the body which in the long run was easier.

It’s a pretty simple body and chassis. An early and probably locally built form of transportation. We ended up replacing the dash as well. Here it is in first coat primer.

The runners are fairly heavy construction. I think the bottom runners are probably 1½” square which is pretty chunky compared to some of the light cutters. This was more than likely a farm sleigh and was heavy duty enough to handle any kind of work you could throw at it. As of this week it’s getting pretty close to being ready for paint.

Have a great Monday!

Ciao!
T

New Name, New Vision, New Image

2010-03-03T12:17:00.025-06:00

We have been Colonial Carriage Works for a long time. I’ve been rather so-so with that name for just about as long. After all I was twenty years younger when I came up with that. I guess I thought it was cool at the time. There were a lot of things that I thought were cool twenty years ago that I’m not so sure about anymore. The biggest difficulty in building a business around a name like that is the lack of brand identity. It might be OK for a shop but not for a product. It’s been an issue for a long time not to mention that there is really nothing Colonial about us.

So we are at the point where we are making a big change. It’s been passively in the works for several years but we are stepping up and making the move. We are officially Frey Carriage Company. We have grand plans for the future beyond a name change and I look forward to bringing them all to life. Some will happen fast and some things will evolve over time but the new image and vision will be great fun to develop. Above is our new logo concept. I think it’s very close to the finished product. I initially set out to create something a bit more contemporary. As time passed and things came together it just seemed to loose that “classic” feel that I was also after. I like the simplicity and clean elegance this conveys.

All of the carriages that we produce will carry the FREY tag. It has been our brand for a couple of years now but making the full commitment will streamline our overall image. We are fully investing ourselves into our future with new products the likes of pleasure carts like the Sprint lineup, to all new marathon carriages, to hand built traditional coaches. I feel strongly there is a place in America for a contemporary world class coach builder. We hope you enjoy watching our evolution. The last twenty years of creating this business has been a great life experience. I’m looking forward to another great twenty years holding the lines of Frey Carriage Company.

We have been very busy working on several project back at the shop. The Show Gig project continues to grow ever closer to completion. The body will be painted in black and maroon. The black base coat and first coats of clear have been shot at this point.

After that cured we wet sand the entire body to prepare for the maroon. This shot was taken just after that process. We are now masking out all of the areas that will remain black. The maroon will be sprayed, the black will be un-masked and the entire body will be coated again in high solids clear. After a few stripes it will be ready to place in the chassis.

The chassis has been painted, striped, trimmed and ready to roll. The wheels are also ready to install. The maroon color looks nice in contrast with the black trim and gold stripes.

Back at the ranch we are beginning to see the early signs of spring. Still lots of snow on the ground but it’s in the 30’s today and 40’s later in the week. The sun is out and it all feels great.

Have a great Wednesday!

Ciao!
T

The All New Sprint

2010-02-19T08:33:00.011-06:00

I love the sun this time of year. You can begin to feel the warmth that will soon be melting the big snow. Although it's still only February you can begin to feel that spring is not all that far off. On these bright sunny days I just want to be out soaking it up. A great February feeling.

So it was way back in January that I posted this shot of the new Sprint frame. Well we’ve been busting tail ever since on a number of different fronts and below are the first shots of the finished product.

We’ve been building the Sprint for about five years now and it was time for a little update. I think we accomplished a lot with the new design. It’s really stylish, stronger and a little bit lighter to boot.

Like always the seat is easy to adjust with the pull of a lever. The balance is also adjustable at the axle and the height can be adjusted at the main frame.

The finish is powder coat over our steel frame. This cart is wearing the optional red wheels which are a new feature this go round.

The shafts are removable for storage or transportation. That tends to be one of the first questions we are asked about this carriage.

We have Sprints in production as we speak. We have a couple available for immediate delivery and will have many more ready to roll in March. You will find it to be a great cart for training and pleasure driving. There are numerous options available and I’m happy to tell you all about it.

Just polished off a tasty breakfast. Cheryl whipped up an egg scramble with some aged cheddar then smothered in her famous black bean salsa with our favorite a fresh cilantro garnish. We are finding that we like cilantro with just about everything. Top it off with a good strong cup (or 10) of coffee and I am set to run.

Have a great Friday!

Ciao!
T

Daily Breakfast Menu

2010-01-28T20:17:00.004-06:00

Toast Jelly and Cheese. Now don’t ask me why I’m on this breakfast kick but I am. That is really one of my all time favorite everyday breakfasts. We have some nice homemade-ish cherry preserves. Extra sharp cheddar and a grainy toast. Tough to beat for breakfast or an afternoon coffee break.

Ryanne started on the Show Gig upholstery this week. At this point she is working through the flat cushion. The back will be next once the seat frame is painted black. As you can see we are going with a really attractive medium tan wool broadcloth. It is trimmed with black piping and lots of buttons. I really like that look and it was traditional to see that treatment on antique carriages.

The chassis went into final coat primer yesterday and today Brandon worked on final sanding. He is coming along pretty good and looks to be almost done. Once he finishes up sanding this portion will be ready to paint.

Here you can see how the final sanding looks up close. As you can see we don’t go through the primer this time. If you look back to the first sanding you will notice sanding through the primer in numerous areas as we block sand which levels the primer and surface.

Here are the beginnings of the parts that are ready to paint. I think Dale said he will be shooting some of those parts tomorrow.

Back in the fab shop we have the first Sprint cart frame together. This is our new design and we still have a few welding jig modifications to update. It’s a great looking frame and I’m confident will continue to be a hot selling vehicle.

Busy day today. It has been very busy for January. Today was one of those days that fly by with numerous customers, phone calls and work to accomplish in the shop. It’s been hectic most of the month. It is great to be busy and I’m optimistic that is a sign of good things to come in the new year.

Have a great Friday!

Ciao!
T

Ye Olde Columbus

2010-01-27T19:33:00.010-06:00

Biscuits and gravy with an egg on top. That was breakfast this morning. I know not healthy but man it’s good. Make the egg over easy and that is about as good a way to start the day as anything. I like egg. I like biscuits. I like gravy. Put them together and now you’ve really got something.

This is a postcard that I have yet to see. Click it. I think this is a really great shot taken at the Fireman’s Park. The building is the Rest Haven but look at the cannon! Is that cool or what? Wonder what happened to that thing? I think I need to have a little talk with Jack Rhodes. Jack is the official cannon builder for the City of Columbus and I think he needs to replicate that thing.

Below the Dam in Columbus. If I really studied this I suppose I could figure out just where it was taken. Maybe someone else knows but it must be down by River Road someplace.

Now this is the former High School. I think this is now what’s called Dickason School. There is an older portion that is still in place and in use. I’m pretty sure this is it.

The Library. I really like the Columbus Library building. Good architecture that has stood the test of time. It is a Carnegie Library and carries the name Williams Free Library. One of 1,689 public libraries built in the United States funded by Andrew Carnegie.

And finally a bird’s eye view of Columbus. These photos seemed to have been really popular back at the turn of the century. Everyone must have been fascinated by flight at that time. I'm guessing this one was taken from atop the smoke stack at the canning factory. I'm thinking Rod should replicate this photo by scaling the old stack. It's still there and looks fairly sturdy to me.

We planned to begin our more interesting life tonight. Head to Madison for dinner and enjoy a night out. Before I knew it I looked at the clock. It was 7:00 and I was still in the shop cutting parts. Maybe tomorrow we’ll start our interesting life.

Have a great Thursday!

Ciao!
T

Blogger’s Block 2010

2010-01-26T21:36:00.008-06:00

I’m running out of good material. I need to start living a more exciting life so I have some new material for my monologue. Have not been anywhere in ages. I used to be on the road all the time. Out for dinner? No, can’t say as we have. Exciting new activity? No. I guess I need to work on that.

This was our final building project of 2009. We finished it in November which was really pushing the season. We have this little building on Dickason Boulevard just down the street from our showroom. It was in pretty sorry need of a fresh coat of paint. We painted it about 5 or 6 years ago but this building is allergic to its skin. It just keeps peeling. It has many coats of paint but the original first coat has no interest in remaining on the building. So it’s a never ending paint job until all of that original paint finally peels off. Now it really did turn out nice. Cheryl picked great colors and is a meticulous trimmer. Good for another five years.

The Gig chassis made it through its first sanding. Brandon has it ready for the next coat of primer which will happen tomorrow morning.

This is the appearance of the primer after sanding. We use a block to sand so we level as we fill the grain of the wood. Looks to me the grain filled nice this go round so one more coat will do the trick.

The body is ready for a second coat of primer as well. The seat rail has been fabricated and primed. This portion is ready to be painted black. Once the rail has been painted the seat back can be upholstered. We are going with a medium tan wool fabric with black piping and buttons. Tradition in style and elegant in appearance.

The fab shop has a number of things going on one of which is a run of Sprint Cart frames. Here is our first frame of that run. Some of this is the frame jig and some of it is the frame itself. In this shot the main frame is tacked but there are still a number of additional parts to add before it’s a complete frame. In late 2009 we completely redesigned the Sprint frame into a more streamlined, lighter and stronger unit. It looks very nice and performs beautifully.

I don’t know. I can’t think of anything good to say here either. Oh well.

Have a great Wednesday!

Ciao!
T

Jack Frost is Not Dead

2010-01-25T21:43:00.009-06:00

Well unfortunately the Vikings lost their game against the Saints on Sunday. I was actually hoping they would pull it off and in reality they should have. But of course Brett threw a pick at the worst possible time to kill the winning drive. Jeez, who would have ever seen that coming? Certainly not a Packer fan. The Vikings played really good football and certainly well enough as a team to win. A classic case of Brett trying to be a hero instead of taking the few yards he had and setting up the field goal. Just when you had me cheering for the Vikings too…

I don’t think I've ever shared this photo on my blog. I think it just might be one of my all time favorite photos of Columbus. Click on it to enlarge. It was taken by my buddy Rod Melotte back in December of 2009 when we had like four feet of snow. So wintry and festive all at the same time. Get ready. Sounds like winter is ready to return.

Dale was laying stripes on the wheels of the Show Gig today. The stripe is gold, predominant color is deep maroon and all trimmed in black.

The chassis is in first coat primer and in the midst of the first sanding. Here the bottom side is being sanded with 220. Should be getting close to ready for second coat primer by the end of the day tomorrow.

This is the axle and suspension. It is in final coat primer and being sanded with 320 just before paint. This portion and a few other parts will be ready for paint tomorrow.

Back in the fabrication shop we are in the early stages of a batch of ten Sprint Cart frames. The main tube frames have been bent and cut to shape. From here the spring and seat mounts are attached and then on to the main frame jig. We should have this batch of frames fabricated in a week or so and ready for powder coat finish. We will have a nice selection of Sprints available for early spring delivery so place your order today.

I used to love working on my car. I have a pretty good mechanical mind and given enough time I can figure out just about anything. That being said it’s been years since I’ve really messed around with our car. Just seem to be too busy. Well the car needed front brake pads. I can do that. Well it actually went pretty well. Front disc brakes have not really changed much in the last ten years. Only thing I really noticed was how light the car is built. Used to have this big ass frame to put the jack under. Not any more. I wasn’t quite sure where to pick the thing up. Wonder why the doors won’t open? That’s weird.

Have a great Tuesday!

Ciao!
T

The Big Red Grand Finale

2010-01-22T22:17:00.009-06:00

Big night for Conan Obrien. His final night as the host of the Tonight Show. Not that I would be the first person NBC should call but I could never quite figure that one out anyway. I guess he has a loyal fan base. Sometimes funny but I just don’t see him in that slot. Believe it or not, he’s a little too weird for me most of the time. I will be watching his show tonight though just for kicks.

I managed to wrap up the construction of the Show Gig this morning. Last night I spent the evening polishing off the metal fabrication and the steps. Here we have the right step fitted, welds ground and all ready for a coat of primer.

Now I’m all done with the chassis. I’m ready to fit the body. We’ve set the body between the shafts but the actual body mounts were not there to make the connection.

We have four of these body mounts coming off the chassis. I’m ready to set the body and drill the holes for the bolts that will hold it in place.

Everything fit very well and the body is bolted in place. I jump up to check the balance which is just right. This carriage has long side springs which are nice and comfy when I jump up and down. It’s going to be a nice ride.

The body comes back off and the shafts head into the booth for the first coat of primer. Dale had a few odds and ends to finish up for me then two heavy coats of black primer. This will be sanded with 220 grit before it returns for a second coat.

It’s pretty easy to see how heavy the primer is when you see it up close. The first coat will fill most of the grain in the wood. What this coat doesn’t catch the next one will.

Sounds like it’s going to be a warm Saturday but the cool down begins on Sunday. I’ve really been digging this warmer weather. It’s been a nice break from winter and made the first half of January move along pretty quickly.

Have a great weekend! See you again on Monday.

Ciao!
T

Texas Two Step

2010-01-21T20:53:00.015-06:00

So the big news in Columbus these days is my buddy Nathan Roberts. Nate is a third generation fabricator from a long line of blacksmiths. His business is called Fiske Inc. Fiske manufactures the majority of the specialized trucks and trailers you see on the road transporting LP tanks. Boom trucks and saddle trailers that pick up the tanks and haul them away. He had been operating from the buildings that his grandfather started up his business in which are cool but small. It was time to make a change. He just purchased a manufacturing facility in Columbus that closed about a year ago. He will be adding employees and will have plenty of room for them in the 27,000 square feet. Congratulations Nathan!

Meanwhile back at the ranch we are continuing our Show Gig. I’m working on the steps which will consist of a pair of steps on each side. One will be a drop step and the other will be a step plate mounted on top of the shaft. I’m in the process of mocking up the upper step plate here which will be incorporated into a brace that bridges our shaft and cross brace connection.

Being it’s an odd shape this plate will be pretty easy to make up from three pieces of steel. I’ve cut and trimmed the pieces and as you can see they are welded together.

To make them look like one bigger piece of steel we grind off all the welds. It is being fastened with two stove bolts through the cross brace and two wood screws into the shaft. Those fasteners are counter sunk and then filled to conceal.

With the upper plates complete now we are going to begin work on the drop steps. I've bent the drop rods with a long sweeping bend and we will fasten our round step on the bottom of that rod. Here are my parts. The long stems still need to be cut to fit. They will run down the edge of each shaft and up to the under side of the upper step.

Now complete the steps have a traditional look and they are nice and solid. Notice there is a little ear on each side of the step itself which keeps your foot from slipping off. That is an antique feature and we like to copy that detail as it’s practical as well.

One of these days I’m going to start walking and running again. I fell off the wagon when I contracted the cold that wouldn’t leave. Maybe tomorrow. Then again sitting here eating chips and salsa isn’t a bad deal either. Tomorrow is Friday already? Holy crap.

Ciao!
T

Bad Ass Saw

2010-01-20T21:52:00.007-06:00

Cutting steel in many shapes and sizes is pretty easy today with the right equipment. I’ve cut it by hand with a hack saw. Cut it with a sawzall and a metal blade. A grinder with a cutting wheel. For years most of our cutting was done with an abrasive chop saw. It’s noisy, throws sparks, creates smoke and dirt all over the shop.

These days we use what is called a cold saw. It’s much like a miter saw that you might cut wood with but slower speed and coolant to keep the blade sharp and cool. It cuts accurately and clean without the mess.

This little video is pretty interesting if you are into tools or have never seen how a cold saw functions. That's me on the bike in the intro. Our saw is a Baileigh and we are really happy with it. Cuts steel like warm butter.

