Pieh Tool

This invaluable book, reprinted from a rare original catalogue, advertises the commercial carts, wagons, vans and drays builty by a prosperous wagon and carriage works in Bristol, England at the turn of the 20th century.  Proudly displaying the royal seal, and boasting they were "Contractors to Her Majesty's Government," the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works built and sold vehicles customized for many different occupations and trades people:  farmers, dairymen, and more.  Each of these ingeniously designed vehicles is rendered in a finely detailed line drawing, and is accompanied by descriptive copy that points to its many special features.  Over 270 drawings-a delight to pursue and study!

Spivey

This is a great reference to identify pieces and parts or wagon hardware and tools.  (The cover is black with gold lettering).  Thousands of really neat illustrations of wagon and hardware and supplies.

Edited by Don Peloubet, Wheelwright

The last half of the nineteenth century marked a huge transition in carriage building; basically, from individual carriage shops to large, industrialized carriage factories.  A major factor in this transition was the concurrent change in the manufacture of wheels, from individual wheelwriting to industrial wheelmaking.  This book is a compilation of articles on wheelmaking taken from late 19th century journals published in America for the carriage industry.  It chronicles an industry being transformed, partly by a spate of new patended designs, but chiefly by the advent of power machinery and the mechanization of the wheelmaking process.  The articles are divided into ten sections:  the first is a long overview of wheel-making technologies of the time, followed by sections on the dishing of wheels, hubs, spokes, felloes and rims, tires, rubber tires, patent wheels, and wheel repair.  Taken together, the articles give the reader a full understanding of the fast-moving changes that took place in the wheelmaking industry during the late 19th century, how the various new patents and processes worked, and how the various experts in the field felt and differed about them.