a REAL lathe

[Curt Harms]

Watching History Channel about restoring a New Orleans Shortgun House. The show is called Back to the BluePrint Century old lathe, I believe A. J. Fay, line driven, 100 or so years old. They're turning spanish cedar porch posts. The lathe will turn stock up to 22 feet long and a couple feet in diameter.

This is first I've seen this show, the content appeals to me more than typical MDF & fabric DIY shows.

Curt

[Mark Rios]

Holy pacheebies!!!! That's a big lathe.

May I ask a question?

Did they start turning something that large with a whole tree? Or would they glue up large pieces/lengths? If they used a whole tree, did they worry about the wood twisting/warping? (I'm not trying to be funny here by talking about a whole tree. I don't know how they would turn something that large back then)

That's really amazing. Are there any pics of something turned that large?


(p.s....is your title "Back to the BluePrint" supposed to be a link? It didn't click for me.)


Thanks for posting this.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Very interesting Curt. Good grief 22 ft. long. That lathe must have been a monster. Thanks for posting.

[Curt Harms]

Holy pacheebies!!!! That's a big lathe.

May I ask a question?

Did they start turning something that large with a whole tree? Or would they glue up large pieces/lengths? If they used a whole tree, did they worry about the wood twisting/warping? (I'm not trying to be funny here by talking about a whole tree. I don't know how they would turn something that large back then)

Hi Mark-the pieces were glued up. They said they need an 8X8x 12' or 16' and they couldn't find anything that size in spanish cedar. The post went up to the base of the roof structure. The shotgun houses didn't use conventional framing (at all!) They were built in New Orleans as cheap housing for immigrants and such.




That's really amazing. Are there any pics of something turned that large?


(p.s....is your title "Back to the BluePrint" supposed to be a link? It didn't click for me.)

Nah, not a link. First time I'd heard of the show however. A little later in the show the contractor showed a jig he made to form tenons on shutter slats. It looked like he had 2 pieces of PVC pipe, one fitting snuggly inside the other but the smaller one would rotate.. He rigged some scrap in the smaller PVC pipe so it'd hold a slat firmly. He then rotated the head on a radial arm saw, put a dado head on it (no guards on anything) and secured the 2 PVC pipe jig so he could turn the slat against the dado head to form the tenons. It seemed to work. His shop was certainly nothing you'd see on DIY or PBS but he seemed to get the job done. Had a router table that looked like 2/3 of a sheet of plywood. Need a jig secured? Clamps? Nope, screw 'er down.



Thanks for posting this.

You're welcome

Curt

[Corey Hallagan]

Sounds cool Curt, thanks and i will keep an eye out for it!

Corey