Tooling : The Lathe 

Introduction

Wood Lathe

Metal Lathe

Ornamental Lathe

The ultimate lathe where ingenuity has triumphed !

These are rarely found and very expensive the most common makes being those of Holtzapffel or Evans. They are designed to produce extremely intricate work and were used by several makers as is evident from the style of decoration on their instruments.

Robert Reid of North Shields best known for his Northumbrian Small Pipes certainly used at some point, what is known as an "Ornamental Lathe" (perhaps even a Holtzapffel). This is a highly specialized lathe designed for producing complex turnings far beyond the scope of a conventional lathe whereby the work is held stationary and it is the tool bit that rotates. This type of lathe was also used by some French pipe makers most notably for Cabrettes, the Musette a Bouche and the Bechonnet as is evident from the styles of decoration.

It is relatively easy to make the ornamental turning attachments  for a conventional metal turning lathe and many of them even for the humble wood turning variety.

The illustration shows a basic Holtzapffel lathe that appears at first sight to be a fairly simple beast. Looks are however deceiving and a wealth of attachments allows all types of complex turning to be carried