A LOOK BACK The lathes of Old Sturbridge Village ALAN LACER AND FRANK WHITE

EDITOR’S NOTE: Last year, Alan Lacer comers to this process of shaping has been turned on such lathes as met Frank White, an historian and cura- wood by spinning it about an axis. those pictured on these pages. tor at the living museum, Old Stur- When working at the lathe the con- For centuries reciprocating lathes, bridge Village, in Sturbridge, MA. Like venience of the electric motor con- driven by a spring pole, a bow, or Lacer, White also happens to be a turner ceals the fact that until quite recently even a cord powered directly by an and an active member of the AAW. Old the turner, an assistant, or water assistant, were the basic machines for Sturbridge Village possesses quite a provided the power to turn. On the woodturning. Even in technologically number of lathes from the 18th and 19th other hand, looking at the lathes in advanced England well into the twen- centuries. Unfortunately, the majority the Old Sturbridge Village collec- tieth century, spring-pole lathes con- are in storage and not available for pub- tion, one is struck by how little has tinued to be preferred by chair lic viewing. But White treated Lacer to changed in the last few centuries. In bodgers and bowl turners. Bodgers an illuminating peek at these treasures, fact, comparing these lathes with liked these lathes because of their and they agreed that they deserved to be those made by such turners as Ed portability and the ease with which shared, hence this article. Thanks to the Moulthrop or Ken Sager, it is appar- they could be set up at the job site, the receptiveness, cooperation, and historical ent how similarly turners have gone forest where chair stock was cut from perspective of the museum, and to the about satisfying their equipment standing trees into turning billets. authorial partnership struck by Lacer needs. Foregoing the purchase of a Bowl turners preferred them because and White, we finally have a glimpse at ready-made machine but rather uti- the reciprocating action was ideally these fine tools. lizing ingenuity and local materials suited to their practice of turning to construct your own is nothing nests of bowls with hook tools. The HIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT OUR ROOTS. new. After all, neither the customer reversing action of the lathe cleared T When looking at an exhibition of nor the wood cares much about the the chips and shavings from the tools, contemporary turning it is hard to process of making. Plenty of fine alleviating the loading and binding remember that we are all late- work, including museum-quality, that characterized continuous-motion

A treadle-powered bench lathe from mid-19th-century central Massachusetts features a stepped pulley, capable of produc- ing high speeds, and a bank of tool and accessory drawers.

Photos: Rick Mastelli 30 AMERICAN WOODTURNER SEPTEMBER 1996

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org This early 19th-century treadle lathe from Easton, CT, is powered by a heavy flywheel made of a locust log cross section. lathe work. (For more about pole Central Massachusetts, rials did. Catgut had one disadvan- lathes, see American Woodturner, mid 19th century tage: the risk of being eaten by ro- March 1992 and March 1994). The lathe pictured on the facing page dents if left on the machine Continuous-motion lathes, driven is a lightweight, treadle-driven bench overnight; therefore, it was often by a hand-cranked great wheel and lathe from central Massachusetts stored in a secure place at the end of later treadle-operated with fly- with a 15-inch swing and 33-inch ca- the day. wheels, gradually gained popularity pacity between centers. With a pul- over spring-pole lathes in the 18th ley ratio of about 12 to 1, relatively Easton, Connecticut, century, although the technology for high speeds were possible in the early 19th century continuous-motion treadle lathes turning of small objects. Ash is used The lathe pictured above is a heavily was available centuries earlier. Their for most of the construction, with the built treadle-driven lathe with a 17- increased use is attributable in part exception of the poppets which ap- inch swing and 57-inch capacity be- to improvements in design but prob- pear to be birch or maple. The bench tween centers. Square shafts and ably more to the growing demand of this lathe has been customized “tombstone” ends on poppets and for mass-produced turned parts for with drawers for small parts and post suggest it was built in the early chairs, furniture, treen, textile-mill stock, and a later addition of the tool 19th century. The heavy flywheel is bobbins, tool and implement han- rack at the back. made of a locust log cross-section dles, and other items. Because con- Although this example is probably clad in pine staves. The iron tool rest tinuous-motion treadle lathes were mid 19th century, based on the com- is blacksmith-forged but with jury- quickly and easily adapted to water- mercially made round shafts and rigged wooden screw and spacer power, their use dramatically in- cast iron pulley and flywheel, John blocks. This portion of the lathe is creased the rate of production in Jacob Holtzapffel noted in 1881 that probably a replacement of an origi- turning shops. (For further reading this type of lathe with stepped wheel nal wooden bar rest. about early lathes, see John Jacob and drive pulley was in general use The headstock pulley would ac- Holtzapffel, Hand or Simple Turnings: in England around 1800. The earlier commodate both a flat belt or round Principles and Practice, London: examples had a wooden rim on the belt step-pulley arrangement. This Holtzapffel & Co., 1881. Reprinted flywheel. option may be of later origin, as by Dover Publications, NY, 1976. Sometimes cord or round leather there is no evidence of how the step And for an overview of the history of belts were used as a drive band on pulley would be utilized. turning see Christopher Wilk’s “An these lathes, but catgut was preferred Interestingly, the tailstock support Historical Perspective,” in American because of its strength and stability; post allows insertion of the tailstock Woodturner, June 1996. ) it did not stretch the way other mate- center for longer materials—in prac-

