General characteristics

For De Poort ‘cartwrighting’ is not only a business but a vocation. Therefore we want to preserve skill. Our carriages and coaches don’t only mean to look well, they aim to be good and strong, being able to haul the same loads on the same kind of roads and in the same circumstances as they used to do.

This has some consequences

Wood

We only make use of original wood sorts, like elm, oak and ash. We aim to replace the used timber by planting new woods on our own premises. The wood is sawn on the company itself, or in the neighbourhood where it was produced. It has to dry naturally in our own drying stables. For spokes and hubs this can mean up to ten years. Spokes are being cut and stored away on the open attics for many years, depending on their size. We always have more than thousand different spokes stored away.

Paint

Don’t expect us to hide all the woodwork behind a thick epoxy coating. We even have trouble with paint because it is dating from a quite recent time. Formerly carts were mainly oiled, pigments being added to them. This is fare better then paint, because the oil is consumed by the wood, therefore leaving it to breath and stay young and strong, while safe for the water because the oil already is filling up all the nerves. This also has a ecological value while oil is used that holds no poison whatsoever.

Technique

We build carriages in exactly the same way it was done about a hundred years ago. What is the point of riding authentic vehicles when they aren't conceived exactly the same way it used to be. This means the wheels are build to carry real loads, with strength kept in mind with every little detail. The tires are heated up and shrunk around the wood the same way the village blacksmith used to do it. Never a piece of wood will be glued together. The use of glue is completely forbidden for the true cartwright. We make our own bolts and nuts, and even springs. Never the less wood will only keep its youth, thus its strength, for about fifty to hundred years. When it stops shrinking and expanding, living, it has also lost its strength. Therefore it will be impossible to ask the same of the older carriages