Spent the day working on the Show Gig again today. I’m working on the final assembly of the chassis itself. The shafts are obviously wood but they are lined with 1 ½” x ¼” steel plate on the bottom side. I’m in the process of fastening that steel to the shafts. I’m drilling and installing bolts in this shot.

Here is a close up view of a body mount. At this point it is just a rod tack welded onto the steel. Once we have all the holes drilled we will remove the steel plate one more time to weld the mount solid as well as add a bracket to fasten the body.

At the intersections of the cross braces we add a short dogleg of steel on the bottom side as a reinforcement. We have four main joints in the shaft frame and I have those parts cut and ready to install.

Here is one of those pieces. It is clamped in place and ready to tack weld. Once again this will be welded solid to the main frame when it is removed from the wood. This shot is taken from the floor looking up under the frame.

And here we have some wheels. These roller bearing wheels are now painted deep maroon. Our client selected the maroon in combination with black and a gold fine line stripe which will be very sharp. These wheels will sit for a few days before they are trimmed in black and striped in gold.

Hope you all had a great Wednesday. I never really managed to get myself out of the shop today other than to walk up to the mailbox.

Ciao!
T

The Emperor Has New Shoes

2010-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

So does anyone else have the crud that won’t quit? Jeez. Enough coughing already.

Check out this video. It’s actually a backdrop for a music video for a French band called Air. I’m kind of digging the music by Air but the video is pretty entertaining as well. Taken from the front seat of a street car in San Francisco in 1906. Horses, carriages, wagons, bikes, cars and street cars all moving on the same space. It’s fairly long but a good look back at history.

So do you think I needed new work shoes? You know if it was summer I think I could have gotten a couple more months out of them as the other one is fairing a little better. The snow tends to be a bit of a problem.

I’m thinking my new shoes are so cool that I should be preserving them for social activities rather than work. Let‘s see, sort of forgot what social activities are. Where is that duct tape anyway? Maybe I can patch up the old pair and get by just a little longer.

Yesterday I worked on fender brackets for our Show Gig project. We need to fasten to the under side of the seat, bump down and around the seat valance and then up high enough to clear the wheel. Here I have the shape bent for half of a bracket set.

The part coming off the body is ½” rod. We need to fasten the fender to that rod so we extend a portion of 1” x ¼” flat with mounting holes.

Once the fender brackets are bent they need to be connected to the body. To accomplish this I used a 1 ¼” plate with a couple of holes to bolt to the seat frame itself.

And here we are. One left and one right side bracket fabricated and ready to mount. Bob is in the process of mounting the fenders to the bracket and then they head in for primer. Today I’m constructing the body mount brackets that fasten the body to the shaft frame. Then the rear spring mount bracket. With any luck and limited interruptions we might have some steps today too.

Have a great Tuesday. I’m off for breakfast with the guys. Maybe I’ll wear my new shoes…

Ciao!
T

Port Huron Rendezvous

2009-12-16T06:00:00.011-06:00

A few months ago I had a sleigh to get to Canada for a client. We thought Port Huron, Michigan would be a good meeting point and he could take it across the border. I had never been to PHMI so I thought it would be a fun little trip. I came away feeling pretty good about the Port and the view of Sarnia across the St. Clair River.

I’m kind of a sap for cruising around whenever I enter a town I’ve never been. So was the case with Port Huron and of course I headed straight downtown. I can always find something of interest in an old downtown. Doesn’t matter big or small, thriving or diving there is always something interesting in the old business districts. I always find myself driving around blocks in every little podunk town I travel through.

OK, maybe not going to win any awards with this project but I really liked the way this particular building was treated. I would give it some kind of award. Frugal and trendy all at the same time.

If you look closely at the top photo you can see numerous bricked up windows and doors. The contemporary windows were obviously placed at some point for the layout of the interior of the building. I love the original signage still intact. So often the first train of thought is to unblock the windows and bring everything back to original. Pretty cool the way that they left the industrial simplicity of the bad renovations in place and added the new entrance in grandiose fashion. The other obvious new addition is the French doors at the second floor loading dock. Great project and I would have really liked a look at the inside.

This property was right behind the first and looking at details I’m guessing is by the same owner. Here we have a much more traditional and symmetrical facade. Once again a really beautifully completed restoration. A great contrast of colors, finishes and the greenery is the finishing touch.

I find this entrance to be so inviting. Duffy Studios. I have no idea what that is but they really know how to make a business present itself. One of those nice little old commercial buildings that I wished I could just pick up and take home with me.

What a classic Art Deco façade. Looks to me like a much earlier building that was converted more than likely in the 30’s. This building is a great project and I hope someone latches onto it soon. It could be so much fun to bring it back to life to be a centerpiece in what was the middle of downtown. I could have a blast with this one.

Oh and lookie here. Planters, trees and benches in nice little groupings. They had a nice little streetscape plan that was in keeping with a city of it’s size. Obviously this was all pretty new so the downtown must have been recently ripped apart. I liked the scale of the larger gardens rather than smaller planters. All trimmed out in pavers and such it was a pretty attractive pedestrian way.

We concluded the trip with breakfast at an outstanding coffee shop/café across the street. Take an historic building, strip out the crap, pick out classic striking colors, crisp contemporary furniture, colorful artwork for the walls, slam out some one of a kind food and you'll have a winner. I’ll go back to Port Huron just for breakfast.

Have a great Wednesday!

Best!
T

Snapshots of History

2009-12-15T14:11:00.007-06:00

Being in my business I’m often thinking about people. Not just the carriages but the people that rode along. It was not all that long ago that the carriages we restore were transportation for someone. One hundred years ago or so. To put it into perspective The Brady Bunch first aired on September, 26th, 1969. Just over 40 years ago. Seems like yesterday.

Another snapshot in time. Downtown Columbus on a busy day. Notice the diagonal parking. Who are all of these people and what are they doing? How do they relate to the Columbus of today? All of this bustle. People coming and going and what is thier story today. Who knows. It’s a snapshot of time in the busy life of a small town.

Our Brewster Sleigh project continues to move forward. Bob sprayed primer on the runners today so that portion is continuing to move along.

The body is removed but it is yet to be stripped. As slow as that process was on the dash I have a hunch that the boy’s are not too excited about that part.

All of the iron parts have been blasted and primed as of this morning as well. This primer coat will fill in any voids and pits in the metal parts and once sanded it will be ready for a shiny coat of paint.

The Brewster Tub Cart also moves closer to the door. The shafts have been installed and now Dale is getting the axle and springs ready to mount.

The rear door is installed but one of our problems is having only half of a latch. We have the one portion installed but I’m not sure what we will be doing about the rest at this point. Being that it is completely unique we will probably be making up a custom part for the door portion of the latch.

Have a great Tuesday!

Best!
T

OK I’m Kind of Hooked on Old Time Columbus

2009-12-11T10:09:00.003-06:00

Sorry carriage people but I’m stuck in a rut. I have a bunch of cool old Columbus postcards and I’m having fun putting them out there on the blog. Columbus is a very old Midwest community. When this little town was established it was a prosperous community so for a small town there are some pretty interesting structures.

I love this shot of the train depot. I can’t see a date on this card but there are horse drawn vehicles in the background and an old steam train. Probably late 1800’s. back in those days I’m guessing the train depot was a busy hub of activity in Columbus. This train depot is still in operation as one of only a few Amtrak stops in Wisconsin.

I nice shot of the Kurth Brewery. Back in the day the Brewery was a huge complex consuming most of a city block. If you look closely on the left you can see the original stone office building which still remains today. Beyond that you can see a little red barn that must have been a farm that remained on the edge of town at that time. Today the brewery is open a couple of nights a week and is still owned and operated by the Kurth family. It is one of the really unique little gems of this community.

I have never seen this view of the canning factory before. Quite the complex when it was up and running. The building still remains and it is now the Columbus Antiques Mall which is the largest in the State of Wisconsin. The Amato family has operated the Antique Mall in the canning factory building for I’m guessing twenty years. Columbus is fortunate to have promoters like the Dan Amato who attracts thousands of visitors to Columbus annually.

Here we have the infamous Udey Dam. The Dam was originally build to power a mill in Columbus. The mill is long gone but the dam remains as a hot topic of conversation yet today. For the last few years the dam has been a political hot potato. Some people want it removed. Some want it to remain but it is in need of substantial repair to comply with modern DNR regulation. As it stands today the City has committed to repair the dam.

A nice shot of James Street looking South. In the forefront you can see the Farmers and Merchants Union Bank on the right. The former bank building is on the left which is now the State Farm insurance office. Beyond the State Farm office is the Bellack’s Clothing Store. When I was a kid it was a men’s clothing store and I can recall shopping there on many occasions. We are the current owners of that property and we are fortunate enough to still have the original sales counter from Bellack’s.

Had a nice little run/walk this morning but a little on the nippy side…

Have a great Friday!

Best!
T

Old Time Columbus

2009-12-10T09:44:00.010-06:00

Seeing I spent the better part of yesterday moving snow around I don’t really have any fresh blog material so we’re doing something different. I love old postcards. Especially of Columbus. Being I’ve grown up in Columbus I can remember a number of changes that have happened over the years. I find it pretty entertaining to see what this little town looked like 100 years ago.

This is an interesting shot of an early automobile parked in downtown Columbus. The car is parked in front of the Sharrow Drug Store which is still in business with the same family all these years later. Road races with these early cars passed through Columbus on a regular basis. The manufacturers would race against each other from Milwaukee to Minneapolis to test the speed and durability of these early cars. There was actually an automobile manufacturer in Columbus called the Badger. They lasted three or four years and I actually have quite a bit of history on them. Sounds like a blog.

Here is a shot of our City Hall. Must have been taken sometime in the 40’s. The garage doors on the far left of City Hall are the former Fire Station. On the far right there are some fire trucks parked in the middle of the boulevard which is basically in front of our showroom. I’m guessing they had more trucks than they had space.

Years ago photographers would doctor photos of small towns to make them look more cosmopolitan. Here is a good example. We never had streetcars in Columbus but they put one in to make it look like a big city. On the left you can see the Whitney Hotel which is still the prominent building in the downtown.

I’m guessing this is also an early example of Photoshop. This is Ludington Street looking toward the four corners with an airplane flying overhead. Maybe the airplane was flying around like that but if I had to venture a guess I doubt it. Judging from the poles it's probably tangled in the wires if it's flying.

Not Columbus but a cool photo. It is a shot of a fire department with their Waterous Fire Pumper. I had one just like this at one time. It was the next generation fire pumper after the steam boilers. This had a gasoline fired engine on the pump but was a horse drawn vehicle. Was not long and the engine moved the vehicle as well.

Have a great Thursday!

Best!
T

It’s A Blizzard!

2009-12-09T11:43:00.004-06:00

I was out and about last night until around seven in the evening. By the time I returned home the snow was coming down pretty hard and the road visibility was getting rather poor. At that point we maybe had 3 or 4 inches of snow but it was coming down hard and covering the roads about as fast as they were plowed.

It sounds like we had about 15” of new snow last night and by looking out the door I would guess that to be pretty close. It’s nice and wet and heavy but that’s about to change. Much colder temps are on the way and the winds are about to kick it up a few notches to 30 - 40 mph.

Breakfast with the boys was still on this morning but relocated to the Apple Tree Restaurant. I opted out on the breakfast today figuring it might be tough to get out of the driveway. With a storm like this it’s not unusual to have four foot drifts in our driveway.

This is some really sticky snow. The evergreen trees are just loaded. BTW my buddy Rod Melotte was in the showroom on Monday taking photos. Rod is an outstanding photographer/artist. You can check out his work at Favorite Links to your left - Melotte Photo Imagery. Check out his photos of the Wisconsin State Capital. Stunning.

We are lucky to have an attractive yard just about any time of year. It looks pretty with a coat of fresh snow too.

The shops and the barns are pretty loaded up with snow. With the high winds coming in today it doesn’t pay to get too excited about plowing. I’ll probably let it blow around a bit first.

Here we have a new arrival. It’s an original Portland Cutter built by Owosso Carriage & Sleigh in Owosso MI. The original paint and mohair upholstery are in excellent condition for its age. We have cleaned and detailed the sleigh and it’s all ready for display or use. A nice rare and unique item for $1,595.

Have a great Wednesday!

Best!
T

Go Pack!

2009-12-08T11:38:00.005-06:00

I’m pretty into the Packers this year. Had a fun time watching the game last night. I have great respect for a quarterback that used to be a Packer but by the same token I don’t miss him one bit. Brett was fun to watch but I think Rodgers is probably going to be better. The guy is incredible and in reality he‘s still a rookie. Will he last as long as Brett? Probably not but ol Brett is just a force of nature. I couldn’t be happier with the decision to stick with Rodgers and it’s getting to the point where people should be able to see why.

I was moving some sleighs around last night. Had a new arrival to move into the showroom. It was a nice evening for it. A little cold but calm winds and clear skies. Just a pretty winter night in Wisconsin. It appears that we will be leveled by this time tomorrow. Massive, powerful winter storm headed right for Columbus, Wisconsin. It’s going to be a blizzard! Woohoo!

Our Brewster Sleigh project is in pieces. The runners are apart and the body has been removed. The body is in waiting to be stripped.

Bob has been working on the runners and they are pretty well stripped other than the dash. Some pretty tough paint on the dash that has been difficult to strip. There is a big difference in the finishes used back in the day. High end manufacturers like Brewster put a whole lot more paint on than most of the mass production factories producing the run of the mill vehicles.

While Bob is working on the runners, Dale is starting assembly of the Brewster Tub Cart. The spring mounts are now fastened to the body as well as the dash. It is really looking nice.

The seat backs for that vehicle have assembled and cleared. Ryanne has them at the downtown shop ready to start on upholstery. She has been working on the flat cushions which should be done in a few more days. The original cushion stuffing is really in beautiful condition so she is re-using the innerds. Sorry about that but when was the last time your saw the word innerds?

Can’t wait to see what things look like tomorrow. I’m planning the Blizzard Blog already. As much as I’m really not looking forward to cleaning it up you have to admit being in the heart of a blizzard is pretty cool.

Have a great Tuesday!

Best!
T

Winter Has Arrived In Wisconsin

2009-12-07T09:10:00.005-06:00

Sooner or later it had to happen. It snowed a couple of inches last night. Not only that but now the forecast calls for up to a foot Tuesday night and Wednesday. I’m trying to embrace it but I just don’t think I’m quite ready after the last couple of winters. One of my New Year's resolutions that I began back in November was to get into shape again. So I’m walking every morning along with mixing in a little running.

These old fashioned winters make it a little tough to get out running and walking. A few years ago I ran every morning through the winter. Never missed a one. Snow, below zero, wind, whatever. Actually had a blast doing it but the winter cooperated a little bit more than the last two which helped. These big snows lead to big icy patches along the route. Not so fun then. Maybe I need to find some spikes…

We are diving into the restoration of an early Brewster Sleigh. Like I have said in the past Brewster built some very unique sleighs. They tend to have such a distinctive look that you can spot them from a mile away. I’ve just never seen sleighs by other manufacturers that look like this.

All in all it is in really nice and solid condition. The original snow screen is in good condition and it appears that we will be able to clean it up without replacing the screens. The dash is nicely shaped and in good condition. There are a few minor cracks in the body but all in all a good place to start.

We take numerous detailed photos like this to have a record of finishes and striping. Most of the paint is off the runners but the body is pretty intact. The runners were originally painted red and the body black. I can’t find enough paint anywhere on the runners to determine a striping color. If you look closely you can see the remains of red stripes outlining the raised trim on the body.

