reproduction construction philosophy

Re: reproduction construction philosophy

joel

>To be honest I am guessing but it's a good guess.

the turnings would have been finished straight from the tool with the possibility of a little burnishing.

with a sharp tool the trick isn't getting a good finish - the trick is being a consistent turner so there aren't minor flaws that need to be removed using sandpaper.

(PS - I'm not a consistent turner and I think sandpaper was a great invention)

Re: reproduction construction philosophy

Todd Hughes

>Sand paper dates back to the 1700's and other abrasives like fish skins and horstail rushes were used befor that.Saying this I don't know if they were used on a turning like you are talking about, I doubt it.Most of these beds,[and chairs] were turned on lathes that ran off water power so I don't know if they ran all that slow.By chance I have myself been looking at antique beds the last couple weeks because I need a bigger bed and I haven't noticed that they are very roughly finished.I imagine they were finished smooth with some type of scraper while turning...just guessing.One thing you do see on these old turned beds ,[and chairs], is that all the turnings are not exactly perfectly the same but just sort of the same and I think this is where modern turnings fall short when they try to make them all perfect......Todd

Straight scoop on early turners

Bob Hackett

>I`d do a search on "bodgers",these were the folks who would go out into the woods and live there while making the parts for windsor chairs.They used spring pole lathes and foot power.There`s one fellow still at work in this style down south who was featured in either FWW or Woodwork magazine recently.I looked but can`t find the issue at the moment.

The Woodturning center in Philadelphia(Albert has books and info on all things turning related)or the AAW would be two other places to go for the info you`re looking for.

Mainely,Bob

Re: Straight scoop on early turners

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Don Weber, what a great shop he has.

Pam

Re: reproduction construction philosophy

William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I have an old side table with legs in a similar style, and the four legs were only very roughly the same shape. When I had to repair it, I noticed that the extensive turnings didn't have any radial scratch marks at all! On closer examination, I found that the legs were completely hand carved, all the beads and coves and ogees and every other design detail! Evidently, someone wanted one like this, but not having a lathe didn't stop this particular someone from making it anyhow. He didn't have much sense of proportion or a good knowledge of joinery techniques, either, but you've got to admire his spirit.

That`s the man!Thanks,Pam.

Bob Hackett

>

Here is a link *LINK*

Dan Donaldson

>His site and many others are on the links page. Check them out ;-)


Don Weber

Production turning by hand

R. J. "Sam" Simpson.

>Hi Y'all,

Bill, there are two methods of removing wood from a spindle. You can cut it or scrape it. It is easy to tell which method you are using, by looking at the shavings that you produce.

If you are cutting, the shavings will be long attached shavings, like the pairings from an apple when you peel it. In this model, most of the cutting is done with a skew chisel for convex shapes and shoulders and a gouge for concave shapes, working the shape like sharpening a pencil, until you get to the shape you want. With clean cuts, all that is needed to finish the smoothness, is to pick up a handful of the shavings and burnish the surface with them. (the cutting action of resting the bevel of the blade on the surface does most of the burnishing)

In the second model of scraping, the shavings are loose and fibrous. You will leave the surface rough and the pile of shavings will look more like a pile of sawdust. There are dedicated scraper tools that leave a better surface than if you are scraping with a standard turning tool, but in either case you will need sandpaper for final finishing.

When turning for production work we will always turn more spindles than are needed for the job. And then select the best ones for the job. This can mean shape, grain, flaws, colour and all similarities are considered for the turnings placement into the project.

If four are needed, turn six. If twenty are needed, turn twenty-four. Your first turnings will have the most variance in shape, until you settle into a rhythm. So turn the suspect blanks first. (sapwood, flaws, knots)

Regards Sam Simpson.