SEPTEMBER 1996 AMERICAN WOODTURNER 31

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org The components of this lathe were made by a blacksmith/machinist in Southbridge, MA, between 1835 and 1850. tice, giving the lathe two tailstocks, indicative of early machine work. Foster, Rhode Island, one fixed and one moveable. The headstock shaft rides in a split 1850–1860 Originally well made, reputedly brass bearing on the inboard end A cast iron headstock, tailstock, and by a carpenter in Easton, CT, it and is supported on the outboard tool rest are mounted on a massive has been extensively reworked over end by an adjustable iron thrust chestnut stand, photos below. Each its lifetime. In the mid 20th century bearing. A typical two-spur drive wooden bed rail is approximately 8 1 it was used again by a custom center fits into a tapered square by 12 inches and 8 /2 feet in length. cabinet/furniture maker. socket in the end of the shaft, which Driven by waterpower, this lathe is also threaded to accept a faceplate. was used about 1850–1860 in a car- Southbridge, Massachusetts, The tailstock center is adjusted by a riage/vehicle manufactory in Foster, 1835–1850 crank and screw and locked in posi- RI. The very plain, undecorated cast- The cast iron headstock, tailstock, tion with the handled nut on top, al- ings indicate a mid-to-late-19th- and tool rest pictured above have lowing for rapid loading and century manufacture. The three-step been fitted to a new stand of tradi- unloading of stock. wooden pulley was originally paired tional design for exhibition use. The Cast iron components, which me- with a stepped pulley on a counter- lathe has been equipped with fast chanics or turners could fit to a shaft for speed control, and the coun- and loose pulleys, suggesting it was wooden stand for treadle or water- tershaft was linked by a second belt connected to a waterpower source. power operation, were becoming to a waterpower source. Currently The iron components were made by readily available around 1810–1820. equipped with a cast iron faceplate, Henry Coburn, a blacksmith/ma- In New England they were increas- the lathe was primarily intended for chinist in Southbridge, MA, between ingly used by production turners heavy spindle turning with a nomi- 1835 and 1850. Nicely detailed cast- making furniture parts, bobbins for nal swing of 12 inches and capacity ings on headstock and tailstock are textile mills, handles, and the like. between centers of 6 feet. The bed

Cast iron components are mounted on a massive chestnut stand in this lathe from Foster, RI, 1850–1860.

32 AMERICAN WOODTURNER SEPTEMBER 1996

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org This lathe from mid-18th-century Cape Cod is of rare design, featuring a wooden gear drive. Note the “chicken claw” drive center, left, the crotch bracket, center, and the adjustable wooden tool-rest bar, right, locked in place with a wooden screw. below the faceplate has been relieved wheelwright, as the headstock- which the turner could support him- in a 3-inch-wide shallow arc to in- geared hub and flywheel have many self while treadling. Wood used in crease the swing to about 16 inches— of the traits of a wagon wheel. We construction appears to be a mix of making it what a turner today would guess that the lathe had a sweet chestnut and red oak. know as a gap-bed lathe. clickity-clack sound in operation. It is The lathe has a lot of character. treadle-driven, probably from the The iron headstock spindle is forged Cape Cod, Massachusetts, mid 18th century or earlier, and was into a crude four-prong “chicken Mid 18th Century found on Cape Cod, MA, where it claw” drive center. The pitman arm All of us involved in this project reportedly was used by successive between the treadle and drive wheel, found the lathe pictured above to be generations of carpenters and cabi- and the bracket that supports the our favorite, being quite unusual and netmakers. The late has a 22-inch outboard post are fashioned from uncommon. We are aware of only swing and a 55-inch capacity be- naturally bent riven stock and a one other gear-driven lathe, and it is tween centers. crotch, respectively. And the wooden to be found in the Deutsches Mu- Wooden parts are crudely sawn or tool-rest bar is mounted on angled seum of Munich, Germany—there hewn, iron parts are forged. Various brackets that slide in and out of the identified as an early, primitive type open mortises and cut-off elements poppets, locked in position with of lathe. We speculated that the suggest that originally the lathe was wooden screws threaded into the turner had befriended the local fitted with a back or “butt” bar by sides of the poppets.