The upholstery work is very elegant. Beautiful tufted seat in blue broadcloth trimmed in a heavy cord fabric. In this photo you can see the pleated falls on the fronts of the seats. The original leather seat back is also in place. That is a pretty unique detail.

I guess I better get outside and start moving some snow around. Also need to get prepared for the blizzard on Tuesday night. They are saying blizzard conditions so that usually means it will miss us completely. Nonetheless better stock up on diesel fuel for the skid loader, check the oil, get things ready to battle the drifts.

Have a great Monday!

Best!
T

Thanks Tiger

2009-12-04T05:30:00.001-06:00

Good thing for Tiger Woods. Had it not been for him we would still be up to our ears in the John and Kate separation story. It’s really a good thing that famous people are constantly splitting up and getting into trouble so the top news stories can rotate a little bit. I would assume there might be a few other things happening on the plant but a person wouldn’t know about it by watching the news.

Yesterday the shop crew started restoration of an early Brewster Four Passenger Sleigh. It is classic Brewster through and through. Brewster sleighs tend to be very unique and always seem to look like they are going fast. Bob started on the project yesterday so we will have some progress photos over the next few days.

Another project going through the shop right now is the Brewster Tub Cart Restoration. This is a natural finish vehicle. It has been a long time since we have not painted a carriage so this is a fun change of pace. Here you can see the wheels. They are stripped, sanded and ready for the rubber tire installation.

The seat backs and fenders have been stripped, stained and cleared first coat. They are now fine sanded and ready for finish coat. We used a medium walnut stain which has a warm vintage appearance, nice on a vehicle of this type.

The body is done and ready for assembly. As the iron frame parts are finished they will be mounted and the body will head in for upholstery. Ryanne has started the loose cushions and the body will be ready for upholstery next week. Click photo for a closer look.

In this photo you can see the serial number 25782. In a quick search of the Brewster records the carriage was ordered April 27th, 1908 by a John J. Pratt. Brewster referred to the vehicle as a Cart, French Two Wheel. This number was stamped on the body just under the seat cushion which is a typical location.

The really cool thing about Brewster carriages is that every part is stamped with the serial number. Here we are looking at a body spring mount also stamped 25782. On the metal parts the numbers are stamped in areas that are covered after assembly. In the background you can see a few of the numerous chassis parts currently hanging in the booth. Dale shot the base coat black yesterday afternoon and is shooting clear this morning.

Big snow in southern Wisconsin last evening. It just missed us which is just ducky in my book. I’m still not ready to shovel. Maybe by March I’ll be more prepared.

Have a great Friday!

Best!
T

Holiday Pops Tradition

2009-12-03T08:43:00.014-06:00

Take that Mrs. Johnson. She was my 3rd grade English teacher. Remember my essay entitled “How to Light a Really Big Fire“? So boldly you placed that “D” on top of the page. Then you had the nerve to write “Don’t play with matches” in red at the bottom of the page. As I recall that didn’t fly too well back home. Well now Mrs. Johnson, the tables have turned. I have people waiting in anticipation of my next written word. Mrs. J must be rolling in her grave as I type these words. My poor teachers…

We’ve been very busy here creating a ton of new blog material so we will do our best to keep posting on a regular basis. We participated in our annual holiday tradition over the last weekend. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performs a Holiday Pops Concert every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. For the last five or six years we have supplied the WCO with restored sleighs for their concert displays.

Not that I have any ability to critique music (Mrs. Jones can attest to that) but I thought the concert this year was excellent. Some years are better than others. This one was very well done. Of course every year Director Andrew Sewell wraps up the show with a traditional rendition of “Sleigh Ride”. As you may recall the crack of the whip plays a big part in this piece of music. Mr. Sewell leads the audience to clap at just the right time. As usual every one of my claps was two seconds too late.

We just finished up a Door Cutter, sometimes referred to as a Comfort Cutter. This sleigh made it's debut at the Holiday Pops Concert this year. This one was built locally in Janesville by Wisconsin Carriage Company. I picked this sleigh up a few years back. It has been working it’s way through the restoration process a little here and there until we finally wrapped it up.

Here you can see the detail of the little door and handle. The top sill plate on the doors was typically natural finished wood which was a nice little touch on these sleighs. The originals were pretty well beat so Bob made up some new sill plates of cherry lumber.

The seat is what we would refer to as an “auto seat”. This particular one is made of wood but the style is reminiscent of the early automobile seats which basically followed the style of carriage seats. Kind of the chicken and egg dealio.

The upholstery was done in a green wool broadcloth. This fabric along with mohair was traditional to horse drawn sleighs. For a little cutter project these take some time. The doors and the springs on the chassis both add time to the restoration process. This beautiful sleigh is now available for purchase and is priced at $8,995.

Thank you for following my blog. It’s really nice to hear from people that miss it. Tomorrow we will touch on the Brewster Tub Cart project. We are also just beginning a Brewster Sleigh restoration so we might post a couple before shots of that as well. Brewster built really interesting and distinctive sleighs. This one is an early model with classic Brewster lines.

Have a great Thursday!

Best!
T

Grand Finale

2009-11-16T11:57:00.007-06:00

As our building painting project comes to a close and our final baby llama of the year is born we are winding down for fall. When you live in the upper Midwest this time of year gets pretty hectic. Racing against the clock because you know the snow and cold is getting closer. We have been so lucky to be having temperatures running about 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the last couple of weeks. We were able to accomplish a lot and our new little llama can get off to a good start.

The Albany Cutter restoration is complete as of Saturday. It turned out spectacular as usual and another successful project will be going to a new home. Our client for this project selected this sleigh out of our barn a little over a year ago.

It was a nice solid sleigh but as you can see it was certainly in need of some attention.

We pulled it out on Saturday for some photos. Unfortunately it was a bit overcast so our photos are not great but maybe we will get another shot at it on a nicer day. Nonetheless as you can see it turned out great.

The artwork is traditional hand painted and in keeping with the style of this sleigh. We ended up going with completely different colors, trim and artwork than the original. This sleigh will be going into the home of our client. They wanted to coordinate with the interior so we worked together to select traditional colors that work with their home.

Here is a shot of our client's Springer Spaniel who's image was painted in a cameo on the dash. A variety of animals, especially dogs were often seen in the decoration on sleighs of this type.

Our team of Dale, Bob, Brandon and Ryanne put their skills to work to complete another successful restoration. Carriage and sleigh restoration involves numerous skills from woodworking, metalworking, painting, art and upholstery. We are very fortunate to have such quality people on our team. Here is a shot of Ryanne just after she completed the upholstery. We have two more Albany Sleigh projects in the works so keep watching for more.

I am back to work in the shop this week. We have a rapidly growing number of restorations and new carriage orders coming down the pike. It’s going to be a busy winter and I think I’m about ready for it's arrival.

Have a great Monday!

Best!
T

Dashing Through The Snow

2009-11-12T17:56:00.018-06:00

Sleighs. We have sleighs. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, round ones. From original condition to fabulous restorations we have a great selection ready for winter. Many of our clients for cutters and sleighs place them inside of their homes. Seems like just about every year I end up taking one or two out to Colorado (hint, hint, anyone out there?) for a ski condo. Sleighs are works of art. When you consider the artistic workmanship in the design and construction of the body to the elegant paint and striping they are historic sculpture in the truest form.

But first check out this fascinating video. It is a c.1932 Swedish silent documentary featuring a traditional wheelwright building a wheel. Thanks to our friend Micheal McEvoy who happened to stop by the showroom the other day and pass this video along to us. It is about fifteen minutes so grab some popcorn and relax. If you have ever wondered how wooden wheels are constructed here is your chance to see it done the old fashioned way. I’m wondering if this was not the work of a budding child prodigy film maker by the name of Tim Maloy?

This awesome Swell Body Cutter is restored and ready to go. I love the colors on this sleigh. Yellow is not always the first color one may select for a vehicle of this type but I love it. The body has beautiful design, professional restoration, used maybe once or twice but no worse for the wear. It’s a cutie and priced at $7,495. No wait! I’ll let it go for $6,900.

A stunning Park Bobsleigh in nice original condition. This would be a good conservation prospect as the paint appears to be original and very intact. The upholstery could stand to be replaced but do it in a nice subtle wool broadcloth and it will look like it’s been there forever. Check out the stylish ironwork and sculpted lines of the body. It has shafts and is priced at $7,995.

This one just showed up. A solid Portland Cutter with nice upholstery. A little elbow grease and this spring cutter would snap back to life in a weekend. Could use a fresh coat of paint to dress it up a bit. Would make a nice decoration for the holidays or a comfortable ride either way. Does not have a pole or shafts but a great buy at $895.

This is a Kimball Bros. Boston, Portland Cutter. Have you run across those driving experts blogging about how great Kimball Carriages are? This is why. Spectacular lines. Unique design. Beautiful trim. All combined with the highest quality workmanship. This is one killer sleigh. It just rolled out of our restoration shop a couple of months ago and sells complete with shafts for $9,995. Go ahead, click on this one to enlarge the photo.

A classic in the truest form. This elegant Park Bob is completely restored and ready for winter. Built by Edward McGraw, Valley Falls, NY sporting nice early American lines. Painstakingly restored in three colors to highlight the spindle work on the seats. We have a set of large horse size shafts that are restored and go along but this sleigh could be fitted for a pole as well. Was $18,995 but it can be yours for $16,500.

I saved a rarity for last. A Tandem Sleigh by H.H. Babcock, Watertown, NY. It was restored a few years back but still in very tight condition. Nice red paint, wicker dash panels and grey mohair upholstery. The rear seat is reversible and the tailgate drops as a footrest. Sells with shafts for $10,995 but buy it before January and we will take $1,000 off that price.

Cheryl and I have been stuck on a painting project that we have been trying to get at for months now. It’s a great little storefront in downtown Columbus. We figured this was going to be our last shot at good weather before winter so it’s been a go. We spent the last three days up in the lift working the high spots and as of tonight we are just down to the lower areas. It’s turning out great and we will probably be close to complete by tomorrow night.

Woo Hoo! Chocolate Chips! Ok now I’m going to be sick.

Have a great Friday!

Best!
T

Autumn Is Finally Here

2009-11-09T13:34:00.002-06:00

What a super weekend in Wisconsin. We are finally seeing the weather that we should have been getting in September and October. I’ll take it now. I spent the weekend with some friends in northern Wisconsin and had a spectacular time. Weather was perfect, food was outstanding and of course the friends are the best.

Ryanne has been busy working on the upholstery of the Albany sleigh. It is progressing nicely and here is how it looked as I left on Friday. It is being done in a traditional wool mohair in a tan color.

In this photo the piping is being installed around the perimeter of the seat back. This is the transition where the larger roll around the top of the seat begins.

The roll is being installed. It tapers as it runs around the perimeter of the body. If you look closely it is narrower at the front edge of the seat and grows wider to the center of the back.

Moving on to the Show Gig we have that set together one more time. The body is ready for second coat primer and the shaft framing is nearing completion. I still have some steps to make and that will be ready for first coat primer. Wheels are all set for paint.

Bob continues work on the Brewster Tub Cart. Here we have a close up shot of the back door. This is the original monogram. This monogram will be recreated after the door has been stripped and refinished.

The body has been completely stripped and sanded. It is now ready for stain and finish. I guess it will be sitting for a week while Bob is out chasing Bambi through the woods.

I am really happy to be seeing some nice weather this week. We have one more outdoor painting project to complete and it appears we will have perfect weather. I’ll post some photos of that project tomorrow.

Best!
T

The Bride of Mad Max

2009-11-06T11:29:00.006-06:00

We began in earnest the Brewster Tub Cart restoration this week. This vehicle was the whole reason for the Mad Max story. It was a photo of this carriage that took me to near death at the hands of the crazy dudes in upstate New York. Well alright I’m maybe blowing this all out of proportion just a little bit. They only looked like killers. In reality all in all good guys and I hope they don’t read my blog.

I think the design of the Tub cart is more of a European style than American. It was most often used by a Governess or Nanny to take the kids wherever the kids needed to go. Everyone piled in sitting sideways all within smacking distance of the evil Nanny. They are somewhat heavy because they carry multiple passengers and are rather difficult to balance depending on how many people are in the vehicle.

We are well into the process of taking the carriage apart. Like everything we work on it is reduced to a heap of wood and fasteners. In this pile you can see the seat backs and fenders.

The springs have been split up and Brandon began the process of blasting all the metal parts. Here he is working on spring leaves. Now that we have the new compressor we have air to spare which is a nice change of pace.

The wheels are really solid and tight which is really pretty unusual. The old channel is in excellent condition and I’m really hoping to find some rubber that will fit it nicely. I am also sourcing white rubber for these wheels. The first rubber installed on carriages was white. That was the natural color of rubber and was the most cost effective. Of course it is a pain in the rear to keep clean so it probably wasn’t long before they started manufacturing gray and black rubber as well. We may or may not be successful in that quest but I’m on the hunt.

The body has now been stripped. It cleaned up really nice and it appears that we have a variety of wood species used on this body. It will remain in natural finish so any components that we replace will need to match. The lower part of the body appears to be done in walnut. I’m not sure what the bent side panels are. It’s a really tightly grained wood with very little definition. Most of the framing components appear to be ash and hickory.

All of the spindles around the body are complete and intact. This is showing the body just after stripping. We will hand sand this entire body with 220 before we begin to stain. We are going with a light walnut color with some warm reddish hues. It will look fresh but still vintage.

Parts is parts and here we have a bunch. This is a variety of chassis components as well as spring leaves. All will be blasted clean prior to primer. Once ready for paint these parts will be base coated black and then installed on the body. The final coats of clear will be applied with many of these parts installed which gives us the best results on a natural finish carriage such as this.

While we continue work on this project Ryanne is busy doing upholstery on the Albany Cutter restoration. She has been taking pictures along the way and we will post some of those next week. If you recall the paint colors are green and maroon. It is being done in a tan mohair which really looks awesome.

Hope you all have a great weekend. It’s going to be a dandy here in the Midwest. Warm temperatures and sunny skies. Get out and enjoy it while it lasts.

Best!
T

Digging the Details

2009-11-04T21:40:00.017-06:00

The best thing about great carriages are the details. When I say great carriages I’m referring to antique vehicles built by the masters of the carriage era. Flourishes, fasteners, fit, paint, trim and overall design quality. Without question the devil is in the details. Unless you are really a student of this you probably think a carriage, is a carriage, is a carriage. But when you really begin to look at the things that set names like Kimball, Brewster and Cunningham apart from the crowd are the details. There you will see beauty.

Many carriage manufacturers used subcontractors for supplies and parts. Here is a good example of that. The axle on this Kimball Carriage was manufactured by S.A.- F.E. Company of New York. These axles were complex in design and as you can see they were also patented to protect their innovations.

Dale is in the process of painting the chassis for the Brougham by C.P. Kimball. As restorers it is our purpose to reproduce or recreate the intent as well as the finished product of the original manufacturer. Here you can see the front gear of that vehicle. It might be a little hard to appreciate this from the photo but the beauty of the design of this component is special. It is a functional part of a carriage just like the chassis of your automobile. Carriage builders of the day didn’t have the luxury of covering it all up with sheet metal. They needed to make the structure beautiful and fit the entire design concept of the entire vehicle. Not an easy task.

Here is a shot of the rear axle. On the other hand simplicity reins here. The body in the rear of the carriage is much larger and more pronounced so the chassis plays a smaller roll in the design.

