The wheelwright

These days, blacksmithing and wheelwrighting are considered as bygone trades, more relevant to the 19th or early 20th centuries when horses reigned supreme and the skills of the village blacksmith were critical to the building and maintaining of the buggies, wagons and equipment required to feed and clothe the nation. While those heady days are long gone there are still those who continue to ply the trade, supporting the demand for the restoration of equipment that is generally destined for a museum or for other public display. One such, and rare individual is Ken Greisbach who owns and runs the Nobby Forge, located in the village of Nobby in SE Queensland. He has been a blacksmith and wheelwright for more than 50 years. I came across Ken when I was looking for someone to fabricate classic style brackets for a wool classing table being restored and repurposed as a dining table. This chance meeting resulted in an invitation to visit the forge to watch the fitting of a steel tyre to a newly fabricated wagon wheel which had been built at Nobby Forge over the preceding weeks.

While long lasting, wooden wagon wheels eventually require maintenance or replacement. These are close to 200 years old and it isn't difficult to see that the wooden components are badly in need of replacement, however the steel components will be re-cycled.

Preparing the forge.

The forge, along with the anvil and vice make up the heart of the blacksmith's shop.

Lister, single piston, water-cooled engines have been used across Australia and probably most of the British Empire to drive all manner of agricultural and industrial equipment for more than a century. This one drives the mechanical hammer in the forge. Who knows how old it is but Lister started making engines in England in 1867.

Industrial architecture.

Wide belt drive train from the Lister engine to the hammer.

The mechanised hammer

Tools that probably haven't changed much for a couple of centuries.

Firing and fitting a steel tyre to a wooden cart wheel

The bark of the iron bark tree (an Australian native) is used to heat the steel tyre. It takes about 1 hour to reach the required temperature.

In the meantime, final touches are made to the wheel. The wheel was made by the wheelwright using recycled Australian hardwoods and took a number of weeks to complete.