Another ancient skill is that of turning wood on a lathe, so that the waste wood can be cut evenly away to produce cyclindrical objects such as chair legs and backs, candlesticks, utensils, bowls and other items. All lathes have two points between which the piece of wood is tightly gripped. A foot treadle or other mechanism is used to turn the piece of wood, while a cutting tool is held steady against a rest to cut long shavings of wood as the piece turns.
The pole lathe is an ancient tool, in use over 2,000 years ago. It is still popular today, because it can be simply made from a coppice pole and a few other pieces of wood. The piece to be worked is held by two fixed or ‘dead’ points, and is rotated by a cord that passes around it. The cord is fixed at one end to a treadle, and at the other to a flexible coppice pole. As the treadle is depressed, the cord rotates the piece of wood to make the cutting stroke, at the same time bending the pole. As the treadle is released, the pole straightens, rotating the piece of wood away to make the return, non-cutting stroke.
The pole lathe is safe to use, because the piece of wood will stop turning the moment the treadle is stopped. The speed can be adjusted by the speed at which the treadle is operated. A pole lathe requires no electricity, and can easily be set up in the woodland or in a workshop. Turning green wood does not produce dust or splinters, so goggles are not necessary.
The following section gives basic information on building a pole lathe. For full details see Abbott (1989). There are variations to the basic pattern, and dimensions can be altered to suit the individual worker, or for other particular requirements.
- Traditionally, the bed of the lathe was attached to the stumps of two trees, about 1.2m (4’) high. This is suitable if you only want to work in the woodland, but most people prefer to make a set of portable A-frames to support the bed so that the lathe can be erected wherever you want it.
- The bed should be 1.2m (4’) long to turn items up to 750mm (30”) in length, or 1.5m (5’) to turn longer items.
- The bed supports two ‘poppets’, through which are threaded two lengths of studding or similar, ground to a point, which hold the piece of wood to be turned. A sliding rest is used to support the tool while working. Various designs can be used.
- Select a suitable pole about 4.5-5m (15-20’) long and 60mm (21/2”) at the base, tapering to about 3mm (11/4”) at the top. A coppiced ash pole is probably the best, but alder, willow, birch or beech are also suitable.
- Anchor the base of the pole very firmly by lashing it to a stake, well driven into the ground.
- Erect a support at about the middle point of the pole. The support can be made from two forked poles as shown. In soft ground these may need to be supported on a log or similar.
- The treadle can be made from a strong forked branch, hinged with strips of leather to a base board.
- Attach a length of 3mm nylon cord from the treadle to the top end of the pole.
For indoor working, the pole can be substituted with a length of shock cord, attached to two upright poles about 2.5m (8’) high, lashed to the two A-frames. The length of unstretched shock cord between the two poles should equal the length of the bed. For full details see Abbott (1989).