This is an example of what I’m talking about with details. The carved wood ends on this fifth wheel support are beautifully artistic. They are sort of Art Deco in nature. The carriage predates the Art Deco movement but I suppose the design is maybe somewhat Prairie Style as well which is a little more timely. Someone that studied art history needs to chime in on that one for me. I’m certain there is a term for this design in this time period of the late 1800’s. It is rather contemporary considering when this carriage was produced. That being said it is not completely unique to this carriage. I have seen this design or designs similar to it on other vehicles of good breeding.

Shifting gear we are continuing work on the Show Gig. Bob block sanded the body today. That is the first primer coat and the sanding process with a block is what levels the body for a smooth finish. You can see lighter spots on the back panel. Those are high spots on the body that sanded through first. When you see that happening you know the block is doing its job.

As you can see here we created a compound curve on the upright seat support. This type of detail adds nice dimension to the carriage body. We are not the first, we are just using the techniques that we have seen by the masters that came before us.

So expecting another really busy day here at the shop. Continuing work on a number of projects as well as trying to wrap up that to-do list before the weather gets bad. Sounds like we are going to have a few nice days so here is that opportunity to finish up the outside jobs.

Have a great Thursday!
T

A Beautiful Southern Wisconsin Lake

2009-11-03T08:58:00.005-06:00

I didn’t even know about Yellowstone Lake. We’ve driven around this area in southwest Wisconsin but never really tracked it down. It was getting kind of late in the day on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers and our Packers were in the midst of their almost brilliant comeback against Brett Favre and the men who shall wear purple. I think the Vikings should have red helmets. Then they could go to tea with the red hat ladies and Brett could get that senior 10% that he so rightly deserves.

I was thinking to myself if we hurry and get to a pub I can still watch the fourth quarter. But we still wanted to check out Yellowstone Lake. It was well worth it. This photo doesn’t begin to capture how beautiful the place is but it was getting dark. The lake is a fairly long body of water and from where we were there did not appear to be any dwellings. A lake in southern Wisconsin without cottages every twenty five feet. If you are ever in the area of Mineral Point it is about 15 miles or so to the southeast and is part of the Wisconsin State Parks system. Definitely worth the trip. We did a quick drive through and now we are excited to go back. Managed to get to the pub in time to see the fourth quarter too.

The Show Gig body made it into primer yesterday. Any small voids were also spot filled and those areas will now level nicely when sanded out. Bob is going to start blocking this with 220 today and preparing it for the next primer coat. I continue to work on the shafts.

Sometimes we use black primer. Sometimes we use gray. Dale has his secret system for primer color based on what color he is painting over it. Don’t ask me what the formula to the system is. I have no clue. I’ve been trying to figure it out now for the last three years and still have no idea. My goal for 2010 is to uncover the secret of which color primer to use under which color paint.

The boys are starting a new project this week. It is the restoration of a Brewster Tub Cart. This vehicle is the sister to Mad Max. You need to go back to May or June to read the Mad Max story. Anyway this was the other vehicle that I went to see in upstate New York. Luckily I lived to tell about it.

This is a really nice Brewster vehicle that will be absolutely stunning when completed. Write it down, mark my words, absolutely stunning. It is an original natural finish carriage in very solid condition. It is missing a few things that we are replacing like the parasol and the lamps and lamp bracket. The brackets are sort of there. My guess is someone wanted the lamps and didn’t know how to get them out of the brackets. Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s saw them off. So somewhere in New York there is a $2,500 pair of original Brewster lamps hanging beside somebody’s front door rusting away.

Our client has a nice pair of smaller Brewster round face lamps that we restored a couple of years ago just for such an occasion. I think they might look really good on this carriage so we will test out that theory as we progress. Hopefully they are brass. I just can’t remember as it‘s been a while. The upholstery is pretty intact and will make for a nice pattern. It is original and done in a tan cotton duck.

Here you can see one of the original Brewster oil caps, both of which are in great shape. You can also see the condition of the original finish in more detail. Bob started taking the carriage apart today and it looks like the finish will come off clean. This will be a very beautiful piece and I am excited to see it completed.

Our air compressor finally retired. At least it knows when it’s worn out and past its prime. I came across a clean used 80 gallon, 5 horse Rol-Air Industrial that I will be picking up later this afternoon. Woo Hoo!

Have a great Tuesday!
T

Go Ahead Watch It One More Time

2009-10-30T13:55:00.014-05:00

I know a number of you have probably seen this video but I never seem to get tired of watching it. I think it is the best of the driving videos by Tim Maloy. Good selection of music, action and well edited. It is a great way to promote the sport of driving.

Beekbergen - Apeldoorn 09 from Tim Maloy on Vimeo.

So big breaking news here folks. Tim gave me a list of new projects. He promised me that no one on the face of this earth with have access to them before me. So just keep it right here. That way you won’t miss a thing. Here you have it.

“Our plans for next year include another coaching run with the Bowman’s (Ireland, Scotland who knows!!) The Para Carriage Driving World Championships are being held here next August. I am a supporter of the British team and will be involved with training and planning. Then we will be making a six part series in Golega, Portugal featuring Lucitanos. We may even get over to the Calgary Stampede!!”

Sounds like filming has come to an end for this year as the season came to an end. I might mention these are available on DVD and the make great Christmas gifts so keep that in mind for your favorite driver.

I’m going to post updates on a couple of projects in the works. It’s been a while since I have posted on the Kimball Brougham. Progress continues on that project. Dale sprayed the Brewster green on the body this week. So the black and the green have been based and cleared. Now the entire body is ready be sanded and cleared one more time.

Here is a portion of the fifth wheel that is currently hanging in the booth. It was shot with base this morning. As you can see it does not have much shine to it. The base is basically color and nothing else. It goes on fairly thin and the clear is what brings out the shine and depth.

As you can see the body has a pretty good shine already. There is quite a bit of clear on the body but once it is sanded and cleared again it really builds the depth that we like to see on a body like this.

Bob finished up the seat valance on the Show Gig yesterday. It really turned out nice. Just like the old pattern that we had in storage. The body was also sanded this morning to level the sealer and take off the shine. So now this part is ready for primer. Our client has chosen to go with deep maroon and black which will look very sharp on this body.

I am in the middle of re-ironing the shafts. When we had the cart assembled we had the irons tacked together and installed temporarily just for fitting. Now we weld everything and bolt them on solid to the wood shafts. There will be an “L” on the end at the rear cross brace and a “T” on the front cross brace.

This shows the front spring mount. We bend the shape of the curve from solid rod. Create the “U” shaped mounting bracket and weld it all together. Takes a lot of welding and grinding but that’s the only way to make it look traditional.

My friend Pete brought another one of Tim Maloy’s projects to my attention. Were is a link to that one. This is a fairly long one so grab some popcorn.

http://www.horseandcountry.tv/episode/carriage-driving

Watch the first part closely as the groom goes flying off the back of the carriage. Who said carriage driving wasn’t a contact sport? Sure looks to me like that dude made some serious contact with a tree or something.

Ryanne is just starting upholstery on the Albany project with the Spaniel. Watch for some updates on that one next week.

Have a Scary Halloween!
T

What Was This?

2009-10-29T12:35:00.011-05:00

The trip around the back roads of Iowa County Wisconsin continued. We were somewhere south of Mineral Point when the eagle landed and we came across the subjects of the next two photos. All within a half a mile or so on a very quiet and isolated country road.

This building was out in the middle of the countryside quite removed from anything. It is now being used as a barn but I’m sure that was not the original intent of this structure. Like many buildings in that area it was constructed of limestone. If you look closely you can see the façade of the building is constructed of squared and faced limestone (click it) where the sides are just straight running stone. This building was something. As you can see it is right up against the road. There was a large pair of doors flanked by large windows coming out of the lower level in the front. There were also doors coming out of the second story so there must have been a porch structure on the façade at one time. You can see nice cornice moldings above the front windows. I question the pitched roof. I’m thinking that was an afterthought and the original structure had a flat roof. I’m guessing it was a combination livery stable and hotel. Or maybe a Burger King.

Just down the road was this pretty little stone house. That is what is so interesting about this area. The rural countryside is dotted with historic structures that are very well preserved. Well maybe not the livery - hotel - Burger King but what could he do. The guy needed a barn.

The wood shafts on the Show Gig were shaped this morning. I really like the look of this 30 degree bevel on shafts. It is deep enough that the proportions are right for the size of the shaft and it really adds dimension to the vehicle.

The tails of the shafts are shaped with a simple but elegant bevel edge design to add some additional eye appeal to the frame itself.

The body is now in hard coat sealer and ready for sanding in the morning. Once we have the entire vehicle back together this body will then be ready to begin primer coats.

Each end of the seat base will have a wood valance trim. It takes a little to set up the saw to cut this molding so Bob has been working on that. He has it figured out and plans to make and install those this afternoon. This is a traditional design that we are duplicating from seats used on antique sporting carriages. It makes a very attractive detail.

Yesterday the majority of the clock tower on our historic City Hall was painted. It is looking beautiful. The weather is pretty shakey looking again today so I have my doubts that they are finishing it today. I'll post some pictures as soon as it's done.

Have a great day!
T

The Eagle Has Really Landed This Time

2009-10-28T13:07:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago we were out for a Sunday afternoon drive in the Mineral Point area of Wisconsin. That portion of our state is really interesting in that it was settled very early in our state history. Limestone is abundant and it was used extensively in construction. Downtown Mineral Point is quite unique. The majority of the buildings are constructed of limestone so it creates a beautiful early American setting.

So we are cruising around the back roads. In that part of the state you can really get off the beaten path if you want to. We are driving along a very quiet country road. We look over to our left and this guy is standing in a pasture full of cows knawing away at something. We see bald eagles from time to time in Wisconsin but it is still a real treat to come across one in this kind of proximity. We were able to pull out the camera and shoot several pictures before he became suspicious and took off.

Watch the blog the next few days. I have a couple more interesting shots from the little road trip to Mineral Point.

The Show Gig project continues to move along. We are getting close to completing construction of the body. Today Bob made up the fenders and installed the louvers on the rear body panel.

The fenders are made of wood in traditional form and I just set them up on a plank for a test fit of how they will look. Ultimately the fenders will be mounted on metal brackets that will be mounted to the body.

The louvers are a false louver which was commonly done on vehicles of this type. Reminiscent of larger sporting carriages that had functional louvers, some gigs had falsies. They give the same impression but were not functional. These type of vehicles were not large enough to house dogs which the louvers were intended for in the first place.

Here you can see the fender and seat frame in a little closer detail. The end of the fender has a soft radius and we detailed the edge with a traditional cove chamfer.

The frame is back in pieces. We have test fit all of the mechanical parts, spring mounts, springs, fasteners and so on in order to get the basic form. Now it all comes back apart one more time for some additional detail work on the wood shafts. The shafts will be shaped with an edge chamfer which Bob will be doing tomorrow morning. Then they will be sanded and cleaned up before they are assembled for the final time.

Sit tight on the Tim Maloy details. I still have another driving video to post and the scoop on his new projects. Just too many blog topics at the moment. We’ll get to it after a couple more Mineral Point pictures.

Have a great day!
T

Good Day Sunshine

2009-10-27T12:39:00.003-05:00

It is beautiful in Wisconsin today. The ground is a completely saturated but the sun is out and the temperatures are beautiful for this time of year. Our area farmers are having big trouble trying to get their crops out of the fields. It was a cool summer so the growing season was short to begin with. Now they can’t get in the fields for harvest. I hope things dry out soon for their sake.

I’m sitting here writing my blog with a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips in front of me. Life gets no better than that. The projects for the morning were the dash and seat frame for the Show Gig project. Here we have the metal framework for the dash cut and ready to weld.

Bob is finishing up some of the woodworking on the body. He just installed the chamfer panel on the rear of the body and the base board for the seat itself.

Meanwhile back at the ranch I’ve welded up the dash frame and have it drilled for the rein rail. Next I’ll grind off the welds and it will be ready to mount on the body.

The seat frame is a traditional steel rail framework which will support a nice comfortable seat back. I just finished up bending the outer rails. I’m lining them up so they can be welded to the uprights which will support the back cushion as well.

So here we are. Dash installed and seat rail just about complete. I need to weld the front support tabs on the seat frame and it’s ready to install as well.

The majority of the woodwork on the body is complete. We have a couple of odds and ends on the front end to finish and the body will be ready for sealer. That will happen later in the week after the chassis is complete. We normally finish all construction work in entirety before we begin any finishing of any components. Still a fair amount of ironwork to complete by the end of the week. Body mounts, lamp brackets, fender brackets and steps so the week will be full.

Whoa. Chocolate chip overload. Ugghh. Maybe I need to lay down…

Have a great day!
T

Rain, Rain Go Away

2009-10-26T12:28:00.009-05:00

Wisconsin has been the rain forest for the last month or so now. Just kind of cruddy weather in general, cold, wet, windy. Good flu weather me thinks. Which reminds me. There was a photo in the Milwaukee Journal last week of people waiting in line to get their flu shot. Apparently there was no room to wait inside the school so people stood outside in 40 degree temps, in the rain, with a 15 to 20 mile an hour wind. Some folks waited outside in that stuff for up to three hours for their flu shot. Does that make sense to you?

Ooooh! I got the big scoop from Tim Maloy on what he is working on. I have a nice little list of driving video work coming down the pike. I’ll share that with you later in the week along with another video brought to my attention by my friend Pete. Tim is filming something in the mud right now. He said "don’t ask" so I’m guessing it’s probably footage for the PBMW which stands for Professional British Mud Wrestling.

We are busy this week working on a Show Gig for a client with a Friesian. It is currently in the construction phase which will wrap up this week. The body is being built in traditional style somewhat on the order of a Stanhope Gig. Here we are fitting the steel frame to the wood body.

The steel frame not only reinforces the body but also goes up the angle of the toe board to support the front of the body. Here I have tacked the frame for fitting and it is ready to weld.

With the frame installed Bob is moving ahead to install the floor on the toe board.

Here we have set the body on the frame for the first time. These bodies always look a little funny without the seat and the dash but that will come later in the week. We will be setting up for fenders and lamps as well so all of that will eat up a lot of what looks like empty space.

The frame is a traditional three spring platform suspension put to gooseneck shafts.

This type of suspension provides for a great ride. It is very comfortable because with springs in each direction the axle can move freely to absorb shock. The rear spring will be mounted to a larger block than the temporary set up shown which will elevate the cart a bit more. As shown the vehicle is not quite up to our projected height.

Watch for more on this project tomorrow as we will be on it the rest of the week. Stay dry…

Have a week!
T

The Million Dollar Question…

2009-10-24T16:12:00.020-05:00

So yesterday I posted a video by Tim Maloy. I was fortunate enough to receive an email from Tim thanking me for posting it. Neatly tucked away in that email was another video and the timing of this one is rather interesting. The subject matter of the video below is a coaching run that Tim traveled along with to film. This being driven by George Bowman and the Bowman family. A British dynasty in the world of coaching and competitive carriage driving. Kudos to Tim for passing along another great video.

Limerick to Dublin by Stagecoach from Tim Maloy on Vimeo.

My next order of business with Tim is getting the scoop on his work at hand. The guy has to be working on something. I prodded but no news as of yet. We’ll see what turns up. If I can break a story on a really slick new driving video you will be the first to hear about it.

