Wood Turning on a Treadle Lathe at Colonial Williamsburg

[@KnuckleheadHomesteader]

These guys at the Cabinet shop are the rock stars of traditional woodworking!!

[@WoodAndShop]

Adam Salyers Yeah, minus sex, drugs, and rock & roll :)

[@KnuckleheadHomesteader]

Wood and Shop I dunno it might get wild after dark at the cabinet shop! ROFL! Love the videos! Keep them coming! =)

[@TheBlondiesNr1]

I aprriciate historical crafts like this a lot more than modern. How can I be impressed with you if people 300 years ago did it and without an electric motor. Great work

[@billwhite6743]

I've only been to the Hay shop once.Next trip, I'll be spending a lot more time.Great post, and well received.Bill

[@anonymousaccordionist3326]

6:11 Look at the edges he just worked! They're reflecting his fingers with almost a mirror finish! That's incredible. No question how sharp his skew is.

[@tombaker3794]

Very interesting as well as very informative. As a beginner at turning, I learned a couple of good techniques. Also, it appears that the treadle lathe provides a good cardio workout along with the pleasure of wood turning. Thanks for this video.

[@WoodAndShop]

Tom Baker Yeah, exercise is a definite benefit of traditional woodworking!

[@Katzztar]

Besides the cardio, Is it just the one leg that gets the workout? It seems if you tried the other leg, it would through off how you stand in front of the wood.

[@bighands69]

@@Katzztar You can train both sides especially if you are starting out.

[@shanemuse9264]

Magnificent! I could watch this all day long.

[@valveman12]

You have great skills, sir. Using this treadle lathe will give you a great workout!

[@oldguy537]

great to watch, thank you for taking the time to share ...

[@WoodAndShop]

Tony You're certainly welcome Tony!

[@TimothyK4TEP]

I love wood working this lathe reminds me of the woodwrights shop

[@gooseface2690]

Wow! Good job

[@TimothyK4TEP]

Keep up the great work

[@tube4waldek]

Amazing! Love it!

[@SCCFORUM]

A master at work. Thanks for these great videos. Regards Paul

[@WoodAndShop]

SCCFORUM Glad you enjoyed it Paul!

[@corncobjohnsonreal]

I really don't like how comfortable he is putting his pinky in front of the blade when he's parting the sections lol like I would think if the thing catches it would just grab forward and cut him, right? Like that's what would happen if it's snagged I think

[@weihuang6165]

what type of wood he use? i like this video

[@rickschuman2926]

This really makes me appreciate how well my spring pole lathe works.

[@markharris5771]

Does Brian Weldy have one average size leg and one with muscles Arnold Schwarzenegger would be proud of? Another amazing video, which is obviously prevalent to our British historical ways of working as well as American. The more woodworking videos I see the more I wish I was allowed to fly to visit America.

[@WoodAndShop]

I haven't asked him to roll up his trouser legs! Why aren't you allowed to visit America?

[@markharris5771]

Wood and Shop I’m not allowed to fly anywhere, not just America, I’ve got some very severe and unusual lung damage.

[@Case2_0]

That would have been cool to see when I went to Colonial Williamsburg in 5th grade

[@SamLamingWingsuit]

I was trying to find information on Treadle or pedal operated Lathes and wow! What a brilliantly explained and presented video. Exactly what I wanted thank you! What is your opinion on this style of lathe, vs something that worked in a more bicycle/circular pedal powered like fashion? (Not sure if such exists traditionally). Thanks again!

[@thomashverring9484]

Look up Chop With Chris and Mr. Chickadee. They both made a treadle lathe. There are many others, too. I've been doing research on it for a while because I want to build one. There are actually old metal lathes where you sit and pedal! The pedals are like on a pedal boat. James Wright from Woodbywright shared pictures of one at a tool meet.

[@SamLamingWingsuit]

@@thomashverring9484 very interesting! Thank you for bothering to write =)

[@thomashverring9484]

@@SamLamingWingsuit No bother at all :^)

[@canaldoportugues10]

Parabéns por ter partilhado 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯👌👍🤝

[@ashadowawhisper]

A nice sharp 1-1/2” Alan Lacer skew oughta take care of that bad boy real fast. ❤

[@aoo2645]

Rookie wood turners must have experienced involuntary pedalling during many other activities.

[@nemoemanon6679]

Very enjoyable. I guess old lathes don't have adjustable tool rest heights.

[@davidwillard7334]

OR ! FOUR ! WAY ! / Q.C ! ONES !! EITHER !!

[@ianryan5727]

fantastic, thanks a lot!

