Roubo lathe info wanted. Can you help?

[Bob Jones]

Yep. Roubo's book captured more than just a workbench, it also shows a spring pole lathe.

I've decided that it is time for me to learn to turn wood (well, soon it will be). First, I "need" to build a lathe. I've done a lot of google searching and reading in regular books and I have decided to pursue a Roubo style spring pole lathe. Please don't try to talk me out of it as my mind is made up. http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowwink.gif

I've found really nice scans of 2 plates in the Roubo work at the toolmera blog here

http://toolemerablog.typepad.com/toolemera/2012/01/roubo-spring-pole-lathe-images.html

The images are great, but of course there are no words to tell what everything is. So, the more I study these pictures, the more questions I have. Can anyone help me out? The toolmera site mentions a thread over on Woodnet, but it seems to have expired. Has anyone built one or seen pictures of one? Dare I ask, has anyone read the Roubo entry describing it?

I have already asked Mr Don Williams for help. He has offered to give some info in a few months, and that is welcomed. He's a real class act, but I'm curious to see what I can find until then.

Thanks!
Bob

[ryan carlino]

The Renaissance Woodworker has a lathe-building addiction. You can see his bungee and treadle lathes over at his site (http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/).

[Edward Clarke]

Roy Underhill (who else???) teaches a class on building these tools.

http://www.woodwrightschool.com/make-the-spring-pole-lathe-w-r/

[Adam Maxwell]

The plates look fairly self-explanatory to me, although I recall being a bit puzzled by his toolrest design. If you have specific questions, maybe those of us who have pole lathes can help out? It's a pretty husky lathe, and that's a good thing, especially if you get into bowl turning on the pole lathe.

[David Weaver]

Track down warren mickley on woodnet or wood central and see if you can get him to talk about specific aspects. I recall him saying that he's been using one for pay for quite a long time, and I know he's got decades of roubo reading (like george) on everyone else on the current roubo fad. Not that I'm accusing george of being a roubo fanatic, but I know he's also decades longer aware of it than most.

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for the tips!
David, Warren is a great contact. I've already emailed him some questions and he is helping out (very kindly). I have also posted these same question on woodnet to increase my odds of finding the most knowledgeable people :)

I've read Roy's book and seen lots of pictures of his pole lathe. It is great, but I'm pretty well fixed on the Roubo images. For anyone who wants to help with specific questions - here you go!

There are 2 Pictures (plates?) available from toolmera blog show great detail, but raise lots of questions.

Questions from Picture 1 – the full lathe is drawn at the top (not sure of the plate number)

1. My most troubling question is about the pins that hold the work piece. The crank for the headstock looks normal compared to other pole lathes, but the pin for the tail stock looks very different. It appears that the tip of the tailstock pin is in-line with the headstock pin, but it has a shape of a crank, so it goes into the tailstock poppet at a hole that is not inline. See Figure 4 and 5 and notice the dashed (hidden) lines inside the tailstock. This appears to be repeated in the second picture(plate) in Figures 7 and 8, but there I assume that both the headstock and tailstock pins are built with offsets (and no crank for tightening the work piece). I guess the strangest part to me is that the headstock and tailstock do not have the same offset in Figure 3 & 4 of the first picture. That makes me think this is a tailstock issue, but I don’t know the purpose.
Theories
a. Does the tailstock offset enable the user to rotate the work piece closer to or further from the tool rest? I don’t know why this would be necessary since the tool rest is adjustable, too. I wonder if this makes a stronger lathe since the hole is drilled in the center of the poppet, but the work piece is closer to the turner?
b. Does the rotating tailstock pin location allow for some sort of offset turning?
c. Why does it seem that both pins are offset in the second picture (Figure 7 and 8)?


2. In Figure 2 there appears to be a hole in the top, front corner of the headstock and tailstock. It is at the same height as the work holding pins, but in Figure 1 the pins appear to be centered in the head/tail stocks. What am I missing?


3. In Figure 1 the headstock, tailstock, and tool rest (in the center) all have a mortise to accept the moveable tool rest. I cannot imagine a scenario where that middle tool rest would be needed in spindle turning (as pictured).
Theory
a. Would this piece be needed for other type of work, like bowl turning?
b. Would this be needed as support for longer spindles?


4. In Figure 2 of page 1 the tool rest adjustment mechanism extends far beyond the back of the poppet. I assume this allows the tool rest to move out from the lathe for larger work pieces, but this extension looks to be longer than the lathe capacity (max dia of the work piece allowable). This observation could be nothing, or it could be an indication that I’m not reading this picture correctly (likely).


5. What type of wood would have been typically recommended? I know that wood selection is not that critical, I’m just curious. I figure the bed should be a hardwood to prevent damage from tightening up the poppets, right?