So like I said receiving this video was quite timely. The last time Cheryl and I took a day off we ripped up to Door County. For those of you not familiar with Wisconsin, Door County is the peninsula that juts out into lake Michigan just north of the world famous Green Bay Packers.

The County is a beautiful natural phenomenon. There is more natural coastline in Door County Wisconsin than any other county in the United States. The terrain is varied from rocky shores to wooded bluffs to fertile agricultural land. The countryside is rich in history and the only real communities North of Sturgeon Bay are best described as small villages. It is a tourist area and like many such places it has maybe seen more contemporary development than necessary. That being said all in all it is a really beautiful place.

So what am I leading up to here?

As we walked along a stretch of quiet country road near Fish Creek known as Cottage Row a thought came to mind. This area would be perfect for horse drawn coaching tours. Cottage Row is one of so many beautifully tree lined country roads with grand historic homes perched along the Door County shoreline. The majority of these roads are bordered by stone fences, gardens and rocky bluffs. One can easily picture a coach and four traveling this road with passengers from town to town.

What I like about the Door is the proximity of each village and the ability to travel via scenic country roads to reach your destination. The towns are filled with historic Inns and fine dining establishments. All fitting to a travel business venture of this type. I’m just guessing but the length of the peninsula top to bottom is maybe 80 miles from Sturgeon Bay to Gills Rock. Routes could vary and I could see making daily stops in all of the villages to drop off and pick up passengers on holiday.

So the million dollar question remains. Is something like this feasible in the United States? If so where? Door County Wisconsin seems like a great opportunity for something like this but it can’t be the only option. One has to believe there are a number of areas in this great country that would be suited to this type of business venture.

So where are they? What seems critical to me is solid tourist traffic with disposable income. Unique lodging and dining opportunities. Safe and quiet routes of travel. Historic architecture and natural beauty. Urban areas in close enough proximity with a supply of ready travelers.

That little walk along Cottage Row this summer stirred up something. Tim’s video sparked it again. Seems to me this could be an absolute blast. A really unique opportunity for travelers and a piece of history to keep alive.

Dreamer? Maybe. Always been a dreamer. Right now I’m a sponge.

Have a great weekend!
T

Albany Mania

2009-10-22T20:52:00.004-05:00

I ran across this video by Tim Maloy. I don’t know Tim but it appears that he is a British video producer that works in a number of different subject matters. Well Tim has put together some of the best carriage driving video that I have ever laid eyes on. I suppose being in Great Britain can’t hurt. A front row seat to some of the best driving events in the world.

Royal Windsor Horse Show 09 from Tim Maloy on Vimeo.

So the above video was shot at the Royal Windsor Horse Show 2009. Some of the action shots, especially of the fours are spectacular. If this does not get you excited about carriage driving then I guess nothing will. This is certainly the elite of the sport in competition but it is fun watching the pros at work.

We are currently working on three Albany Cutter projects. I think that is a world record for us. The photo above shows the current status of a full restoration that we are doing on our own sleigh. It is all ready for Dale to begin putting on color. This sweet little Albany will be available for purchase upon completion so keep an eye on it.

Here is a shot of another full restoration in the works for a client in Nevada. As you can see it is painted with the striping and artwork complete. It is next on the docket for Ryanne to trim and upholster. She is wrapping up work on a Portland Door Cutter and will begin work on this project next week.

So here is the third. Our client brought this sleigh in for restoration. I think she had an idea of it all being new and shiny but we walked her down a different path. A conservation so to speak. Original sleighs in this condition are few and far between. It’s not perfect but it really has some remarkable qualities about it in the original state.

This is the biggest reason not to restore this cutter. I can’t recall ever seeing a hand painted manufacturer’s name on a sleigh before. I feel this part of this sleigh is awesome and so important to preserve. The sleigh was built by Birdsall & Muckle, Whitney’s Point, NY.

Our client wants to use this sleigh so it needs to be structurally sound and ready to go. We stripped out the ratty upholstery. The main portion of the body was pretty intact. Bob glassed the entire inner core of the body after replacing the floors. Now the body is rigid, solid and will not move. The sleigh has been cleaned and will be sealed in several coats of clear satin finish.

The final step will be new upholstery. We will be using a wool broadcloth in a conservative color. Going that route with the new upholstery will keep it from overpowering the original patina of the sleigh. I love doing projects like this. The result is a beautiful original work of art with a great patina still intact.

Guess what. It's supposed to rain again today but I'm sure that comes as no surprise.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

New Sprint SP2

2009-10-22T08:59:00.004-05:00

The new SP2 made it’s debut this summer and we are very pleased with the results. The cart has served our customers well over the years but it was time for an update. The Sprint SP2 and the CX2 are our best selling vehicles. The CX2 shares the same frame and they are now available as well.

SP2 is short for Sprint Pleasure 2 Wheel Cart. It is designed to be durable, practical and have amenities that people are looking for in a modern vehicle. That being said we have so many customers that like the look of a traditional wood carriage that we have created the SP2 to fill that need. The new frame is 1.5” diameter steel tube bent to create the form of the body.

All Sprint carts are fitted with spring assisted shock absorbing suspension. The cart is adjustable in height quickly and easily by changing the location of the top shock mount.

This particular cart was fitted with some options like the wood shafts. The shafts on the base model cart are 1.5” diameter steel tube rather than the wood. The wood shafts are fastened to a steel frame and are easily removed. This cart also features the following options tufted seats, spares box, walnut stain color and patine shaft trim.

All Sprint carts are equipped with an adjustable seat. With the pull of a lever the seat adjusts forward and back for driver comfort.

All steel components on our Sprint carts are powder coat finished. The wood parts are sanded and clear finished using a two step process resulting in a smooth high gloss shine.

The SP2 is available in pony thru draft sizes. We have a number of other options and configurations for the Sprints which you can see at www.colonialcarriage.com. We are busy filling orders for Sprint carts year around and normally have in stock units available. You can clink on any photo to see an enlarged view.

Best!
Todd

The Goal

2009-10-12T13:46:00.003-05:00

We need to set goals in our business. Our projects are so labor intensive that if we don’t have a carrot hanging out there one can tire of sanding primer before we are done. The project at hand today is an Albany Cutter restoration.

The goal is making it look like the one in this photograph. We restored this sleigh about six or seven years ago. It was a beautiful combination of colors, fabric and striping. Our current project is going to be similar but we will be changing the shades a bit. We will be going with a bit brighter blue. The maroon will be similar but we will be switching out to blue mohair upholstery.

The dash on this project was junk. The victim of a horse chomp. Bob installed the dash late last week and cut it to shape today.

The existing dash supports were in good shape. One was a little higher than the other but we were able to correct that as we did the dash. It is ready for hard coat sealer then primer.

When we replace a dash we like to get the body into shape before we put the dash back on. It is much easier to work on the body with the dash off. There are some areas in the front corners of the body that are obstructed by the lower portions of the dash.

The runners are in first coat primer and just about ready for a second. Brandon should polish that project off today.

The metal runner braces have been painted. We like to paint those parts black as it gives a nice contrast with the runners. So they were painted on Friday and are ready to install as soon as the runner frame is painted.

Stay warm. It appears winter has arrived in Wisconsin. We have been below normal in the temperature department for the last couple of weeks now. You should have seen in snow on Saturday. I’m so not ready for this…

Have a great day!

Best!
Todd

Return of the Road Warrior

2009-10-04T09:38:00.004-05:00

Something like 1,200 miles later I’m not much worse for the wear. I had a couple day road trip making deliveries and pickups in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio the last few days. I guess I still enjoy the traveling for the most part other than my eating habits really digress. Not that I am always a healthy eater back at the ranch but when I’m on the road things really get ugly.

I could never be a truck driver. I would weigh 300 pounds. Sitting behind the wheel ten hours a day and eating the garbage food (but it’s so yummy) that I find along the way. Maybe that will be my resolution for 2010. To eat better when I’m traveling. And exercise and loose weight. Just like my 2009 resolution.

Oh, and the roundabouts. Those might give me a heart attack too. I’m just poking my Columbus friends that are so in love with roundabouts. Driving a car through a roundabout is one thing. Driving a vehicle that‘s fifty feet long in heavy traffic someplace you have never been before is a whole different story. Pity the poor souls that drive tractor-trailers through those things every day. I think I would be tempted to just go straight up the middle.

So we are working on another Albany Cutter. This is not the one of the most recent blogs. This one is for a client and it’s much further along. It’s been in the hopper for a while and it’s nearing completion. The artwork and striping was recently completed an it is back for upholstery.

Our client wanted a painting of their Springer Spaniel incorporated into the sleigh. It was not uncommon to see dogs or other animals painted on sleighs like this. Especially the Albany style.

The Albany was a sports car. They were light, fast, and flamboyant. There was typically substantial artwork and striping on these sleighs to attract attention. Sort of like the guy in the little silver Porsche blowing past you in the roundabout when you are trying in vain to keep your trailer out of the inside lane.

Here is a close up view of Mr. Springer Spaniel. Our client sent us a photograph and our artist created and outstanding interpretation of that image. All of the striping and art on this sleigh is painted by hand just like they did back in the day.

They selected deep maroon in combination with dark green for the primary colors. The upholstery will be done in tan mohair. We should wrap this project up within a month or so and it should be sitting next to their fireplace for the holidays.

If you like this sleigh the other Albany in the shop right now could be yours. It is near a point where you could select the colors and upholstery to fit your setting. I love doing these sleighs. They are such a little work of art in themselves in the construction but the decoration puts them over the top. They look spectacular next to the fireplace or the Christmas tree. Especially in a condo in, well, I don’t know. Maybe Vail Colorado? I’m available for December delivery.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Cheryl Frey Interiors

2009-09-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

I’m going to take an opportunity it introduce you to a new blog. For all the years we have been together my wife Cheryl has been a creative force in whatever we embark upon. The two of us have been restoring shacks, homes, buildings, furniture, carriages or whatever we happen upon along the way.

Cheryl is passionate about interior design and decorating. The challenges of color and texture on all of our renovation projects have landed squarely in her lap. We felt it was a good time to expand on that natural ability and use those talents to help other clients with their decorating projects. So is the beginning of Cheryl Frey Interiors. From interior painting and decorating to furniture and décor selection Cheryl can help make your project a success. Check out her site below.

http://www.cherylfreyinteriors.blogspot.com/

We continue work on the Kimball Bachelor Brougham. The body is now ready for paint. It has been detail sanded and Dale will begin putting on color later this week.

The upper portions of the body will be black and the lower recessed panels will be a deep forest green. Dale will begin by painting the majority of the body black and work from there. It is a heavy body but it will be hung from the ceiling in the paint booth to be painted.

Many of the small components of that restoration have been painted. Here is a step cover which is fastened to one of the doors. When you open the door it swings along with the door to expose the step to enter the coach.

The other project that continues to progress is the Albany Cutter restoration. The runners have been put into first coat primer and Brandon began the sanding process on those this afternoon.

The parts that have been blasted are now in primer as well. They will each be sanded individually before seeing another coat of primer later in the week.

Bob in the meantime has been busy working on the body. He has all of the joints and splits stabilized and has both the inside and the outside of the body covered in a layer of hard coat sealer. Here you can see a fresh coat covering an area that required additional attention. The balance of the body has already been coated and sanded. It should be ready for some primer by later today.

Have a great Wednesday.

Best!
Todd

One of My All Time Fav’s

2009-09-28T14:25:00.007-05:00

I really enjoy a wide variety of architecture. Right now some of my favorite is the mid-century modern work of the 50’s and 60’s. Both exterior and interior details of this style are appealing to me. The clean lines and blocky proportions just seem to get me going. I think it blends well with certain landscaping and I think these folks have done a great job of that too. Kind of minimalist in some ways and again done in large masses.

I really like this house a lot. It's over in Sheboygan along our walking route. Not the greatest photo of it but in my eye a pretty groovy house. I’ll have to send my buddy Rod over to take a good picture. I would love to spend an hour on their lawn taking pictures as I think some of the details are really fun. What is really great about this house is that it has not been messed with. That is important to me no matter what era the building is be it Queen Anne to Contemporary. No one has tried to make this house into something it’s not. That is a very common occurrence and it NEVER works. Want to wreck your historic home? Put a ranch style two car garage on the end of it. That’ll do it.

We are putting up a few more photos and details about the Road Cart that I pictured last week. What a great little cart. This is a modern vehicle designed and constructed from a vintage design. We built this vehicle a few years ago and it sold to a client that barely used it for one year.

It was done in natural finish with a tufted seat in black vinyl. The dash is also done in black with a brass rein rail.

It has an attractive look from behind and includes a spares box under the seat. It is fully striped in black. The advantage road carts have over other models are they are very light in comparison. They have the light basket body and a single half elliptic spring which keeps the weight under control. They are traditionally a rear entry from an axle step and this one has a folding seat back to make that easier.

Now for the bad news. This one was stored in the previous owners barn in a clean dry area. Unfortunately the kitties in the barn had access to that space as well. You know what happens when cats with sharp claws meet up with upholstery. So there are numerous tiny little claw marks in the seat. Not noticeable from a distance but obvious up close. So other than that this cart is in perfect condition and it is priced at $3,400.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Somebody Loves Me

2009-09-23T20:47:00.008-05:00

I have no tolerance for the couch. I sit on it and I fall asleep. I lay down on it and five minutes I‘m out. Something about that thing that just puts me in a slumber. On the rare occasion that we put a movie in our VCR (yes, I said VCR) I sit on the coach and fall asleep. I might make it half way through depending on the movie.

The other night was no exception. I came in from a late night at the office and thought I would just sit there for a minute. So guess what. I fell asleep. Sonny’s (that’s the dog) all time favorite thing in the world is to lay down on the couch with me. He knows if I’m tossing the pillows off we are getting ready to crash. Well I guess it’s a dogs life.

New projects. We have new projects. I’m going to introduce you to a couple today and you will be seeing much more of both of them over the next few weeks. The first is an Albany Cutter restoration. It was a local piece with a manufacturers tag but you know something, the maker’s name escapes me at the moment. Maybe it was Lull. I'll let you know. Bob and Brandon have been working on it for a week or so now and it’s coming along. The runners have been dismantled and stripped.

Bob has been working on the body. It is in nice solid condition other than the dash and one of the lower body panels. Bob has the body panel repaired but the dash has yet to be done. We like to get the front corners of the body in pretty good shape before we install the dash. Once the dash is in place it makes accessing that area difficult.

Today Brandon stripped the shafts and readied them for primer.

Along with the shafts he has been blasting metal runner parts to prepare them for primer. Blasting takes a lot of air. My air compressor is about ten years old and although it has served me well it is finally giving out. We managed to get through these parts. I don’t think we will be doing any others until we address the compressor issue.

And here is a very brief introduction to the Show Gig project we are embarking upon. It will be a variation of the Whiskey chassis with a much different body. Here we have the chassis and wheels together and I’m beginning construction of the body. It will be on the order of a Stanhope Gig cross bred with a Going to Cover Cart. We’ll see some large louvers in the sides and long flat fenders like the Going to Cover. The seat frame will be reminiscent of that vehicle as well but just a two person carriage. I have the body designed and it will be quite elegant but more nimble in appearance than a Going to Cover. This vehicle is being built for a Wisconsin client for her Friesian. She has chosen black for the primary color with gold striping and tan upholstery. In that combination it will be very classy.

