Renaissance Wagon

First published 10/17/2011 - Updated 11/14/2011
(Jump to steel wheels)

The thought of taking a young child to a Renaissance faire conjures up visions of "I'm tiiiiired!!" and "I want to go hoooome!!". Anyone with a kid should understand this. Kids just aren't cut out to spend a whole day walking around and doing things that are more interesting to their parents, so it's a good idea to bring transportation for them. Pushing a modern stroller around a Renaissance festival is fine, but if you're in costume then that could detract from the theme. The solution? The Renaissance Wagon!



The Ren Wagon is my own original design. While it may be more medieval-style than Renaissance, I used materials I had on hand and kept the cost low. I used wood where ever possible and kept the use of metal to a minimum.

Wheels and axles

True classic style wood and steel wagon wheels would have cost about $30+ each, so that was out of the question. I made 10" wheels cut from a pine 2x12 board using a jigsaw, so they're not perfectly round. The center of each wheel has a 7/8" hole to accomodate the 7/8" (outer diameter) steel pipe axles. There is a large steel washer on each side of each wheel, and they're fastened to the axles with hitch pins. The rear uses one long axle, and the front wheels each have a shorter independent axle. Candle wax is used to lubricate the wheels on the axles. The main pull member is an oak 1x2 board and the metal handle (not really pictured) is custom welded from 1x1/8" flat steel bar and a piece of thin steel pipe I had sitting around. Apparently the handle turned out too well because the kids wanted to know where I bought it. By scoring the flat steel beforehand, I found that I can make really accurate bends and turn out a really consistent looking piece.





Steering

The rack and pinion-style steering mechanism is built from pine, oak, and elm. When you pull left or right on the main pulling handle, the wheels turn left or right. This makes for a very stable wagon that doesn't want to tip over in a sharp turn. The front wheels are mounted on short 7/8" pipes which are housed by short 2x4 elm wood blocks. The inside ends of the axles have 1" plates welded on to prevent the pipes from slipping out of the blocks.



The steering crossbar was later replaced by a stronger board:







The handle is made from 1" flat steel bar and a 3/4" thin steel pipe scrap:



Sides and decking

The decking and sides are made from cedar fence boards, sanded partially smooth. The upright side supports are oak and are tied in to the wagon's pine frame with 3.5" steel lag screws. Instead of using washers, I hand cut flat steel brackets which add strength and cosmetic interest. The combination of the oak, steel, and tie-in to the frame at two places makes the sides really, really solid.



Name plate

The name plate (or license plate) "Ye Olde Stroller" was my idea. It's just a piece of cedar with a hand cut lettering painted black. I fabriacated the metal hinge by welding mild steel pieces.



Canopy

The canopy is also my original design. The frame is made of 1/4" steel rod with short pipe pieces at the junctions. The whole thing can be easily disassembled and tied to the side of the wagon. The canopy itself is thick cotton canvas, assembled with a sewing machine.







Here we see the two cast iron fleur de lis finials that protrude through the canvas at the peak of the canopy:





The canopy and steel frame are removeable and stow in this canvas bag:



Finishes

The cedar boards, like all other wood parts, are finished with teak oil. This will give the wood some resistance to moisture. The local Renaissance festival doesn't close for rain. The exposed metal parts are painted either flat black or coated with Eastwood's rust converter which turns them black.

First use

We used the wagon on October 29th, 2011 with great success! We stayed at the Faire for a full 8 hours and the wagon was a great asset. We got a great deal of positive comments from many people, especially some of the staff at the Faire.

Upon loading the wagon into the truck at the end of the day, I noticed that we had lost one lag screw and a few bolts were loose, but the steering assembly held together well due to the 7" x 3/8" bolts that pull the whole assembly together. That was a great last-minute addition to the design.

The only real problem was that the wheel hubs wore significantly during the day, causing more and more play in the wheels. One problem resulting from this was that I could not back the wagon up, because the front wheels toed in too much. Clearly I was going to need more technology in the wheel department.

A work in progress

I felt it was necessary to replace the original wheels. The choices were to fit the wood wheels with metal hubs of some kind to prevent metal-of-wood wear, find new or used wood wagon wheels, or buy or make steel wagon wheels. I am currently in the process of fabricating steel wagon wheels which was the lowest cost path, however I don't know if steel wagon wheels are 100% historically accurate. Fitting the wagon with new wheels will require new axles in the front and back which will probably require that I cut new wood blocks for the axles. This will require disassembly of much of the wagon, especially in the front because the axle blocks are sandwiched in between other parts for durability.

