A short history of
Wood Turning
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The text on this page is also to be found on the first page in the Craft of Turning section of the Company's main web site.
Turning is the craft of
using a lathe
- the mother of all machine tools.
From the earliest days the work piece, usually wood, was held between two
centres, one of which was driven to revolve the work piece. The rotational
power came from a long whippy branch driven down by the operator's foot -
the pole lathe, or from a bow pushed and pulled by the operator's arm; the
bow lathe. Both types are still in use throughout
the world today and there is a growing interest, in the UK,
in the pole lathe as a country craft.
Over the years, these
machines were improved and augmented by the use of metal and the cranked
foot pedal, allowing continuous one way operation and, finally, by the
introduction of the electric motor.
As the work piece revolves cutting tools, such as chisels and gouges, are
pressed against the work piece to produce a rounded shape, the dimensions of
which are varied to produce the finished article.
Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, and the machine age, lathes
became bigger and more complex and the harder metal work pieces required the
use of fixed cutting tools. These are advanced towards the work piece by
screw threads often, themselves, power driven. Today, the screw cutting
lathe is an essential item in every machine shop.
Today the ultimate lathe is computer controlled with the ability to self
load work pieces, to turn the piece to complex shapes determined on the
computer using a variety of cutters, before ejecting the finished component
all without direct handling.
Ornamental turning
From early in the 17th
century the concept of ornamental, as opposed to plain, turning developed.
Here the work piece is static, rotated slowly or in measured increments,
either concentrically or eccentrically, whilst being shaped by a fast
rotating cutting tool. The result is an ornamental finished shape
unobtainable by simple rotation. In its simplicity, plain turning turns a
square, or irregular, shape into something round. Ornamental turning turns
something round into something square (or many other complex shapes).
Ornamental lathes were much developed in the late 18th century by the
Holtzappfel family, who provided the Company with many generations of
eminent members and their five volumes on all aspects of turning are often
referred to by devotees of the craft as "The Bible". In the late 19th
century, ornamental turning was much taken up by the nobility and the gentry
as a hobby.
Examples of the different, and historical, lathes can be seen in the Science
Museum in London. A great many turned articles are illustrated in the
definitive book on things made of wood entitled
Treen by the late Edward Pinto, a member of the Company for
many years.
Today, as always, the Company supports and encourages all aspects of
turning.