This will have to serve as my Wednesday and Thursday blogs. Wednesday was crazy and I am off to Port Washington, Wisconsin on Thursday with a group of local people with an interest in downtown redevelopment. Port is a really great little town on the shore of Lake Michigan. This day trip organized by the City of Columbus through the CDA and our Economic Development Director. Port has been working hard on their historic downtown redevelopment. I’m looking forward hearing how they made things happen.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

I Hate To Bring This Up But…

2009-09-22T13:33:00.008-05:00

I keep getting scolded for talking about the pending doom we face. It’s coming and I’m scared. Really scared. It’s not going to be good. Don’t scroll down beyond this point unless you are on solid ground emotionally.

Winter. It’s going to snow and be cold. I used to love winter. I think the last couple have just taken their toll. We have had those old fashioned winters where it snows just about every day and doesn’t melt until spring. Getting through November and December are still a breeze but the rest of it can get a pretty long. I did take up skiing a few years ago so that helps. Rough part about that is I just sit here thinking about Colorado. Oh well, one way or the other I’ll get through it. The good news is it makes for great sleigh rides.

I thought I would just hit on a handful of nice vehicles that we have in stock right now. The first is an original Bobsleigh. Just remember winter is coming and this will make it a whole lot more fun. It has nice lines, solid condition and could make for a great project. It was built by C.F. Worthen & Co., Amesburry, MA and sells complete with a pole. A real bargain at $3,995.

If you follow American Carriage Builder you know that this vehicle was recently restored. It is a modern Pleasure Show Phaeton. It has not been put to since restoration. It looks spectacular and is priced at $8,495 with shafts. It is a large horse sized vehicle appropriate to around 16 hands.

Here we have a modern Road Cart built by us about seven or eight years ago. It was used for a season then the owner retired from driving. It is in excellent condition and would make a great pleasure or show cart. It is priced at $3,400 which is about half the going rate for a new one.

This two seat Albany could be a winter driver or restoration project. It is very solid and has outstanding lines. With winter right around the corner it’s a great opportunity to pick up an unusual sleigh. These two seat Albany’s a few and far between. It is priced at $6,995 and sells complete with pole and shafts.

This could make for a lovely show carriage. This light Shooting Break is in solid condition but in need of restoration if one would like to turn it out in the show ring. It is a horse sized vehicle with a makers tag from Chas Fritz, Southampton, NY. It sells with a pole and is priced at $9,495.

I’m just touching on a fraction of our current selection. Our showroom is filled with new, used and antique carriages of all types. If we don’t have it we can find it or build it. Our selection is as diverse as our clients and we look forward to working with you.

For some reason my post sounds like a sales pitch today. Usually I'm a little smoother than that. Must be the pending doom...

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Our Favorite Part Of Wisconsin

2009-09-21T10:58:00.015-05:00

We made a quick day trip up to Door County last week. For those of you not familiar with Wisconsin it is the little peninsula that juts out into lake Michigan on the eastern shore of our state. It is a striking landscape with rocky shoreline, beaches, rolling hills and quaint little towns. Natural beauty and some quality architecture here and there along the way.

Door County was over developed like everywhere else over the course of the last fifteen years. Big condo complexes and some strip mall tourist traps. I think the overpowering condo complexes are about the worst of it. Sorry condo folks just not my cup o' tea. Not up there anyway. The county does keep a pretty tight finger on development as there are no chains or big boxes but beyond that it did get a little out of hand. Still all in all it is a great place to get away. The historic small towns are still pretty charming and play host to outstanding dining options. You will find fabulous historic homes along the bay and lake shores which makes for an enjoyable walk in the country.

We pulled a project out of the weeds last week. It is a Portland Door Cutter that we started restoration on about a year ago. It was restored about five years ago and wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The barn it was stored in burned. It was in a corner that survived but the paint was blistered and upholstery was destroyed.

It is a really nice sleigh in that it has an auto style seat. This was probably a later model using this design. Back in the day with the springs and doors this was a pretty serious Buick Park Avenue of a sleigh.

We stripped it down to the bare wood and started over. The dash was charred so we ended up replacing that. The door skins also needed replacement but other than that it was very solid and intact.

The runners are pretty well complete. They are dark maroon with a metallic gold stripe.

The striping is done for the most part. We have a little free hand work to do on the uprights but other than that the body is ready to attach.

The upholstery is going to be dark green wool broadcloth. Ryanne has started laying out the back cushion with a diamond tuft pattern. For a little sleigh the upholstery is pretty involved between the side cushions, doors and all. We will be working this through the shop in the next couple weeks so it will be ready to use over the winter.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Mad Max Beyond Our Restoration Shop

2009-09-18T10:41:00.007-05:00

Ouch! Really sorry about that post yesterday. Blog hackers are on a rampage taking over nice innocent little blogs like mine. Unless you have a blog you don’t know that things like that happen. A pimple? What kind of a warped twisted mind would come up with material like that? There ought to be a law.

So if you are wondering why this nice little cart is called Mad Max you need to go way back. Visit my post from July 9th to read the whole story.

So Mad max is all done. He turned out really nice and has been getting quite a bit of attention. For a little road cart this vehicle has some super interesting details. Overall it has great style. It has a real American feel about it. I can just see it racing along in a Currier and Ives print.

I know we have been using a lot of it lately but we are just about out of deep maroon paint. I think it looks great on this vehicle. It has enough interesting lines that the maroon in combination with the vermilion stripes chasing all over really looks sharp. You can click the photos to enlarge.

Ryanne did the upholstery in a black cotton duck with a medium luster black vinyl piping and button covers. That was a new combination for us and I really liked how it came together. We have used a tan cotton in that combo but not black. I think we will see more of this fabric on some of our vehicles. It’s just an interesting look.

When we started the project we didn’t even know it was a spindle seat. During the last paint job someone cut off all the spindles so they were gone. That happens from time to time. If there are a couple broken spindles it’s easier to cut them all off rather than fix the broken ones. To bring it back Bob hand turned all new spindles for this seat.

Sometimes vehicles don’t have a flattering posterior. This one looks great from the back. There was serious thought put into the design of this little cart from all perspectives. Really well done and that is why we choose to restore vehicles such as this.

As usual Dale did a great job of striping this carriage. It is striped traditionally with a fine line. Notice how the step pad is black? All parts like step pads and inner and outer hubs were traditionally painted black. Black is easy to touch up and normally used in areas subject to injury.

We pulled out a project that’s been on the back burner for a while. It’s a vintage Portland Door Cutter built by Wisconsin Carriage in Janesville. We started it a while back but it was over run by customer projects so it was tossed aside. The body is painted and Ryanne is starting on upholstery. Dale striped the runners yesterday. I’ll post some photos over the weekend.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Back From Virtual Vacation

2009-09-17T17:58:00.016-05:00

Well I'm back home at my desk. The great thing about virtual vacation is you never leave. No packing, no worries about gas prices, dog sitter, who's going to get the mail, standing at the hotel counter hoping your credit card isn't declined, the girl that just cut you off while texting. You know the deal.

Took a bunch of great pictures while I was away. Cheryl took this one just as I was ready to jump in the pool. Sure feeling better since I started my virtual workout.

I always feel a person should try something new on vacation. So I thought this might be kind of fun. It was fun until the bull threw me into a gate panel where I ruptured my spleen.

Med flight took 2 hours to arrive so I just laid there in the middle of the arena. They had to stop the rodeo. I was in such severe pain they couldn't move me out. People started yelling and throwing beer cups as they left. I was just shocked at how thoughtless people could be but by 9:30 that night I was in ICU.

I was lucky. Turned out it wasn't my spleen after all. Just a bad pimple on my back that popped so we could keep on going the next morning. Well that was a little embarrassing. But anyway we jumped a plane and took off to the Yukon were we could do a little skiing. If Cheryl lays down when she takes pictures it really looks like I'm getting some air.

Returned home this morning and back to work just like I never left. Just amazing what a little time away can do to refresh the spirit. Too bad I've used up all my virtual vacation until January. The good thing though is I get 10 days next year plus two digital personal holidays and three simulated sick days.

See you tomorrow,
T

Bloggyville Vacation

2009-09-14T20:53:00.007-05:00

I'm taking a little blog vacation Monday and Tuesday. Maybe I'll be back at it on Wednesday. Maybe not. We'll see.

Right now I'm sitting on a desktop beach. I'm in a cyber chase lounge soaking up virtual sun sipping on a long overdue facebook umbrella drink. I will probably take a dip in the clip art ocean in my digital speedo later this afternoon. Wishing you were here.

I am leaving you with a shot of the Whiskey in action and Mad Max after completion. Have a good week. Talk at you later.

Best!
T

Whiskey Debut This Weekend

2009-09-11T05:00:00.008-05:00

We started American Carriage Builder back in April of 2009. The very first blog in April was on the Whiskey that we were building for Vicki Nelson-Bodoh. We have taken that project along with several others from start to finish and we are happy that you have been along to watch.

This was one of the first images that I posted of the Whiskey when it was in the early stages of construction. The chassis and body were roughed out and the shape was pretty visible.

A few weeks later we were working on steps and ironwork. By this point we had come quite a ways further with the body and the vehicle was really taking shape.

Then into the early priming and paint stages.

Here it was yesterday. We pulled it out at about noon for some photos before it was loaded up and off the Prairie du Chien. I thought it turned out awesome. So did our clients and they are looking forward to seeing it put to a pony. Sometimes as you work through projects things just seem to click. The ideas go from my head to reality and everything works. That was the case with this project. The design was good and everything pretty much went as planned.

The paint went on well. Sometimes we scratch our heads and wonder how we get so lucky under pressure. Paint can go wrong. When it does you can loose days at a time. Not this time.

The striping looked stunning in broad style and it fit this carriage perfectly.

Outstanding profile. I don’t know what else to say about that topic.

So in the end it was a really nice project. The big test will be over the weekend to see how it performs. I expect it to perform well and something tells me it will be getting some attention. Thanks for watching this project as it went start to finish on American Carriage Builder. Watch the blog over the weekend for photo updates of the Whiskey in action.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Funny You Should Say That

2009-09-10T05:30:00.003-05:00

We talked about it yesterday during breakfast with the boys. We are hilarious. It was unanimous. The four of us are definitely the funniest group of guys that get together on a weekly basis for breakfast. In Fall River Wisconsin. At 7:00 in the morning. Well at least at the place we go to. Yes, I can definitely make that statement with complete confidence.

Last week was the Brewster Park Phaeton restoration wrap up. This weeks it’s the Whiskey and Mad Max on the home stretch. Dale and I gang tackled pin striping duties on the Brewtser. Dale normally does the striping but I pitched in on the wheels and the body.

I’m putting a vermillion stripe on a dark maroon wheel. It is a fine line stripe and I’m using a “000” sword striping brush. That’s about as fine as they get I think. Finest brush we have anyhow. It makes a nice line. Striping can be fun and it can be frustrating. I have tried a number of methods over the years. Started with a Beugler striping tool. A Beugler is a canister that you fill with paint and a little rolling wheel that dispenses a stripe as you roll it on a surface. Sounds simple enough in theory. I found a brush easier to use once I got over the numbing fear of trying it.

Had a really nice new arrival last week. A great looking European four passenger sleigh.

This sleigh is un-restored other than the seat cushions. The paint and striping is original and looks a little aged but a great patina.

It has nice lines and a definite European flair. It is very unique and it has already found a new home. Our client is leaving it in original condition which I think is a great option for this piece.

The Whiskey rolls out of the shop later today. We will be taking a number of photos so watch the blog tomorrow for the finished product. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Time To Sober Up A Little Bit

2009-09-09T11:59:00.024-05:00

I am trying to lay off the Whiskey for a few days. Been hitting it pretty hard the last few weeks so no Whiskey shots for at least two days. It is so good but I just need to fight the temptation to fall off the wagon. How about Friday. The weekend will be here. We will get a good Whiskey buzz going then. For all of you American Carriage Builder virgins you will need to scroll down a few posts to reference the Whiskey story.

A mini Columbus walking tour blog today seemed like a good idea seeing I didn’t seem to have anything else to talk about. The photo above is our clock tower on City Hall. It is the trademark for Columbus and rightly so. As you can see it could use a paint job. Wherever there is a historic project in need you will find Alice Schmidt. For a sweet little lady she seems to get involved in just about everything. In cooperation with the Columbus Historic Preservation Group and the City of Columbus they raised the majority of the funding for the painting of the clock tower. Hat’s off the all involved.

This is our historic City Hall building from my perspective just down the street. A fantastic building with offices on the first floor and the original auditorium still intact on the second. The auditorium will be it's own blog one of these days. The City and the local utility are working on burying all the unsightly power poles and lines which will be a huge improvement.

This is the former Anchor Bank building that was relocated to this site across the street from us eight years ago and never finished. You know, the old "free building" routine. It is now moving quickly and nearing completion of the renovations to turn it into office space for our City Economic Development Director and the Recreation Department. Big improvement in our view across the street. The parking lot to the left of this building is being repaved along with new lighting. Oh yes, power lines - gone and new trees in their place.

Farmers and Merchants Bank is really a blog in itself as well but here’s a very brief introduction to tie you over until then. This bank building was the last project commissioned by renowned Chicago Architect Louis Sullivan and was completed in 1920. Much more on this topic to come in the future.

This is a view of Dickason Boulevard going west from our showroom. In the forefront the Civil War Monument. The bronze was restored last year and you guessed it Alice Schmidt was very involved in that project as well. In the background is the Zeidler Funeral Home. This is one of many significant historic homes in our community.

Around the corner the Main Street organization is doing some tuck pointing on their building. This is the home to the James Street Gallery, the George Hasey Popcorn Wagon and the Columbus Main Street program. My buddy Judd Becker is up on the lift doing the tuck pointing. If you ever need any good masonry work done or some steers roped up let me know. I’ll put you in touch with Judd. He’s really good at both.

On the corner is Sharrow Drug. This drugstore has been in business on this corner by the Sharrow family for over 100 years. With out question a significant architectural contribution to our downtown but more importantly from a local business standpoint.

And finally another municipal project. The public parking lot on James Street is being repaved along with new lighting and plugs. Yes plugs. Little ol' Columbus is a leader in alternative energy development. Many of the public parking lots are now equipped with plugs for electric vehicles. These can be used by private citizens or for municipal vehicles several of which are electric in Columbus.

A new parking lot project last year beside City Hall was equipped with an electric car outlet. This project was completed over a year ago. A few weeks ago there was a big article in the Wisconsin State Journal. It was about the innovative, progressive, visionary City of Madison leading the way by being the first city in the State of Wisconsin to install an outlet in a city parking lot.

Yo - Madison. You were only about a year behind Columbus.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Labor Day Weekend - Literally

2009-09-08T12:04:00.009-05:00

Sometimes that happens. Work piles up faster than you can get it done so the weekend becomes work time too. That was the case this weekend and I managed to get a lot accomplished. The Brewster Park Phaeton needed to be ready to roll out the door first thing this morning and we made it. It was just as well I had to work anyway. The government issued an air quality alert for our area for the entire weekend so I was afraid to go outside anyhow. Imagine the lives lost had everyone been out in the sunny 75 degree weather.

We did risk it for a few hours on Monday though. Jumped in the car and ran over to see the lake. Went for a walk, hiked the beach and polished off a Culver’s Burger and a shake to kill all the effort. We both wore gas masks all day just to protect ourselves. As you can see from the photo it was pretty dangerous. I can’t believe people were outside just walking around in this stuff like nothing was wrong.

The Brewster Park Phaeton turned out just gorgeous. The owner selected a pair of lamps from the showroom while they were here on Wednesday. We went ahead and installed brackets and mounted them while it was here.

