Traditional Brush Carriage Painting and Lining

To complement the quality of a hand-built wooden carriage or other horse-drawn vehicle, we believe that the vehicle must be painted in the traditional manner also. We therefore offer a specialist traditional brush painting service either for your newly-completed vehicle or for an original coach or carriage which is in need of a re-paint.

Our coach painting process involves carefully building up layer after layer of enamel, resulting in a brush-mark-free finish second-to-none. We also offer a carriage-lining service, and we can gold leaf chamfers.

Ali Lang has been coach painting and lining for over 20 years, having learned her craft in England working mainly on gypsy caravans.

Steam Bending of Wood

Perhaps the most obvious use of curved boards is in boat building, where the curve of the hull is formed by bends of wood. Wood bending can also be seen in staircase banisters, decorative objects and of course in wooden wheels, carriage shafts and hood bows.

The advantage of bending wood over laminating it is flexibility - a laminated coach pole, for example, will do the same job but won't provide the springy comfort of one made from steam-bent ash.

At The Wheelwright Shop we use the best quality, flawless woods for our steam-bending work - especially ash, oak and hickory sourced locally and sustainably.

Antique and Furniture Repairs and Restoration

We will also undertake any traditional woodwork, furniture-making or joinery with the utmost care and craftsmanship.

We have built brand new wooden furniture such as tables, chairs and dressers using traditional methods and designs. We will also repair furniture and restore or repair antiques and will undertake furniture finishing, especially shellacking.

We enjoy making and repairing farm implements and are skilled in the art of marquetry. We have even made a judge's gavel!