In Richardsons "practical blacksmithing", there is a reference to tools and jigs to make french clips. I believe  they are for carriages. Does anyone here know more? This has been haunting me for years. Thanks.

Mike 

I'll start out by saying that I have absolutely no idea. The book is fascinating, though. I borrowed it from my local group's (PABA) library and am in the midst (Mist?) of my 2nd read-thru. Lots of buggy fittings, running gear iron tires and axles. Lots of great info, though. All of this with the caveat that it was written via the IFI of the time, circa 1889-1891 or so. Lots of stuff wouldnt pass muster with OSHA, or even the insurance co. A definite must-read, though.

 

Steve

"This has been haunting me for years." 

 

15 seconds of searching. 

 

http://www.google.vu/patents/US94630

Some of us are google chalanged, heck I still go round and round with the IFI surch engine.
I envy your google foo

The book is free on Google books here

http://books.google.com/books?id=_50rAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=practical+blacksmithing&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hrugUcHYDYK-8ATv44CgBQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA

 

Don't use IFI Search.   Use this.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/27283-how-to-best-search-ifi/

Attached is the image of a french clip from the book

I’ve always wondered the same and am still not clear from the above discussion how exactly they were used in carriage construction.

When I searched Google I got this as a "french clip".... Believe it for women to wear in their hair...

 

 

Dale

_{Glenn, what is the purpose of a French Clip?}

It may have taken 15 secs but it didnt answer the question "what is a french clip" HELP I dont want this to haunt me for years too : )

"This has been haunting me for years." 

 

15 seconds of searching. 

 

http://www.google.vu/patents/US94630

I too searched for french clip on the googles, and then french clip with "patent". It still didn't come up.

 

I salute your grumpy old man status John, rail away, or don't, but would you like to give us "plebes" some help on 

your search techniques? Or is that help on IGOOGLEIRON?

 

Sorry to bother. 

No bother. Do what any of us old fa..., uh, old timers born under a flag with 48 stars do when confronted with a technological marvel - find some tattooed kid with piercings to explain it to you. If by chance they are related to you, you seldom have to resort to outright bribery or threats of violence. Simply withholding food works.

 

There actually is a method for the search engine madness. When to use quotes around words and phrases, when to use a plus sign. There is even an online tutorial: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/tipstricks/all.html

 

Our school librarian gets frustrated with students that never look past the first page of results. They seem astounded that anyone would work for FIVE WHOLE MINUTES to find something. The information is out there, but sometimes you have to move a lot of sediment to find a grain of gold.

 

If this old dawg can learn a few new tricks, anyone can. Heck, in the last few years, I even created and maintained a departmental inventory in Excel. (OK, I still type with two fingers, 10 words a minute. It's kinda like the bear on a bicycle at the circus. Never going to win a driveway race with a 10 year old, much less the Tour de France. But, who knew they could actually learn to do that at all?)

Google books also has books with text, but no pictures, about how the French carriages of the 1870's were of finer woodwork and metalwork than the English style. As Americans became more prosperous, and steamships made travel to "the Continent" easier, old world styles and fashions permeated the new world. Even blacksmiths and carriage builders had to get with it, or lose trade to those who did.

 

books.google.com/books?id=BH6ghectymIC

Maybe someone will tell me what "THILL IRONS" are . This is from the same book, M.T. Richardson "Practical Blacksmithing"

Again, carriage building. The explanation is clear as mud to me. But it is from Louisiana, O N R!

 

http://www.google.com/patents/US760207

Apparently The thill was used to attach the horse to the carriage. Thill irons look like they were used to attach the thill to carriage. They bolted to the thill and attached to the crossbar on the carriage. One interesting thing in the patent apparently thill couplings were " universal" or "standardized". ( searched thill then read the patent ;) )

It's funny.... but not really, I repaired the carriages that work Central Park NY for fifteen years, all kinds of "stuff" except the wheels. (I missed learning how to hot set the metal rim by my predecessor, by a month ) but I don't know any of the parts by name, it was like " can you make one of these ?" or "can you fix this? ". a real shame on my part

Different countries, different terms, different industries. In underground mining (coal in NSW anyway) thills were the shafts used with horse traction underground for moving rakes of skips, the thills stayed with the horse after he was unhitched from the rake of skips, it was held up by the britching that he wore, it also allowed the horse to apply a braking force to the skips on a down hill section. Thills used in this way are probably similar to the thills/ thill irons used for coaches, only on the coaches the thills would have remained with the coach not with the horse. As can be seen I have attached photos showing a set of wooden thills with thill irons at the back where they attached onto the skip, where as the photo of the skip shows a set of all steel thills, notice the eye on the front of the skip where the hook on the thills goes through to attach the skip, also note the coupling hook at the bottom of the skip, the skips had these hooks both front and back for making them up into a little train (called a "rake" of skips) they were coupled by a chain of 3 links. Each skip weighed about a ton fully loaded.
Pickys attached
(Having a workshop in an old colliery can be an advantage) (only now just went and took these photos for this thread)