The upholstery is wool broadcloth done in the original fashion.

This is an early Brewster vehicle. Looking at it certainly gives you that impression. Square, clean lines were a Brewster trademark on vehicles of this sort.

We have a very busy week ahead of us coming off the busy weekend. The Villa Louis Carriage Classic starts on Friday. We have one client vehicle to finish and at least a couple for our display. The midnight oil continues to burn and I’m looking forward to being at the show. Hope to see you there.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

From the Todd Frey Institute of Higher Learning - How to Polish a Turd

2009-09-04T08:13:00.013-05:00

Sorry about the bad title. I worked for hours trying to come up with a more suitable alternative but it was all in vain. In reality it’s a very appropriate title for the content though so bear with me.

No carriage blog today. We are off on a different topic just for a day but ride it out. There is a tie in. A carrot at the end of the stick. Maybe I’ll even do a weekend blog to make up for it. If there was ever a more appropriate property to be described as a “turd” I’d like to see it. It was long, brown, and smelled funny. This building was our most recent renovation project. I think it was about a year ago that our current tenant moved into this property.

If you were in Columbus and down on your luck. This was your house. Didn’t matter if someone else was living there already. They would let you move in too. Busted, wasted, or on the run it was the place to land in Columbus. This lovely little place was right around the corner from our showroom in downtown Columbus.

But I knew this sorry little shack had hope. It’s going to take some work but it has potential. It’s in a nice little spot with some grass along one side. It could look like a old fashioned commercial building I thought. So last summer we decided to dive in head first.

My schedule was so tight I never took any progress photos but this is the finished product. We pretty much ripped out the entire front wall of the building. Installed the windows, new door and the wrap around porch. Believe it or not the interior was not horrible. Not beautiful but not horrible. We had to do some renovations add a rest room and a second exit but all in all the inside was pretty workable.

Now for the tie in. This building was originally a shoe and harness repair shop. So there you go. It turned into a carriage blog today after all. Sorry, not much of a carrot but now what can you do about at this point anyway. Cheryl picked the colors and finishes for the exterior (interior too) and as usual did a great job. No vermillion on this project though. We leased the property to a local hair stylist looking to relocate. It has been the perfect place for her and it is working out nicely.

I’m off to the races. Busy on the Brewster park Phaeton and Whiskey today. I’ll probably post a blog sometime over the weekend with some progress shots.

Have a great weekend.

Best!
Todd

One Haut Ride

2009-09-03T16:50:00.019-05:00

So are you all getting ready for the big Labor Day Weekend? It has been just beautiful weather here lately and it sounds like it will be going right through the weekend. If you are looking for a great place to spend your three days off head to Wisconsin.

The Whiskey is just looking incredible. Everything is really coming together. I am very proud of the work our crew has put into it. Building or restoring carriages is a team effort and it takes some serious skills in each category to produce vehicles of this caliber. It will be getting a lot of attention when it makes its debut next weekend.

So our Whiskey client, Vicki Nelson-Bodoh dropped me an email yesterday saying she will pick it up NEXT Thursday. We were planning on having it done THIS Thursday so you know what that means. We get to screw off for a week. We have all this extra time so what’s the rush. I think she waited until yesterday to tell me that on purpose.

Now if the rest of the blog tends to be a lot of fluff and not much substance well that’s because it is. I have quite a few pictures and not much to say that hasn’t already been said.

So enjoy.

The pictures.

A really pretty shade of vermillion if I do say so myself. I'll have you know the previous sentence serves no practical purpose. This carriage will be one hot ride. Mark my words.

While we continue work on the Whiskey Ryanne is making the seat cushions for the Brewster Park Phaeton. Our client has arrived to pick up this vehicle on Tuesday. They are enjoying a little traveling in Wisconsin as we finish up their carriage. I am really looking forward to getting this vehicle out for some nice photos over the weekend.

The fabric is a maroon wool broadcloth. Ry has sewn the top panel for the front cushion and is pressing it before she prepares to install the buttons. Wool broadcloths are a traditional carriage fabric and a very appropriate choice for a vehicle of this type.

And here we have the rear cushion with the buttons partially installed. They are each being fastened to wood seat frames that I built up new last evening. By tomorrow they will really start taking shape. Then all that remains for upholstery is the rear seat back cushion.

It’s pushing five PM and I’m just posting the blog again today. About 12 hours behind when I like to post it. It has been another hectic day and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Have a great evening.

Best!
Todd

A Load of Albany

2009-09-02T16:19:00.023-05:00

It has been a bit of a crazy day today. Quite a number of irons in the fire these days and it’s been busy, busy, busy in the showroom as well. That is all good. Actually that is all fantastic! So I’m blogging a little late and maybe a little bit on the brief side as well.

If you have never seen a load of Albany here it is. A whole load of it. This Albany cutter came in yesterday. It’s without question a project but not beyond hope. The dash is bad. It fell victim to a hungry horse with a taste for Albany. I can just read his mind as he was chomping down on this sleigh. “Dashing through the snow my ass”. Sorry but I had to say the “a” word to make it all work. Sort of like the director that put the sex scene in the action movie for no apparent reason.

We are putting final touches on the Brewster Park Phaeton restoration. I blogged about this vehicle a couple of weeks ago. We are nearing completion and it will roll out the door next week Tuesday. Ryanne is finishing up the upholstery. Dale and I will be doing the striping over the next couple days. A few other odds and ends and it will be ready to go. This is a really lovely carriage and you will see a lot more of it over the next couple days.

The Whiskey continues to progress. The patent leather shaft trim is now installed and the striping will be getting laid out this afternoon.

The body is now all shiny. The vermillion was sanded and everything was cleared today. It looks really sharp when the final coats of clear go on to pull the finish all together.

I cannot overstate the importance of the striping. It completely makes or breaks the vehicle. Be it color, workmanship, or style. It can get screwed up in any of those areas. The striping color for the Whiskey is black done in a broad line style. In the old days this was also referred to as drag style. Not because the artist was a cross dresser but Park Drags were striped in broad, bold stripes hence drag style. We still need a spear at the base of the spokes but otherwise these are complete. If you ask me these wheels look HOT or in fancy carriage speak HAUT.

That’s it see you tomorrow.

Have a great evening.

Best!
Todd

Mixed Bag Blog

2009-09-01T11:25:00.013-05:00

Well it’s official today. Summer ends for me September first. I guess it’s still summer but the summer feeling ends today. Once I start writing the number nine in the month column it’s hard to get those warm and fuzzy feelings about summer. Unless I’m wearing a fleece pullover I guess.

Cheryl's llamas like this kind of weather. Chilly nights and nice sunny days are their favorites. This is the garden gate between our front yard and the pasture. They are always curious so this is a popular hang out. Especially when our little dog comes out to bark and show his authority. They just sneer and laugh.

We have the wheels repaired for Mad Max and they are ready for primer. Here Bob is doing some last minute preparation just before primer. We are shooting to have this vehicle ready for our display at the Villa Louis Carriage Classic coming up in a little less than two weeks.

The final sanding is also in the works on the Kimball Brougham. The body is now in final coat primer. Here Bob has the body tipped up on edge to catch the bottom. We will be putting some color on this body the week after next.

The Whisky body is now in the final coat of colors. The vermillion was sprayed yesterday so it needs to dry out one more day before we start sanding. It will be wet sanded then three or four more coats of clear to finish it up.

Dale has the Whiskey chassis and wheels moved over to the trim shop. He was sewing up shaft trim and preparing to start striping when I took this photo this morning. Our window on this vehicle is winding down.

In the mean time I’m working through a run of Sprint Cart frames. This is the first run of our new frame design. It has been a little slow going as I’ve been building and modifying our frame jigs as I go along. They are all tacked together ready to be welded. Once to this stage it takes about 45 minutes to do the actual welding. I’m hoping to have one or two of these available for our display at Villa as well.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Something About That Big Lake

2009-08-31T08:26:00.007-05:00

We love Lake Michigan. I like all the great lakes but Lake Michigan is the closest so I guess that’s probably why it’s my favorite. The view of that big water is just stunning along with the seagulls and lighthouses and all that goes along with the deal. It’s tough to beat. Spring seems a little slow to come around over by the lake but otherwise I think I could live with the cooler temperatures the rest of the summer.

Sheboygan is our favorite lake town these days. It has a strong arts community, some great restaurants and of course the lake. A perfect Sunday for us is a drive to Sheboygan for a cup of coffee at the Weather Center Café. Then a long walk along the lake shore which for us is about five miles. Finally wrap things up with dinner and a tall Belhaven at the Duke of Devon on the riverfront. The Duke of Devon is a little English pub with great food and outstanding beers on tap. Worth the trip. Unfortunately we didn’t make any of that happen this weekend.

The work on the Whiskey is progressing nicely. We will be finishing up that project this week. On friday Dale base colored, trimmed the black and cleared the wheels. They are now ready for striping.

The body is being wet sanded for the vermillion (I am only saying that word once in this blog) panels and the final coats of clear. We use 600 grit paper and block sand wet which keeps the sandpaper from plugging.

Here is a shot of the wheels after they have been shot with four coats of clear.

The black trim on the hub and the rim is painted on prior to the clear. You can see in this shot of the hub it all has a nice deep and consistent shine.

I am in the middle of building a run of Sprint Carts. I’ll take a few shots of those for the blog tomorrow. We are also finishing up the Brewster Park Phaeton this week. We have some upholstery to finish up, striping and a few other odds and ends so stay tuned.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

An Outstanding Afternoon of Driving

2009-08-28T09:27:00.015-05:00

For the nearly twenty years that I have been in this business my real driving experience has been rather limited. I made a decision this summer to change that. Although I have been involved in the building and restoration of a number of very advanced vehicles I am starting my driving adventure with the basics. I have connected with my good friend Debbie Bevan for a couple of lessons. It’s been a great way for me to grow into driving and I look forward to taking this more seriously as I continue.

We drove two horses yesterday so I managed to be out for a good couple hours. One pony and one horse to be specific. I must say I had a blast. Just like the last time. I am excited about this for two reasons. Number one it has been really fun and even though it is closely tied to my daily work it feels like a new experience. Number two I am optimistic that it may give me some new perspectives as we continue to create and develop new vehicles.

Work continues at a fevered pace on the Whiskey. Ryanne has the flat cushion and the wedge nearly complete. In the background you can see the beginnings of the lazy back cushion ready to go together.

Dale has the shafts in vermillion with clear. The axle is mounted and for all practical purposes the wheels are ready to go on this portion and roll away. He still has to stripe the chassis which will probably wait until Monday. This paint is a little green to be working on too much. It will be striped with a broad black line. Then of course shaft trim and any remaining hardware installation.

Bob & Brandon have the wheels sanded the second time around and they are being painted today. Getting these done today is great as it gives them the weekend to cure out a little before striping.

This is a sign I always like to see. Both wheels ready for paint. Like I’ve said before wheels can be the worst. They take a lot of time to get them to this stage but once they are in color it’s all worth the effort. Well I’m off to the races. I have a busy day today with a lot on the agenda.

Have a great weekend.

Best!
Todd

Sixty Years of Beer & Smoke

2009-08-27T05:30:00.000-05:00

The interior of our new showroom had been run continuously as a bowling alley for 60 years. That’s pretty amazing in itself when you think about it. Sixty years is a long time for a business to survive. I would guess that the interior was renovated once in sixty years. Probably during the seventies in conjunction with the glorious façade project. Judging from the shag carpet and paneling on the walls in combination with the 2x4 ceiling tile the early seventies would be a pretty good guess.

This space was the front entrance to the bowling alley when we acquired the property. The light shining through on the right is coming through the front entrance. The two doors in the bump out on the left are the rest rooms. The far left opening goes into the other smaller building. The wood floor in the forefront is the sub floor that was under the lanes. The holes in the floor were in place for the ball return.

Just like the exterior successful renovations of historic interiors usually begins with removal of the “improvements”. Such is the case here. This is the same room today. The right side of this photo is the same corner that the rest rooms were located. The wood framed floor was left intact and reused but it is now behind the overhead doors. The floor in this room was concrete but in very poor condition. We poured a new concrete floor over the top which varies in thickness from 2.5” to 5” in order to level the floor. The reflective material on the ceiling and wall is galvanized steel siding. I like using this material. Maybe a little too much sometimes but it has great qualities of light and texture. Pair with the right color combinations and it makes for a great space if I do say so myself.

Let’s talk tools. One of my favorite and most practical tools is our ironworker. We picked up this machine about 4 years ago as we were growing into more metal fabrication. This is a 45 ton unit which means there is 45 tons of pressure placed on the punch end when engaged. This unit was made by Metalpro which happens to be a Wisconsin company. They build two ironworkers along with some other fabrication equipment. Ours is kind of an entry level ironworker but it has served us very well over the years.

Basically an ironworker can perform a number of different functions on steel like punching, cutting, shearing, notching and bending all through leverage and hydraulic pressure. We are focusing on the punch end of the machine today for our project at hand. I am in the middle of making a run of Sprint cart frames. Our rear seat support has a series of three holes for the height adjustment. We are using our Metalpro today to punch the three holes.

Here we have two seat supports. The outside shape of the part was cut on a CNC plasma cutter. Another tool for another day. One support has the holes already punched and one does not. I have a steel pattern in which I can easily hammer set a dimple in the steel to mark the center of each of the three holes.

The punch has a sharp point on the end which I place in the dimple mark of the steel. You can see another one of the dimple marks a couple inches down from the one I am ready to punch now. You might have to click on these shots if you want to see the details of what’s going on.

I activate the switch and the punch plunges through the 3/16” steel like butter.

The punch cycles down through the steel and comes back up lifting the steel plate up to the orange (or is that vermillion?) stops which knock the plate off the punch as it cycles back upward. A perfect 7/16” hole in all of about five seconds. Drilling this hole would probably take a minute by the time we drill a pilot and clean off the burrs. So a huge time saver when doing production work.

Here we have it. A right and left seat support with holes now ready to be welded into the frame. OK gang those of you here for a shot of Whiskey are going to have to come back tomorrow. I will say this. It’s much easier to spot in a crowd today than it was yesterday. See you tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Full Circle

2009-08-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

Our downtown showroom began life as an automobile dealership in the early 1900’s. The larger of the two buildings on the left is the newest of the two being built in 1920. I guess that dealership lasted about 25 years or so before the owner decided to go into the bowling business. It’s my understanding that it was around 1945 when our building was converted to a bowling alley. It operated as such until 2006.

This photo shows how the property appeared in June of 2007 when we acquired it. I can’t quite recall just when but the lovely steel facade was installed sometime in the early 1970’s. The seventy’s were tough times for historic properties like this. It was the beginning of mall madness and everyone thought their buildings needed to look streamline and sporty. Now, if you know me you understand that I have nothing against contemporary architecture. But 9 and a half times out of 10 trying to turn an early 1900’s property into a contemporary looking building fails miserably.

So often people try to make buildings into something they were never meant to be. The garbage tacked on the front of this building was not in keeping with the neighborhood and completely obliterated the outstanding historic façade. So we rip off the “improvements” and this is what our building looks like now. The old building face was still intact under the steel but in poor repair so it took some effort to bring it back. But all well worth it. This building once again is accomplishing it’s original intent. To be a traditional façade in an historic neighborhood rather than a wanabe mall in the wrong location. I find it ironic that a building built to sell the all new automobile at the turn of the century is now housing horse drawn vehicles ninety years later.

