How to Carry (solo/crafting)

[Mikoto]

There was a lack of carts in this game.

That statement wasn't entirely true. There were carts but they were mostly owned by people of the land and they were small things that could be easily moved by one or two persons. True out in the fields in the further flung small settlements of Persons of the Land there were larger carts. Adventurers had nothing of the sort so she, as anyone with access to a whacking great brute of horse and the woodworker subclass ought to, felt obligated to construct herself a cart and then teach the cowardly steed of hers to pull it. It would serve her two purposes firstly it'd earn her some money from the now buggered up quest system the people controlled as well as give her something to do besides monster bashing and training Bedwyr. Lastly it'd allow her to work the shire horse's capacity as a mount. He'd gain confidence from puling the cart and trust in her as his driver and rider. Amongst other things thats what his breed in her time were used for.

Since the advent of the cannon and gun the need for large horses capable of carrying fully armored knights into combat at full gait. Since that time the brawny buggers had been relegated to the plow, the wagon, the cart and the braining of the marshlands. That was until the advent of the steam and internal combustion engines outright replaced them entirely. Now they were show beasts. They saw some work in various specialty functions but now they were nothing but pets. In here, Bedwyr and the rest of his species, were mounts of work and war. 

She'd taken care this time to order her lumber ahead of time and had it delivered to somewhere else besides the old train station. While at her work space she'd have plenty of room to build the wagon there was no possibility of her getting it out in one piece. That was how she'd come to be outside what in reality was the parliament building. 

(WC: 345)

[Mikoto]

She supposed that it was the Parliament building even within this game. Though as of the present it wasn't seeing much use. It did see use as the city bank and the meeting spot of many guilds and parties. That was inside the buildings lobby. She'd had the foresight to have the materials and tools she'd need brought to the back of the building where she'd be able to work undisturbed. That was the most important thing to her. As a person whom, in reality, had no hand skills when it came to carpentry and had on other servers when this had been just a game relied heavily on the automated crafting recipes being able to work without being disturbed was paramount.

As she rounded the last corner to where she'd asked for the supplies to be dropped she sighed in contentment. Everything was there including the steel bands she'd asked a Lander blacksmith to make for her in the necessary lengths. Some would be used to helped hold the sides together. Others for holding the frame and tongues together as well as providing extra strength to the wheels. Looking through the rest of the supplies the timber was all sized how she needed it though she'd need to cut down some of them for various parts. The smith had also been kind enough to provide her with more than enough nails having given her an entire kegs worth. She supposed she could save them at her workspace for future projects to avoid the need of wooden pegs. That would definately cut down on her time for constructing most things though she wasn't entirely sure yet what she'd make after this cart.

(WC-282)

[Mikoto]

If a person knew anything about the construction and layout of the British Parliament building they would know that the back of it, the wall space near the gardens, had large flat areas of plain worked stone. These made excellent surfaces upon which to draw plans upon. Thankfully she'd scouted out the area before deciding to work in it. That being said she'd brought something to draw with, charcoal. Reaching into a pocket of her breaches, these over sized breaches had pockets, she pulls out a small slip of parchment she'd jotted down the measurements of Bedwyr on. This was important because she had neither the equipment nor time to build a low slung cart and sweep the tongues up to reach Bedwyr's high flanks. To do that would require access to more wood and the ability to build a steamer box and a set of skills that while she had the rudimentary ability and idea of how to do it would was not something she was willing to bet the safety of her cart on. So, it was simply easier to build the cart with a higher ride than what might be normal. So she set to work measuring out the height of her mount on the wall and making a charcoal hash mark. From there deciding the cart's overall dimension from the ground level would be easy-ish...

