Fixing Woodworking Mistakes
How to Make a Simple Jig for Offset Knife Hinges
How to Apply an Aerosol Finish
3 Steps to Great Glue-Ups: Sliding Dovetail Joints
Best Tabletop Finish
Box Making Tips and Tricks
Dedicated Sled Delivers Perfect Finger Joints
Buying and Using Trim Routers
How to Sharpen a Card Scraper
Upgrade Your Jointer with a Segmented Cutterhead
How to Drill Windsor Chair Mortises
Tablesaw Tapering Jig is Safer and Faster
How to Cut Sliding Dovetail Joints
Five Minute Guide: Glue-Ups
T-Track is a Smart Workbench Accessory
Router Jig for Perfectly Aligned Dadoes
Five Minute Guide: How to Use a Tablesaw

19th Century German Lathe in Minnesota

comments (2) June 16th, 2010 in blogs

Roland Johnson, contributor

5 users recommend

Add Comment
Print

I had the pleasure of getting a close look at a 19th Century German lathe today. The owner's great grandfather brought the lathe with him when he emmigrated to the US in 1843. It's a treadle lathe and was in constant use through WWII, then disassembled and put into storage for decades. Recently the family reassembled the lathe and asked me to take a look at it. Wow, it's pretty impressive. A day spent spinning that flywheel with leg power would be a workout. A butt board is attached to the frame to lean against while pedaling and turning.

Check out the wedged through mortise-and-tenons holding the frame together. The lathe timbers appear to be mahogany with a few later add-ons in white oak. The dimensions are 6-1/2 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 7 feet high.

Any of you turners every run across something similar? This is the largest treadle lathe I've ever seen.

Sorry about the quality of the photos, but you get the idea.

posted in: blogs, turning, lathe

Add Comment Print

Emma Frid 1918 - 2010

Back to List

Garry Bennett Trestle Table for Charity: Buy a piece of woodworking history

Comments (2)

frankcello writes: Now that's pretty neat. Where did you find that? Is somebody using it, or is it on display somewhere?
Posted: 11:16 am on August 10th