Craft:Wainwright

Wainrights build carts and wagons, in smaller villages the wheelwright will also act as the wainwright. A cart is a 2 wheel affair, designed for relatively light loads. Some nobles in Anuire and Brechtur have a 2-wheel buggy designed to pulled swiftly about town or their estate (the Rjurik shun such wastefulness, the Khinasi and Vos prefer to ride).
The basic wagon or cart is a body of wood which rests upon an undercarriage which raises it clear of ground obstructions and holds the wheels. Wagons or carts are generally wide enough to be pulled by two horse, mules or donkeys. Oxen carts are wider still, but are rare in the main as horses with the proper barding are far more efficient draft animals, Ox carts are said to be fairly common in Aduria.
The body of the wagon can be solid, which requires a great deal or wood, or have fenced sides which are lighter. Generally a wagon will be solid at the bottom and have fencing to extend the sides if it is to hold bulky but light goods such as hay. 'Bow' wagons have sides which bend up at the front and back to maximise the load that can be carried.
The body of the wagon is generally made of tough long-wearing wood such as ash, although wagons for hay and other light goods may be made of softer lighter wood. A very large wagon might hold as much as 3 or 4 tons of cereal, though wagons of this size (strictly wains) are only practical in flat areas usch as Coeranys and the Diemed lowlands, such a wagon might have wheels 6 feet high. The body is always painted to protect it from the elements, each province having its own tradition of colours, lines and swirls to decorate the wagons.
The undercarriage of a wagon uses beech for the axles, ash and oak for the main coupling beams (which in larger wagons could be as much as 10 inches thick to bear the heavy load over jolts without breaking). The axle arms are made with a slight forward tilt so that the wheels run very slightly together which reduces the risk of them running off, the front wheel is mounted on a framework to allow steering. This framework turns about a kingpin which is an iron post.
Quarter-turn carriages are the simplest types of wain as the front wheels can turn only as far as the straight sides of the wagon. Half-lock wagons are built with a waisted undercarriage (curved) triangle. The front wheels can turn into the 'waist' allowing them to turn at a much sharper angle. Three quarter lock wagons have a very narrow waist and the wheels can turn as far as the coupling beam. Full-lock carriages have small front wheels which are held entirely below the body of the wagon and can be turned right around. Generally the hillier the area and the narrower the roads, the greater the need for increased turning ability.
Tip carts are carts designed to tip backwards and are commonly used for muck and other material which is dumped and then spread about. Hybrid carts are temporary extensions added to a cart at harvest time when the number of wagons is insufficient to handle the harvest gathered. A fore-carriage and front wheels are linked to the cart, and a framework is then used to extend the body of the cart over the front wheels. The resulting wagon cannot carry the heavy loads of a true wagon but is useful for carrying hay, straw and other bulky but light loads.
Carriages are ornamental wagons designed to carry people in comfort. Carriages often use panels of ash which, due to their specific shape, must be steam moulded, and are usually cut and bent while the ash is green and then seasoned by the wainwright for several years in a mould or a carefully arranged pile. Carriages are common in Anuire and Brechtur but relatively uncommon elsewhere.

[top]Sleds

Sleds are wagons which have runners instead of wheels. Sleds are useful over snow or mud, but also long grass and in hilly areas. In hilly areas sleds are best downhill while wagons are good uphill, for going downhill wagons can push the horse which the horse finds very unpleasant and which can be dangerous. Some wainwrights take advantage of this by making drogues for the wheels ? small runners which attach to the wheel. These drogues are added when the wagon goes down hill and removed when it goes uphill. Another alternative is to use runners for the front and wheels at the back, going uphill or level the runner is lifted clear of the ground by the horse pulling it and does not drag. Going downhill the runner slows the wagon and stops it running down into the horse. Mud sleds are used to harvest cockles and other estuary mudlife, the harvester leans on the sled and pushes it along, the sled spreads their weight over a wide area (it has a single wide runner) and stops them sinking into the mud.
Sleds are common in the Rjurik Highlands, northern Brechtur, and in Vosgaard.