History of Woodturning

A brief but informative page about Woodturning

The earliest hints of the Art of Woodturning probably lie in the ancient Egyptian heiroglyphs, to be found in the tombs of the pharoahs. There, pictographs depicting a primitive bow-driven hand drill can be seen.

Though this is not actually a lathe, it is the first indication of the use of the bow as a means of spinning a tool. The bow became, as far as we can tell, the earliest form of lathe engine. Still, today, in some Arabic countries, this form of bow-driven lathe can be found in use. It is, by its nature, a difficult machine to use. The small bow used to spin wooden stock which is mounted between two centers, is the same in principal as an archer's weapon. However, the bowstring is wrapped once or twice around the wood to be turned. On either the push or the pull stroke the wood turns toward the artesan. On the other stroke, the bow returns to its starting position while turning the wood in the opposite direction, in other words, in the wrong direction, at least in terms of being useful for shaping the wood with the turning chisels. Since the less dominant hand is occupied in driving the bow, it is not available to hold the chisels. Thus, the artesan must manipulate these with the dominant hand and a foot. In some cases, the lathe itself is merely two logs or branches, partially driven into the ground, in an upright manner. A metal spike is inserted horizontally through each of these logs and these act as the centers for this simple lathe. In other types of bow-driven lathes, the machine is a wooden frame of rectangular shape, adjustable in length and set on the ground. The turner sits on part of this frame, keeping it relatively firm in its place while bowing and manipulating the chisels as previously described.

Though somewhat elaborate work can be done on these bow lathes, in Europe, at least, a developement took place which increased the lathe's usefulness. We probably get our English Language word lathe from this lath type turning engine. Lath, in this case, was probably a flexible tree limb to which was tied one end of the driving cord. This cord took the place of the earlier bowstring. The cord would be wrapped around the wood stock to be turned and would then hang down, being connected to a crude treadle or sometimes just tied into a loop. Where before the Turner would have to drive his bow with one hand, he could now depress this treadle and cord with one foot, freeing this hand to assist in the manipulation of the chisels. This simple arrangement was nearly as portable as the bow lathe, requiring only a handy branch for its location. This lead to a more permanent arrangement by the time of Europe's Middle Ages.

By this time, formal furniture making and thereby woodturning came back into being, along with so many other classical arts and trades. The Turner's shop became a relatively common occurence in medieval Europe. These artesans became well appreciated by the noble classes, especially by the fifteenth century when woodturning, along with woodcarving, became the main forms of architectural and furniture ornamentation in the halls of the privileged. It became common to employ a Turner, a Joiner, and a Carver in many a castle, to perform the specialized arts required to create the fancy chairs that were becoming more and more popular among the growing merchant classes; these early Middle Class folk relished every opportunity to `show-up' the nobility.

Not only were furniture parts created on the lathe. Turned architectural elements began to appear in Europe during the Renaissance. By the time of the English colonization of the Massachusetts Bay, finials, drop-finials, balusters, newels, and other building elements were designed and turned by woodturners. The most elaborate furniture elements produced by this means appear between the late sixteenth century in England and Germany through the mid nineteenth century in England, Canada, and the United States. In terms of architectural detailing, the late Federal Period in the USA through the late Victorian Period saw the fanciest of woodturned elements. Probably some of the finest of these turnings can still be found in Boston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Wherever Victorian framed houses are the norm, look for intriguing porch columns, balusters, newels, and finials. Also, in the Back Bay and in the South End of Boston look in the hundreds of brick townhouses for interior stairways of the most intricate detail.

From the Renaissance through the demise of the great monarchies during the nineteenth century, intricate turning became the hobby of many noblemen. Where noblewomen obssessed in delicate tapestries, their male conterparts lost themselves in creating elaborate turnings in Ivory, Blackwood, and Ebony using machines produced by the Holtzapffel family, especially during the nineteenth century. It is said that Henry the Eighth of England was a Gentleman Turner. It may be hard for us to imagine this man, who has come down in History as being of (at the very least) dubious nature, could have been so creative, but then, he was also adept at playing the harpsichord. The Love of Art is, after all, universal to our species, even among our greatest tyrants. (by MICHAEL HOFIUS- Chalice House Artist)
The history of woodturning in the U.S. begins in the seventeenth century with the emigration of wood-workers from Holland and England. Turning in the U.S. never quite achieved the bravura quality of sixteenth-century England or later Spain, but everything from chairs to bookstands was made with elaborately turned parts beginning in the second half of the seventeenth century. One unusual aspect of turning in America was the use of so-called split turnings, which were cut in half lengthwise and applied to the front of chests. More characteristic were the simpler turnings on eighteenth-century ladder-back chairs, bowls, pestles and mortars, boxes, and even toys. All these objects were made in the traditional manner well into the nineteenth century.