About an hour later she had the overall design scrawled on the wall of parliament building. The cart would sit roughly two hands shorter than trusty steed and would be nearly six foot in length from its front near Bedwyr's ass and where she sat to the open end from which it could be loaded and unloaded. The would wheels would be bigger than most round shields and nearly twice times as thick. This would be required if she wished to haul anything of significant weight. Her seat would be out slightly in front of the head wall and perched atop it to keep her just above the bay colored shires back side so his excrement would not fall upon her feet nor would she need to try and balance herself atop whatever it was she hauled. The tongues were low enough that if she chose to she could ride atop her companions back to comfort him in towns and cities when people milled about and things were unfamiliar. The sides of the cart would be roughly eighteen inches high and sloped outward slightly to allow her to contain odd shaped loads with more ease. Along the frame she'd made sure to have dedicated mounts with which to secure a canvas cover or to secure ropes to when she had need to. These would be made from scrap wood and would resemble the wooden toggles that held closed some jackets and tents. She expected though she'd spend much time simply ferrying things that wouldn't require much in the way of securing but it never hurt to have more tie down points than were necessary. 

(WC-503)

[Mikoto]

Thirty minutes after the drawings completion she had the side boards cut and laid out in the approximate position they'd take up in the final product. One by one she cut down the thicker boards to make the frame the cart would ride upon and what would support the weight of its future cargos. These timbers were size inches thick and four inches wide. While these timbers were huge by comparison to the rest but they had to be. With them cut to length she hewed out the sub frame for the bed of the wagon. They took considerably less time than the other parts she'd cut out to this point. Cutting small slots into each rib and the sub beams she slots the frame together before driving nails into it. Buying the nails had been a requirement in her mind. While wooden pegs would have worked to hold this wagon together they required the use of glue. Glues she had no access to and did not have the means of paying someone to synthesize for her. So, she used nails. Hardy wide headed nails.

Quickly the cart came together after the completion of the frame. She cut slots into the out ends of the frame and drove thinner pieces of wood into them before nailing them into place. These small boards that fit into the hole would serve to hold the sidewalls up and in place. Laying out the deck boards that would be the bed of the cart and with about as much deft skill as someone who had no mechanical skills at all in real life could manage she drove home those wonderful metal spikes. Repeating the process for the side walls she soon has something that represented a cart minus its wheels. Turning the cart over so it rested on its side walls she attached what would be the carriers for the axle. These were nothing particularly special just large triangular pieces of wood with holes bored into them to allows the axle to pass through. These were held on with larger nails as they needed to pass through several inches of their own material before piercing the frame and biting into it.

For an axle she'd bought a hefty piece of wood that wasn't more than a trued branch with its bark removed. This would be best as the grain was not interrupted in many places and would retain a lot of its natural flexibility. Sliding the pole through the holes she turns her attention to wheels that still needed to be constructed. This would be a multiple piece wheel. Internally they'd be solid cross sections of a trees trunk then rounded off as best was possible. Affixed to the outside for strength and support would be cut planks that would sandwich the cross section between them. These would have bands of steel and nails helping to hold them to the center disk. Taking her simple drill, which was a sharpened wide pointed piece of steel with a long shank and "T" shaped handle, she began to bore out the center of each wheel. Fitting them to the wheel and carefully driving thin wooden wedges into the space between the inner hub of the wheel and the axle she snugs the wheels up as best she could before, with great effort, righting the cart. With another nearly herculean effort she props the front end up with another "T" shaped piece of wood. This would keep the carts weight from bend the tongues when they got wet and would make hitching Bedwyr to this contraption that much easier.

Taking up some shorter sections of wood she constructs a small wagon width seat for her and possibly one other person to sit on. It was doubtful in her mind anyone besides her would ever sit on this seat but still the opportunity was there. From there she attached the aforementioned toggles that wood serve as tie down points for tarps and securing positions when a load needed to be tied down. She'd purchase herself a nice heavy all weather clothe tarp to keep rolled up against the head boards of the bed. Perhaps in time she'd make small improvements to this design but for right now it was functional and would get the job done. Now to just get a harness made for Bedwyr or see if modifying parts of his saddle would do the trick then the task of getting him to back up between the two forks. Simpler said than done really. He was still so skittish around new things. 

(WC; This post: 765)
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