how did they?

[devonwoody]

I havent purchased myself a chuck yet for my axminster M333 lathe and I want to turn a bowl.

I only have the 18mm x 4 drive prong thing.

Then I wondered how did they turn bowls in the olden days before chucks came on the scene?

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look on Robin Woods' site... he's the guy who reproduced the Mary Rose stuff...

 

[devonwoody]

Have a look on Robin Woods' site... he's the guy who reproduced the Mary Rose stuff...

did a robin wood google and also a ukworkshop search, no luck.

Can you offer any further advice please?

 

[tulsk]

http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/turning.htm
http://www.bodgers.org.uk/bb/phpBB2/index.php

 

[wabbitpoo]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that using a pole lathe is one step too far back in time? I mean, I DO like the idea of old skills being kept alive but I really cant see ANY case for using a lathe like that. I dont agree that it will turned pieces with any more character than a modern lather - my pieces all have nice tool marks on them!

I'm sure the original woodworkers hated the things in their time and would readily have used any modern equipment if they had been available to them. So why cling on to them?

I'm ready to be shot down in flames here - just be gentle. Maybe I'm not awake yet, it just seems, well, silly.

 

[TEP]

I can understand the use of a pole lathe at fairs and wood shows, but to use one all the time as Robin Wood is said to do, not for me. I'm sure you could make a replica bowl or item on a powered lathe a lot easier, and it would still look the same.

Hi devonwoody, no one has mentioned the faceplate yet. You should have got one with your lathe. It leaves screw holes in the bottom of the bowl, but that is how they all used to come at one time. Removing the chucking point is just a thing of modern times.

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks TEP, I had forgotten that chunk came with the lathe.

Must bite the bullet and take the plunge, only cut pens upto now.

 

[user 5053]

In the old days they would of built very sophisticated pole lathe systems on site and the turning would be done green. It is relatively simple to turn a bowl between centres on a large pole lathe with green wood. You have the flywheel effect so you can maintain a good cadence. Remember if they were able to build all those cathedrals and abbeys without modern machinery, turning a bowl would be a relative doddle.

 

[MikeG.]

Soulfly,

forgive me.....I'm no turner. But you mention the flywheel effect with a pole lathe and big bowls.........surely the pole lathe produces a spin in both directions with each cycle? (Therefore, no flywheel effect).

...........Or is the rope taut enough to spin the work when the treadle is pushed down, but slack enough that it releases its grip when the rope is returned upwards by the branch?

Mike

 

[loz]

I understand treadle lathe's use flywheels to maintain a constant direction, While a pole lathe would not. ( not maintained that is when the momentum ran out ! )

(For pole read - An overhanging branch, a pole, a spring, some elastic cord.etc etc - just anything to create an up/down that can be translated to a round round on the spindle. )

I have seen a bow powered lathe only recently - can't recall where.

edit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwTSzNLxcM

 

[tekno.mage]

I found using a pole lathe really frustrating - trying to turn whilst pumping a treadle with one leg is nothing like as easy as using a treadle sewing machine - probably because with the sewing machine you are sitting down. The other annoyance is the string wrapped round the workpiece - which I found was frequently in the way of the cut!

Having said that, the benefits of a pole lathe are that you can build & use it in the woods, where the materials for turning (green wood) already are and you don't need a power supply. It's also quiet, you can leave the shavings where they fall, and in summer, woodland is an ideal working environment.

tekno.mage

 

[Anonymous]

Loz Thanks for the U tube spurtle link... it lead on to some other interesting stuff :wink:

 

[David111s]

hmm intresting thread!

ive read about bowl turning on a pole lathe but so far havnt tried it yet!

i built myself a pole lathe about 2 years ago out of beech with two up-rights and bungy rope instead of the massive pole! works very well! having said that i havnt used it much maby 3 times in 2 years.. ohwell ill be taking it down to my new workshop so it should get some use!

 

[loz]

Robin is a poster on another forum i'm on - and he posted a link to this some time ago, He makes it look easy

http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/battle.htm

Unusual parting off technique by the Guy on the Record Lathe at the end !

 

[Anonymous]

Unusual parting off technique by the Guy on the Record Lathe at the end !

I think it's called the male chicken perpendicular method :lol:

 

[Bodrighy]

Have a look here for a good example of a lathe with a fly wheel. A Pole lathe apparently is not as easy to use as at first seems. I had a go at a wood fest and the tools were different, the technique was different and to get a good finish was much harder than I thought it would be. Perhaps the main advantage is that the power is free. :lol:
I do like the idea and have thought of making one once I am settled back with a workshop just 'cos I can.

Pete

Pete

 

[La Truciolara]

I havent purchased myself a chuck yet for my axminster M333 lathe and I want to turn a bowl.

I only have the 18mm x 4 drive prong thing.

Then I wondered how did they turn bowls in the olden days before chucks came on the scene?

OMG! with your comment I realise I'm part of the "olden days"
But with no chucks we could still turn quite well and hollow forms in total safety.
We used "glasses" , no not the ones you drink with, and that is the literal translation of the French word.
They were very nice brass cups, you had to turn a tenon of the precise diameter and then, after wetting the tenon to have the wood to expend, and prior that it did it, you hammered the wood down the brass cup.

Here is a pic of the series I've been using.