SEPTEMBER 1996 AMERICAN WOODTURNER 33

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org This lathe, with a 200-pound grind- stone flywheel elevated above the headstock, is from early 19th-century Massachusetts. The headstock shaft rides in a babbitt bearing, and the square tailstock spindle is tightened down with a commodious wing nut.

The missing treadle would have been connected to the crank on the outboard end of the flywheel shaft with a long pitman. The tall posts would have been anchored to the ceiling or frame of the shop for sta- bility. This large lathe has a 12-inch swing and a 57-inch capacity be- tween centers. The shaft rides in babbitt bearings and has a conventional two-pronged spur drive. Two speeds could be achieved by moving the belt to dif- ferent parts of the two-step drive pulley. However, this meant that the belt length had to be adjusted as well, so it was not a simple change. Fine adjustment of the tailstock spindle was achieved by loosening the wing nut and tapping the square shaft. The tailstock, though not rapid in adjustments, is finely constructed Central Massachusetts, lowed the use of a larger diameter and has a nice look and feel. Early 19th Century flywheel without raising the bed to The lathe pictured above, with an an uncomfortable height or cutting a New Hampshire, oak or chestnut frame and the fly- hole in the floor. This was not the Mid 19th Century wheel mounted overhead, is from case here, as the flywheel, which is a The large wooden, treadle-operated central Massachusetts, early 19th heavy grindstone encased in wood, lathe pictured on the facing page is 1 century. Placement of the flywheel is only about 26 /2 inches in diame- from central New Hampshire, prob- above the bed may have been dic- ter, small enough to readily fit be- ably mid 19th century. The nearly tated by space limitations in the neath the bed. We estimated the 4-foot-diameter flywheel was sus- shop; it also got the wheel out of the wheel to weigh approximately 200 pended in bearing supports attached way of the operator. More impor- pounds, giving the turning consider- to the ceiling joists or other frame tantly, in many applications it al- able inertia once set in motion. members of the shop. In all probabil-

34 AMERICAN WOODTURNER SEPTEMBER 1996

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org The drive wheel on this lathe from mid- 19th-century New Hampshire would have been mounted independent of the lathe stand, isolating the lathe from the wheel’s vibration. The parallel saw marks on the end post, above right, are evidence that it was sawn by a recip- rocal rather than a circular saw, most certainly driven by waterpower. At right, threaded tailstock components.

ity it was mounted independently of the lathe to take advantage of the higher speed and greater momentum that a larger flywheel would pro- vide. This arrangement would also effectively reduce some of the vibra- is that ease of adjustment is severely avoid such naive views that newer tion transmitted to the lathe from the affected by changes in humidity. means better, that technology and wheel. With a capacity of 6 feet be- expense can usually substitute for 1 tween centers, a swing of 18 /2 General observations skill, or that improved technology al- inches, and a framed treadle that ex- All these lathes are either treadle- ways leads to better results. Plus, the tends the full length of the bed, this driven with flywheels, or water- more you care for a pursuit— lathe is well-adapted for large spin- powered. There are no spring-pole or whether it be baseball, music, poli- dle turning. great-wheel lathes. tics, or turning—the more you The tool rest is simply a wooden The spindle height averages be- appreciate and understand its cur- plank dovetailed to a slotted wooden tween 42 and 43 inches off the floor rent status as a result of learning shoe. The spur center has the usual with a high of 46 inches on the gear- where it has come from. 1 two prongs but no center point. The driven lathe and a low of 38 /2 inches headstock spindle rides between a on the heavy Rhode Island carriage Alan Lacer is a part-time professional split bearing, probably babbitt. manufactory lathe. turner. Frank White is Curator of Me- The poppets and the tool rest are Is there value in learning the his- chanical Arts at Old Sturbridge Village. secured to the bed by large wooden tory of our craft? Yes, if we are to un- The authors thank Andy Barnum and screws and nuts that tighten against derstand our place in history—gain Rick Mastelli for their efforts in han- the bottom of the bed. The obvious perspective. Yes, especially in the dling, photographing, and commenting disadvantage with this simple system field of woodturning if we are to upon the material of this project.

SEPTEMBER 1996 AMERICAN WOODTURNER 35

Copyright 1996, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org