[@WoodAndShop]

Ian Ryan You're welcome...glad you enjoyed it!

[@dbcooper9935]

Soooo much better than a pole lathe.

[@sarkisiangeorge]

Do you think some of the wood turners rounded off the square corners of the body with a draw knife before they started using the lathe?

[@WoodAndShop]

I don't think so. Most pro woodturners that I know don't do that.

[@sarkisiangeorge]

@@WoodAndShop Given that I am a very amateur wood turner working on a ShopSmith lathe, I think most of these other lathes can accommodate the heavier and lopsided pieces. Good for them.

[@idontthinkso666]

I’d love to know if sandpaper is forbidden in the shop?

[@FerFer84]

Would be perfect with a steam engine outside the room , amazing work!

[@ericritz2853]

I love to know the size of that so I can make me one

[@rohnerw]

I am curious, as to why, in the 1800's, they would not have fitted some kind of heavy/heavier flywheel to make the effort of the rotation of the spindle, a little easier, and provide some inertia to aid in smoothness of the rotation. I will have to do some research, but I do think the principle of the flywheel was understood, or at least observed, from the action of grinding wheels and grist stones used at the time.

[@WoodAndShop]

I'm not a wood turner myself, but I do know that this Hay's cabinet shop is based on the early 1700's, as it is pre-revolutionary war.

[@rohnerw]

I did not know that it was pre-revolutionary. Thanks. Still, the principle of the flywheel was, at least according to one source, known as far back as ca. 1100 AD. See the writing of Theophilus Presbyter. Clearly materials may have been somewhat limited, but even if it had just been embedding lead, a common material, into the outer rim of the large spindle drive wheel, used on the device, strengthening the outer rim with a metal band if needed, as was used on wagon wheels, or barrels, it seems like it would have provided some advantage. Again, only some in depth research of the history of treadle lathe and its variations is going to tell. I suspect all were not built exactly the same. A look into, and at the history of a subject, often it seems, raises as many questions as it answers, at times. VERY INTERESTING video, and videos! I am enjoying them, immensely!!

[@WoodAndShop]

Glad you're enjoying my videos! Have you been to my website yet?

[@rohnerw]

Indeed I have! I have also subscribed to your email newsletter as well. Have not had a lot of time to fully explore your website yet, but I will! I have also subbed to your KZbin channel with notifications! I am very pleased to have found you, and your site! :)

[@woodlandfun4140]

You've made an astute observation. However I often wonder if one of the great pluses of this type treadle lathe configuration is its ability to slip during a catch. The action stops rather than gouging and tearing chunks. The addition of a more robust flywheel or better transmission system would almost certainly negate this big advantage---IMHO:)

[@Dr.H_Woodworks]

Is there any plans or building instructions for treadle lathe?

[@WoodAndShop]

No, sorry. But I think you can search for treadle lathe plans to find some online.

[@danietkissenle]

you could try taking an old electric lathe and replacing the motor with a treadle and fly wheel

[@CP-dy2io]

this is a cool vid

[@Donnybrook10]

so were 18th c turners easily recognizable from having one freakishly muscular thigh?

[@AndrewArndts]

damn Catches.... At least it did gank out a chuck of that walnut when making that bead.

[@thomasarussellsr]

That is one massive skew chisel. Are the gouges fairly period specific, or are they made of more modern steels to mimic the tools of old? All the wood turners on KZbin would be such klutzes on this machine, they all say move your body, not your arms. I'd sure like to see them try to peddle and turn at the same time. LMBO!!

[@rogerscottcathey]

Roy Underhill make that?

[@WoodAndShop]

I doubt it. I think either these guys built it or the behind-the-scenes tool makers at Williamsburg.

[@davidwillard7334]

MAAAHH !!! LEGGG !! AND !! FOOT !!! NOW !! IS !! AN ELECTRIC !!! MOTOR !!!

[@icespeckledhens]

Very impressive, they say how lucky we are to live in the modern era with all the mod cons but are we?

[@WoodAndShop]

icespeckledhens I think I like the modern medical advances, but not so sure about all the other technology!

[@JSAFIXIT]

@@WoodAndShop The internet is one I enjoy. I love old mechanical things and seeing how things used to built. It does put perspective into why things were not thrown away and were more well cared for.

[@elitonalves1404]

Show

[@dave618034]

Great work, but that’s one painful sounding lathe.

[@tangle70]

I cannot chew gum and walk at the same time let alone peddle a lathe and work a tool.

[@WoodAndShop]

Tom Angle Yeah, it takes awhile to get the hang of it.

[@BSCTrainerRob]

sheep's tallow lmao he's got wd40 in there!