Questions from Picture 2 (the picture that does not have the lathe at the top)
1. What is all of this stuff? Lathe accessories or lathe necessities?

2. The top row of images (Figures 1 through 6) look like tool rests of different types. Is that right?

3. The second row of images (Figures 7 through 10) appear to be different types of pins for holding the work pieces. My problem is that Figures 7 & 8 are both offset, but in the previous picture it looks like the head stock does not have an offset hole, but the tailstock does. So, how can both pins align?

4. Figure 9 – this pin is designed to pull tight to the poppet, while corresponding Figure 10 tightens to the work piece, but it is missing the hand crank typically seen on the headstock. I’m thinking the hand crank omission is on purpose, but why?

5. Are Figures 11 through 14 for faceplate turning or maybe bowl turning?

6. Figures 15 through 29 must be exaggerations of scale, otherwise they would be beefy lathe chisels, a gouge, and scrapers. It is neat to see how the metal portions were much longer than the wooden handles.

7. What is Figure 30 and 32 at the bottom? At first glance I thought they were a top view of the lathe bed with different types of work holding, but I don’t think so because the lathe from the first page has a symmetric bed (back to front) and these two images show something that is much bigger on one side than the other. Is this actually a front view of something that attaches to the lathe?

[Adam Maxwell]

Questions from Picture 1 – the full lathe is drawn at the top (not sure of the plate number)

1. My most troubling question is about the pins that hold the work piece. The crank for the headstock looks normal compared to other pole lathes, but the pin for the tail stock looks very different. It appears that the tip of the tailstock pin is in-line with the headstock pin, but it has a shape of a crank, so it goes into the tailstock poppet at a hole that is not inline. See Figure 4 and 5 and notice the dashed (hidden) lines inside the tailstock.

Maybe the tailstock center is adjustable for offset turning? I think that's dubious, as it appears to be mortised in to the tailstock. Maybe it's a way to ensure that it doesn't rotate, and also provide a backing for the center. Your idea of a stronger location for the hole and better location for the work piece sounds reasonable, but the crank would still have to be straight through.



2. In Figure 2 there appears to be a hole in the top, front corner of the headstock and tailstock. It is at the same height as the work holding pins, but in Figure 1 the pins appear to be centered in the head/tail stocks. What am I missing?


The only way this makes sense to me is if Fig 2 & 5 are sections looking from the inside, i.e., from the center toolrest's point of view. In that case, the white circle is a cutaway of the workpiece being turned.



3. In Figure 1 the headstock, tailstock, and tool rest (in the center) all have a mortise to accept the moveable tool rest. I cannot imagine a scenario where that middle tool rest would be needed in spindle turning (as pictured).
Theory
a. Would this piece be needed for other type of work, like bowl turning?
b. Would this be needed as support for longer spindles?


I've wondered the same thing in looking at it, so hopefully you get a good answer. As a guess, though, you may have a workpiece that's fat at one end and skinny at the other (relatively speaking), and want your toolrest closer to the spindle. I ran into this myself recently, by turning bedposts with cabriole legs on the end (foolishly, as it was out of balance…but you could have a similar scenario with cylindrical pieces). What bugs me is that the middle toolrest appears lower than the ends (and if it's not, how would you use the same sliding arm S in the center and in the end?).



5. What type of wood would have been typically recommended? I know that wood selection is not that critical, I’m just curious. I figure the bed should be a hardwood to prevent damage from tightening up the poppets, right?


Could easily be a softer wood, so the poppets bite in and don't slide. That would be my choice, anyway (softer in the Janka scale sense).



Questions from Picture 2 (the picture that does not have the lathe at the top)
1. What is all of this stuff? Lathe accessories or lathe necessities?


This is where the text would be helpful, eh? It looks to me as if Figs 1-6 apply to a smaller lathe. Note the apparent screw underneath for the poppets, vs. the wedge lock in the preceding plate.

In the row of centers, I wonder if the oddly shaped ones might be live centers (7 & 9)? You can tighten without the crank just by tapping the poppets with a mallet to set them, before tightening the wedge lock. This is common for bowl turning on the pole lathe, I believe.

I think you're right about 11-14. Looks like a mandrel and faceplate setup, shown in use in Fig. 32. It's a bit different from what most greenwood turners use, but Fig. 12 might show points. At a guess, Fig 11 & 12 are the same mandrel, but 13 is…odd.



7. What is Figure 30 and 32 at the bottom? At first glance I thought they were a top view of the lathe bed with different types of work holding, but I don’t think so because the lathe from the first page has a symmetric bed (back to front) and these two images show something that is much bigger on one side than the other. Is this actually a front view of something that attaches to the lathe?

Either that or a smaller lathe. The proportions don't match the one from the first plate, which is partly why I think this page shows a smaller lathe. Again, though, this is mostly semi-educated guesswork, and worth exactly what you paid for it :).