Other Work from My Grandfather

As promised, I am posting pictures of other pieces my grandfather made.  The first one is a sleigh.  He made several wagons, three I think, but only one sleigh.  It belongs to my sister and was specifically made for her by our Grandpa.  I had refinished and repainted the wood, as well as made new leather straps that go from the wagon to the harness.  But I did not remake the harness itself.  I like the way the harness turned out for my cousin's wagon.  I have enough calf's leather to make harnesses for my wagon and my sister's sleigh.  When I have time, I will remake those later.




The next two pictures are of the house my grandfather made.  My understanding is that it is a stylized replica of the home in which my grandfather grew up.  He actually made two of these, if you can believe it!  One remains in our family.  The other, my grandfather reportedly donated to the Lithuanian language newspaper that had been published in Chicago.  After the newspaper shut down it was supposed to be transferred to the Lithuanian National Museum in Lamont, IL for display.  However, our family believes that it is now lost, since it is not on display, and no one knows what happened to it.  We (or more accurately, my cousin, who's wagon I refurbished) are looking into locating it.  If we ever do, I think we'll try to either get it to the museum, or try to reacquire it. 

What always fascinated me were the inappropriately sized lawn ornaments he carved to go with the house.  Growing up, it was my job to dust and clean the house, lawn ornaments, and picket fence.  What a chore that was!  You can bet that I'll be finding an acrylic display box to enclose the house and other items sometime soon.  Thankfully, the house does not need any repairs or refinishing. 

 My grandfather was talented, no doubt about that.  I hope everyone who sees his work here appreciates the skill he displayed.  Thank you for following my adventure in refurbishing one of his pieces.

Finished!!!

I finally got around to making the harness.  I modeled it after several real harnesses for wagons, but clearly, it is not a reproduction in every detail.  It merely has elements that invoke several harness types.  Here's a close up of my handiwork.

I used some of my wife's beading finishings to make the attachments from the harness to the rest of the wagon.  I added two rings to the top of the harness to run the reins through.  I really like the effect of the silver rings and crabclaw clips.  It isn't a harness unless there are metal rings and clips.

Now for a shot of the whole wagon with horse, completed.  I may still make a seat cushion for the back seat.  But it may have to wait a while.

One More Item To Go

I have it nearly done now.  All I have to do is make a new harness.  My local shoe repair guy had a scrap of black calf's leather.  VERY NICE.  Also it's thin and will drape well on the plastic horse and be easy to stitch together.  My shoe repair guy tells me it should stay supple for a very long time.  Still, I will treat it with saddle oil to infuse it and help it age well.  I have a picture of a horse's harness for a wagon.  Of course I cannot make one that is as detailed or true-to-life.  I will have to "cheat" to keep it simple, but still get the essence of it.  I should be able to get the critical elements right without too much trouble.  If I am happy with it, I have enough leather to remake mine in a similar fashion.

My son tells me I have another trophy in the craft skills...he plays a lot of video games, can you tell?  This has been a wonderful adventure so far.  I cannot wait for it to be complete so I can post a picture of the refurbished wagon on this blog. The only problem I could not resolve to my satisfaction so far is one of the front wheels is not as round as I would hope.  The splice has an outward deformation that was inherent in the bamboo.  Even reforming it several times didn't cure it.  It kept reverting back to it's old shape.  The "bump" is small, but a permanent part of the wheel.  At least the brass bands are firmly in place and will keep them all from deforming more or the splices from coming undone over time.  If this is the worst issue, I can live with it.  I know I did what I could to correct it.

Initial Reassembly

As you can see, I started reassembling the wagon.  It turned out better than I was expecting.  The brass hoops over the bamboo rims on the wheels are holding the wheels together nicely.  The brown/black patina on the brass makes it look like iron.  New leather harness tethers are attached.  I'll finish those up when I remake the harness.  I even put patina on the metal eyelets to give it a more authentic look.  Overall, I am pleased.

I will be taking a break for a while.  I have gotten this far and just have the horse's harness to do.  But I have some family business to attend to and cannot get to it for a week or so.   I also have to buy the leather and cut strips.  I'll be remaking the design of the harness.  It will be in keeping with the style of a wagon harness.  My grandfather's version was too bulky and awkward.  I'm sure he won't mind.  Besides, my cousin is a horse person...she'll know what the right harness looks like.

Wheel Bands in Place, Some Assembly Required

I was able to make all four wheel bands and slip them onto the wheels.  All are tight fits and this should now hold the wood splices in the bamboo securely and prevent the wheels from deforming over time.

