Well, back in the day you couldn't afford more than one vehicle, perhaps you had a buggy
or a spring wagon that you would take to town and in the winter time would be nice if you
had a little cutter or a sleigh.
Well these were one style of removable runners that were designed to on in place of the buggy
wheel.
And even though they weren't really quite as common, or actually quite as safe, as a
full blown cutter, it was a viable option.
Well today you run across some of t these runners at different auctions.
And this was a set that was picked up and then brought in to see if I could perhaps
fix them.
The back two runners were old original set, and the request was that I just leave them
alone in the condition they are.
So this is kinda how they fit on to a buggy.and these ones were for the back wheels.
So what I need to do is make a pair for the front wheels.
Well, the irons that were purchased at this auction weren't exactly part of the same set,
but I think with a little bit of help we can make em fit.
Well you've watched me bend wood quite a bit so I won't bore you with the details of how
I bent the wood for these runners.
But I've bent a number of these before so I had some forms that were pretty close and
certainly workable.
So these were the original irons for the front runners that came up with the old rear set
of runners.
There are a few little variations which makes me think that these weren't an original set,
or a set of four, but we can make em work and they'll look like they are a uniform set
when we're done.
We'll even in the initial examination of these irons I began to notice something wasn't even
matched between these two.
You see the differences between the holes that where the upright brackets were attached.
So what I'm gonna do is actually take the old original rear runners and see which one
of these two is closest and then we'll make the odd one fit.
Well when I bent wood for these runners they called for an inch and a quarter wide and
an inch and a half deep, but it's difficult to bend the wood that is narrower than it
is wide.
So I chose to bend these at an inch and a half square then I'm gonna plane them down
to and inch and a quarter that will match the irons for both the runners and the uprights.
Well once I get the wood and iron kind of mated up, well then it's just the process
of making sure they match and getting them assembled.
Even though these seem like a simple little project, with all the little curves and angles
and bends, they're kind of a time consuming little rascal, but were gonna get it.
Now there are several different styles of these runners and different little attachments
that attach them to the axle.
This one uses kind of a barrel style, and there was only one with the front pair so
I'm gonna make a second one to kind of match the other one that was there.
It wasn't the best, but actually these runners aren't ever gonna be used, so I think I'm
gonna leave he old one as it is and I kind of gave it some second thought as I got to
going and actually made two of these so there is a spare for the other front wheel in case
he ever needs it.
Well the braces on this second set of irons just had a couple of bolts put in there, where
the other one was more original and had rivets.
So I'm gonna kind of assemble this initially wit the bolts, but eventually I'm gonna swap
'em back and put rivets in them.
Well this little running gear that I have here is a running gear to what is often called
a doctor's buggy, a piano box buggy, a run-a-bout, they really go by a lot of names, but this
little buggy would be something that would be appropriate for these removable runners.
So these runners are not actually gonna go to this little buggy, but I thought I would
put em on just so you could see what they look like.
This little buggy is one that's here for restoration, so it's just kind of an example of how you
can convert a doctor's buggy, or a little buggy like this, in to a sleigh for the winter.
Once again, thanks for watching!