We continue to pound out the Whiskey project. Here Dale is making a last fitting of the body before it goes in for paint. Everything lines up and fits as it should so he is ready to throw some paint at it.

The body and the chassis have been primed and sanded twice now. At this stage of the game we do our best not to break through the skin of the primer to expose any wood. The primer acts as both a filler and sealer.

Brandon has been sanding away on a wheel this afternoon. Bob has been working on the other and both are nearing the point where they are ready for second coat primer.

The upholstery for the wedge seat is taking some shape. Ryanne has the other flat cushion sewn and ready to pull buttons on that one too. I like the contrast of black buttons and piping with the tan Bedford cord. Really a classic, traditional appearance in keeping with a sporting vehicle such as this.

We are finally in the paint stage. The body was shiny and black by the end of the day. It looks really good. Smooth, level, and after a wet sanding and more clear it should look like glass. Let’s hope for a bright red blog tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd

Extreme Blog Makeover

2009-08-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

I spent the evening last night playing around with American Carriage Builder. It needed something. I wasn’t sure just what but it needed something. Oh, I don’t know, maybe our name, address and phone number for starters. For crying out loud. Sometimes it’s the most obvious things that you just don’t see. So I took care of that. Then added a few other new goodies along the left menu so go ahead and check it out.

Cheryl’s llamas are really enjoying these cool mornings. We can’t really get up in the morning and go for a run without her running back in to grab the camera. So she spends twenty minutes taking pictures while I’m plodding around the farm. I after my laps I head for the house and I hear “you can’t be done already!” This is now becoming the daily ritual.

We continue to push it hard on the Whiskey. It is really coming along. The shaft frame is in final coat primer and about half sanded. So a couple more hours on this part and it will be ready for color. Other than the step pads this entire frame will be vermillion.

I picked up a new tool today. It is a random orbit pneumatic detail sander. It came with a 2” diameter pad and a 3” diameter pad. I think I’ve purchased just about every detail sander known to man. They are all shoved in the back corner of a cupboard with the cords all tangled up. Someday you will be able to bid on choice at my estate sale. I think this one may be different. First of all it’s a for real tool rather than a do-it-yourselfer $19.95 special. It has a variable speed and really seems to work nicely at getting into those tight spots.

Brandon was using the it on some areas of the wheels and it appears to be doing a really nice job. It should save us a lot of time in some of the hard to reach places. Looks like a good investment so far. We are on the first sanding of the wheels and I would expect to see them going into second coat primer later today or Wednesday.

By the time you read this the body will be ready for paint. Bob has it just about done in this photo. He has a few areas to finish up on the bottom side and it’s ready to spray. The majority of the body will actually be black. The panel around the seat and the box under the seat will be vermillion but otherwise all black. Dale will start out shooting the entire body black with a base then clear. After that the body will be wet sanded and the vermillion base and clear applied. Wet sand the vermillion then clear the whole shebang. Should look like a million bucks.

Have a great Tuesday.

Best!
Todd

Monday Morning Fog

2009-08-24T08:33:00.003-05:00

Monday morning fog can be taken a number of different ways. I guess I mean it in a literal sense today. I shot the photo below from our deck this morning. I even got my socks wet just to do this for you. Just more reassurance that summer is winding down and autumn is lurking in.

If you look closely you can see a llama in a roll hole in the pasture. They love this kind of weather. It has been a great summer for the llamas. Cool with green pastures all summer long. They managed to get through the summer keeping most of their head wool which is a rarity. Normally they rub their heads on the ground to knock off the mosquitoes and being so cool it was a non event.

Ryanne finished up the upholstery for the Mad Max Road Cart on Friday. It turned out just great. She has started on the upholstery for the Whiskey and we should have some photos of that later on in the week. So the wheels for Mad Max are repaired and ready to start paint work. They will go into primer later this week and I’m hoping to wrap up that vehicle by the end of next week.

The Kimball Brougham body continues to rest and relax. Life at the spa so to speak.

Bob started sanding on the doors. They are in first coat primer and are being sanded with 220 this go round.

We are now back down to maybe a half a million pieces. Dale has the front and rear chassis of the Kimball Brougham reassembled. All the parts have been primed and sanded before assembly so both of these components are ready for paint.

Time to get out and clear off the Monday morning fog.

Best!
Todd

Studebaker - New York

2009-08-22T00:00:00.019-05:00

The Studebaker empire started with two of five brothers named Clement and Henry Studebaker. The brothers migrated from Pennsylvania to South Bend, Indiana to begin building wagons in 1852. In 1858 another brother John Mahler Studebaker entered the company and purchased Henry’s interest in the business. By the 1870’s the Studebaker company was growing rapidly and shortly thereafter was considered the largest manufacturer of horse drawn vehicles in the world. By this time their factory in South bend covered 20 acres and they had additional manufacturing facilities in large metro areas such as New York, Chicago and Kansas City. In 1895 Studebaker produced 75,000 units and employed 1,900 people. It was also about at this time that Studebaker began experimenting with motor driven vehicles which lead to their successful transition into that market about fifteen years later.

I’m no expert on Studebaker but this is what I have noticed. Rather than being a focused manufacturer they seemed to make something for everyone. They started business building farm wagons and those were some of the last vehicles to roll out of the factories as they switched to motor vehicles. Studebaker built great fleets of military and municipal vehicles. They mass produced runabouts, sulkies and surreys in huge numbers for the general public and built limited high end carriages to appeal to the social elite.

I have had the pleasure of owning a number of Studebaker carriages over the years that I can say I have really enjoyed. The mass production carriages are pretty much like everyone else’s mass production carriages so no big deal. But the unique sporting and formal carriages are of outstanding quality and design. There is something very American feeling about the style of Studebaker carriages. Hard to describe but uniquely American. I think I’m correct in calling this vehicle a Sailor Wagon. It is a snappy little cut under carriage with a folding grooms seat that I happen to be quite taken by.

Here you can clearly see the groom seat in the upright position. The sides of the rails fold inward for clearance when the seat is stowed under the driver seat. The hinges are visible but the joints are so tight that they are difficult to see even up close. This entire mechanism still works just like the day it was built.

The oil caps are marked Studebaker New York which I would assume meant that it was produced in the New York factory. Over the years I have had vehicles marked Studebaker Brothers, Studebaker South Bend, Studebaker Chicago, and Studebaker New York. All four oil caps are in place and marked.

This carriage has some fantastic details. The raised trim on the body is unique and quite similar to details used in a Bronson Wagon. I really like the way the hand rail is designed on the driver seat with the step and double rail section. Very unique and appealing to the eye. The driver seat is hinged and folds upward for storage of the rear groom seat.

I love this detail on the body supports. The little wood block or cube on the end of the spring block is so different. I can’t recall seeing this design detail before so it really caught my eye. Right now the carriage is in natural finish. It has been restored but a long time ago the way it looks. I’m not sure if it was originally a painted vehicle or natural. I have not had the time to really examine it quite that closely. The body has a couple small damage issues that might be a challenge if we are going to leave it natural so we’ll see.

The only other real problem with the carriage are the wheels. When it was last restored they must have found a pair at the “Island Of Misfit Wheels” and installed then on the back. The front wheels appear to be original and correct. Count the spokes. Ten in the front means there should be twelve in the back. I count fourteen so that was the first sign. The hubs and fellows are not a match either. The fronts are interesting in their design. First off they have a really attractive hub. Secondly the fellows are a tapered profile almost in keeping with a Brewster fellow. They are wider at the spoke than they are at the steel. The fellows also lack any shaping between the spokes so the crisp edge of the fellow carries completely around the circumference of the rim. We are in the process of making two new wheels for the rear that will be an exact match to the front. Then we will be ready to dive into restoration of this great American classic.

Enjoy your weekend.

Best!
Todd

Whiskey Sweet

2009-08-21T08:22:00.007-05:00

BREAKING NEWS! Columbus made national news this morning. Watch the segment below. Hang in there it's toward the end.

Link to NBC News Today Show - Real Estate Segment

I was planning to show you the Studebaker Sailor Wagon today but things are moving along pretty quickly on the Whiskey so I’m hitting that again today. Maybe we’ll see the Studebaker over the weekend. I pulled it out and managed to get a few photos of it the other day so it’s just kind of in waiting. The one little issue with the Studebaker is the rear wheels. Somewhere along the line they were replaced with a misfit pair. So we are in the middle of putting together a new set of wheels made to exactly match the fronts (they are original) which happen to have some unique features. The new wheels will be together in a month or so just in time for us to start in on the vehicle restoration.

No fun pictures today. Just work, work, work. The Whiskey body is nearing the completion of it first sanding. By the time you read this it will be in the booth getting a second coat of primer. I put together the seat cushion frames last night so Ryanne will begin on upholstery today. She has things pretty well put to bed on the Mad Max upholstery and I’ll try to sneak in a photo of that next week.

When we make the frames they need to be a little loose fitting. I like to leave about a quarter inch around the perimeter of the frame for fabric. By the time it is all said and done there are several layers of fabric lapping the perimeter of the wood frame eating away at that quarter inch. That will make for a nice snug fit.

About the only obstruction is the lazy back. I notched both the back side and the bottom of the wedge frame to accommodate those irons. I have also angled the back sides of the cushion frames to match the angle of the main seat frame itself. Once the seat is upholstered that space will be a nice snug fit all the way around with fabric.

The wheels made first coat primer yesterday. We will start in sanding them today. I hope to have at least one of them ready for second coat by the end of the day today.

These puppies really suck up the time. The hubs and spokes are all hand sanded. All those little nooks and crannies need to be done with little sanding blocks to keep things level and smooth. Unfortunately there are no real short cuts here. You are looking deep into the abyss of the worst part of our job…

The axle and spring frame is together and in primer. Dale is planning to paint this part along with the main shaft frame maybe Monday but probably more like Tuesday. I’m confident by the end of the day on Wednesday the wheels and the body will be ready for paint as well. Next week will be in living technocolor compared to the gray primer week we shared this time.

If by chance I don’t blog tomorrow just go ahead and have a great weekend anyway.

Best!
Todd

Carriage Town Michigan

2009-08-20T10:22:00.019-05:00

I ran across an interesting article in the New York Times this morning. Kind of an American tale of a community reinventing itself. Like so many communities going through that process so is Carriage Town Michigan. This community is a neighborhood in Flint Michigan built by the pioneers of the then thriving carriage industry. Once home to the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, Flint Michigan was a leader in the carriage trade. Durant Dort ultimately morphed into General Motors through its creation of Buick. Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times for the photo below.

There is something about this type of community that I find very appealing. The tremendous beauty of these neighborhoods just left to ruin. Now the underdog is fighting back to life. People are drawn back to the beauty and creating a new community. But was Carriage Town a victim of it’s own success? What caused the failure of such an incredible historic neighborhood? For better or worse it was probably modern transportation. Better known as the automobile. The creation of the modern automobile ultimately lead to the development of the suburbs and the fall of the city. After all who wants to drive their fancy new car two blocks back and forth to work. I find it so interesting how the product that created the beautiful core of Flint Michigan probably lead to its demise. I'm looking forward to jumping in my car and visiting Carriage Town sometime soon.

Link to Times Carriage Town Article

We are just a booking along on the Whiskey Gig. The body is in first coat primer and being block sanded as we speak. It is turning out nicely and I expect to see it in second coat primer later on today.

Here are the remains of the chassis parts. We were not wild about the wheels that were on the vehicle so we are changing them out. I was looking for a more refined traditional hub on this one and now we have it. So all the chassis parts are waiting to be reinstalled on a new axle. We should have that wrapped up today.

The shaft frame was sanded and put in second coat primer on Tuesday. It is now ready for final sanding and then on to paint. Maybe we’ll see some paint on those tomorrow.

Here are the new wheels. They turned out great. We copied the hub from the Studebaker Sailor Wagon which I will be blogging tomorrow. The hub is about 4.5” in diameter and a really pretty design. We went with twelve spokes on a one inch axle. These are wood hub wheels with a modern roller bearing boxing. They should look fantastic on this vehicle.

BTW I guess I need to have more bloggless days if I actually want people to comment on my work…

Have a great Thursday.

Best!
Todd

Blogless Wednesday

2009-08-19T08:18:00.000-05:00

See you tomorrow. Have a great day! T

Antique Carriage Restoration

2009-08-18T08:42:00.005-05:00

This is sort of an interesting time of year. Late summer - pre fall. You can begin to feel a change in the air. The plants show it. Some of our flowers are beginning to wind down. The corn is setting ears. Everything is still beautiful but you just begin to feel that change is in the air. Dew is on the grass every morning. Spiders making their webs.

We were out for a little run this morning. The sun over the marsh was really beautiful today. Everything was soaked with dew. I really like the way spider webs come to life in the morning. The combination of patterns, water and light are interesting. Cheryl caught a couple images and the one above was my favorite.

We have a body blog today. The body for the Kimball Brougham has been sealed, primed, sanded and primed again. On a large piece like this I like to let it rest for a few weeks at this point. Let things cure out a bit.

It has really been turning out nice. The panels are level and the new panels blended seamlessly. We have a color selection from our client and Dale & I went over the vehicle to select the break lines in color from black to green.

The Whiskey body is also on the move. Not much resting going on with this one. It is shown here in first coat primer. We are looking to have this body as well as the shafts sanded and in second coat primer by the end of the day today.

I’m also looking to build the seat frames today so we can start in on upholstery. The fabric for this carriage is a wool Bedford cord. Ryanne is wrapping up the seats for the Mad Max Road Cart and will be ready to dive into this later this week.

Feels like it is going to be a beautiful day today. Sunny and the air is a little dryer. A great summer day.

Have a great Tuesday.

Best!
Todd

The Eagle Has Landed

2009-08-17T08:26:00.010-05:00

Hope you all had a great weekend. Kind of warm and muggy around these parts. So here is the follow up or the landing so to speak. This shot taken seconds after my all time favorite driving photo was shot. Posted of course last week on the world famous American Carriage Builder blog. The insiders say Michael was ready when he went into the bridge and it’s a good thing. It looks as though he was well braced and fortunately didn’t need the dash that his carriage doesn’t have anyway. Thanks for the entertainment…

Like I said last week we are getting back to work on the Whiskey Gig. The plan is to have this vehicle ready for the Villa Louis Carriage Classic coming up in three weeks.

Here is the last shot taken of the vehicle before it rolled into the shop to begin paintwork. I really like this vehicle so far. It has good lines and once in paint it will be quite striking. Vicki has selected a bright vermillion that will be accented in black. The stripe will be broad black and the upholstery a tan Bedford cord.

The shafts have gone into their first coat of primer. This first is normally a heavy coat that we often smear on to fill wood grain which is our ultimate goal of the first go round.

We chamfered the edges of the shafts with a 30 degree bevel. Nothing too ornate just a straight bevel which I think is very appropriate for a sporting vehicle of this type. All the fasteners holding the step plates in place have been filled for a traditional appearance.

The body has been hard coat sealed and is getting some last minute spot filling. After some final sanding this morning the body will go into the booth for first coat primer. The wheels and the balance of the suspension and axle will be next in line.

We went for a little drive yesterday. I’m not sure what it is about me when I get in a car but I just go. I can’t stop. I just need to cover ground. I seem to have this need to see the next town until it gets to the point that it’s 8:00 in the evening and we are 3 hours from home. So we spent the entire afternoon and evening sitting in the car. At least I had my chance to stop by the Caboose hot dog stand in the Dells on the way back for a Chicago dog. Something about those things they are just about as addicting as a McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger.

Have a great Monday.

Best!
Todd