The enamel paint did not seem to set up properly, and it remained soft after four days.  I did not remove the paint prior to slipping the bands on, hoping that the soft enamel on the bamboo will eventually harden and adhere to the bands, adding further stability.  However, the paint on the rest of the wheels was damaged slightly by all the extra handling.  So with soft enamel and paint damage, I decided it was best to begin stripping the paint I painstakinly applied, down to the bare wood.  I used an Exacto knife as a scraper, sandpaper, and finally a wipedown of lacquer thinner to remove all traces of paint.  Two of the wheels are now primed with Kilz multipurpose primer.  I have yet to strip the remaining two wheels.

A third reason to strip the paint was that I am still not satisfied with the pale yellow.  It still looks too intense.  I wish I could remember what brand of paint I used on my wagon's wheels.  It was a perfect match to what Granpa originally applied.  I can still remeber the shape of the jar it came in, short but larger in diameter than the Testor's paint bottles, about the diameter of a 50 cent piece.  I have some white to further blend with the pale yellow to get the desired color.  I will also add some thinner so I apply thinner coats.  That way each coat is thin enough to dry and cure properly between coats.  I will wait for the weather to break so the temperature and humidity are lower.  Currently, the temperature outside is in the 90's with dew points in the 70's.  Not ideal for painting.

In between working on the wheels, I have begun reassembling the wagon.  The new eyelets I bought look "too new".  It struck me that since I am applying a patina to the wheel bands, I should replace the zinc plated eyelets with brass ones the same size.  A little steel wool to break the surface on the brass will work for applying the patina to the brass hardware.  It will then all match the wheels, and together, it will look pretty cool, I think.

I have the wagon mounted to the undercarriage and the splash fenders reattached to the wagon.  I cannot do any more until I have the wheels done and on the wagon.  The last bit to be redone will be the new harness for the horse and the leather straps from the harness to the connection on the wagon.  Originally, these leather straps were looped through a leather loop incorporated into the harness Grandpa made.  I bought some tiny rings and will sew them onto the harness for the leather straps to be attached to instead of adding the bulkier leather loops when I make the harness  It will make making the harness easier, but also it will reduce the bulk and give it a sleeker look.  I found some examples of harnesses on the internet and will pattern the new one both on the old one, and the pictures I found. 

All these changes are making me reexamine my wagon.  Someday, I'll probably put metal bands on the wheels, and I may eventually change the harness to give it a sleek look.  I did not change anything when I refinished my wagon, and stuck completely to Grandpa's original design.  But the necessity of strengthening the wheel splices and other subtle changes on my cousin's wagon have me thinking that it would be OK to modify it a bit.  So far, I am liking the result of these changes.

I Must Be Lucky!

I bought all the things I'd need to make the brass hoop for the wheels and came home.  I bought extra brass strips because I knew I'd have to fiddle around with it and a couple would be trashed.  First bit of luck is that the brass strips are exactly the width I need, so I don't have to trim them down.  I carefully soldered a lap splice after measuring three or four times to be sure I had the right length marked.  The splice was made to make the hoop the tiniest bit smaller.  I cleaned the surface and applied the patina. 

Unfortunately, the patina rubbed off as I slipped the hoop over the wheel, ruining the paint job.  With a bit of light force, I got it secured around the bamboo.  It looks great!  Now I don't have to worry about the bamboo splice coming undone.  I do have to strip the new paint off of the wheel and repaint it.  But that's a small price to pay for fixing a problem like this.

Funny how the techniques from plumbing (soldering the brass), stained glass (the patina), woodworking, and knowledge of how wheelwrights applied the iron hoop all came together to make this work.  Now only three more to go.

Wheel Trouble

Somehow I knew those wheels were going to give me problems.  Even though I used the strongest wood glue to bond the splices in the bamboo, and clamped it in a circle for hours to set, two if them started coming loose slightly.  I used superglue to rebond them, but I am afraid that heat and humidity over time, will weaken them again.

My cousin had purchased leather in the hopes that one day she would redo the wheels and secure them by gluing skived leather onto the outside of the wheels.  Unfortunately, I think the leather will be too pliable.  In the end, the expanding joint will overcome the strength of the leather, and the joint will still deform.  Leather also becomes brittle over time, so it's not a permanent fix.  After thinking about this, I've come up with a solution I will try.  I can purchase thin strips of brass and fashion a hoop.  The lap splice can be secured with solder.  Once I clean the surface and buff it, I can add a patina to the brass hoop to darken it to look like iron.  If I make the hoop the slightest hair smaller than the bamboo hoop, I can borrow a technique from the old wheelwrights:  Heat the brass hoop in boiling water to expand it, and then quickly slip it over the bamboo hoop.  As it cools, it will contract for a friction fit.  The metal will not allow the bamboo joint to deform and it should hold it in a circle.

While not in the original intent of my Grandfather, it is in keeping with the technique and look of wagons from his childhood, which he used to pattern his replicas. 

The thing is, I'll have to be precise in my measurement, and quick in applying the hoop. If I fail, I have to come up with a different solution.