Steel Wheels - November 2011

With great time and effort, I was able to produce and fit the wagon with a working set of steel wagon wheels. There were two main problems with the original wood wheels. First, the steel axle-on-wood design was imperfect, especially as the wood wore away or became compressed around the hub. This resulted in really uneven wheels with great play at the axles. Second, I think the wheels looked more medieval than renaissance. Evidence from the era shows wooden wagon wheels being commonplace so in my (uneducated) opinion it seems possible that iron wagon wheels could have been made.

I rolled 1" x 1/4" flat steel stock into 9" circles, then welded 2 circles together to make a 2" wide wheel. I then welded in 6 spokes with a steel center hub. The actual production involved the construction of a jig which allowed me to make the wheels in a cookie cutter fashion to ensure they were as identical as possible. The final products aren't perfect, mostly because rolling 1/4" steel into perfectly round cirles using a $60 ring roller from Harbor Freight is not an exact science.









The hubs use bronze bushings and washers through which is fitted a 1/2" solid steel axle. The inside of the hubs are filled with grease. I had to produce new hardwood blocks on all 4 corners to hold the new, thinner axles. This required disassembling and reassembling the whole front steering assembly which is a bit of a puzzle.

The resulting product is fantastic! You can push the wagon gently and it will roll down the driveway under its own inertia. The old wheels would only allow the wagon to move 2 or 3 feet with a similar push. I was riding around on the wagon like a kid on a skateboard after I completed the wheels. The difference between the wood and steel wheels was night and day.

The rear axle can spin, but it fits so tightly into the blocks that I suspect it will remain stationary. The front axles are just simple spindles and are attached in a way so that they will not spin: The inside end of each spindle is welded to a plate which is screwed to the block that holds the spindle. This will prevent the wood mounting blocks from wearing prematurely which will keep the wheels aligned and square to the ground. To avoid going to the hardware store, I re-used the hitch pins from the old axles although they're a bit too large.

Instead of either painting the wheels or leaving them bare, I took a new approach. I cleaned them with brake cleaner to remove oil residue, then I brushed them with a mixture of vinegar and salt and let them sit overnight. The bare steel started oxidizing immediately. Most of the rust wiped off the next day but they continued to develop an iron oxide patina, probably because I never neutralized the salt-acid mixture. The resulting effect gives them a pleasing old look, so at this time I see no need to apply and kind of paint or finish. The 1/4" steel will last a long, long time even as it rusts naturally.





Cargo compartment

After spending 20 hours building and installing the wheels, I still had energy left so I decided to tackle the 'hidden' cargo compartment. Since I had all of the metalworking tools out, I decided to make the thing from metal. Using metal also enabled me to make a more efficient use of the space and put together the structure in under an hour.

The compartment is just a 5 sided metal cage that sits below the deck. Two of the deck rails lift up to reveal the compartment. I fabricated a hinge, but it's not installed and not shown in the photos yet.



Accessories

I also stitched together a leather saddle bag type thing from scrap leather. This will make storage for small things like napkins, cell phones, or items purchased at the Faire. At this time there is no mechanism holding the bag to the wagon other than gravity, so I'm still trying to figure out how to secure it. Possible ideas are leather straps, or perhaps steel pegs that stick up from the wagon side.



Last round of work

I fastened the saddle bags on with a single strip of 1/2" steel and two screws.



The two boards covering the cargo compartment are fastened on with a 1" strip of steel and 4 mismactched screws. Again, I wanted to avoid a trip to the hardware store because I have thousands of screws already.



Here we see the cargo compartment again. After oxidizing the steel, I covered it with Eastwood's Rust Coverter which turns the rust into a black, durable coating. This should allow us to put things there without having them turn orange from the rust.



Here's the cargo compartment from below:



Here's a good shot of the hub assembly. We see the 1/2" steel axle, bronze bushings and washers, and hitch pin. I had to wire the hitch pin closed because they were sliding off. You'll also notice the effect of the salt-vinegar treatment on the steel. I decided to leave the metal like this. The wheels will be subject to dust, water, and mud so I think they should look rough.



Finally, a parting shot of the finished product!



Current status

We will be making one more trip to the TRF this year which will give us a real road test for the steel wheels. I have also been thinking about some kind of cup holder for the kids, probably made from 1/4" steel rod, but I don't want the thing to end up looking too fancy so that may not happen.

Contact me at 'ken ((at) kenblair (dot) com' for more info.

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