Egbert P. Watson

“ It is almost unnecessary to specify the innumerable kinds of work that can be done in a hand lathe, but the amateur who delights in metal turning may make trinkets of all kinds for his friends, that shall vie in beauty with the best efforts of the jeweler and goldsmith. This, of course, is dependent on the material used, the taste of the workman, and his originality of conception. Pins for ladies’ wear can be made of boxwood and ebony, glued together in sections, of all designs, and afterwards turned in beads and mouldings, or otherwise ornamented in a chuck, as will be shown hereafter. ”

“ I never found any turning tools in stores, that I considered worth any thing. They are generally made for working soft woods, such as pine, but the amateur needs tools of a different class and temper. Hard woods are full of dust on the outside, and seem more or less impregnated with silica, the principle which forms the coating on the stalks of rye and cereal grains generally, which destroys the cutting edge in a short time, and also draws the temper. I have therefore found it convenient to make my own tools out of the best steel I could buy, and temper them myself. ”

“ The foot lathe—the terms hand and foot lathe are synonymous—is generally used, at the present time, by small machinists, manufacturers of gas fixtures, amateurs, etc.; men who do not work a lathe constantly, but are called off to braze or solder, or, perhaps, to fit some detail with a file. For these uses the foot lathe is one of the cheapest of tools; for the same person that does the work furnishes the power also, so that a man working on a foot, or hand lathe, as it is often called, ought to have first-class wages. ”

“ There are lathes that, while one could chase up a five-eight bolt in them as well as on the simple pulley and treadle machine, are also capable of executing all sorts of beautiful things—vases with bases nearly square, or exactly square, with round tops and hexagonal bodies, with gracefully-curved angular sides and bases, fluted vertically; boxes with curious patterns, resembling basket work; in fact, any combination of straight and curved lines, cut in the sides, it is possible for an ingenious man to invent. ”

“ All ornamental work resolves itself into movements of three kinds—angular, circular and straight. From the combination of these with each other, the times where they merge and emerge, where a movement of one kind changes into any other, where an ellipse becomes part of a circle, where circles are generated across the circumferences of other circles, where these patterns are drawn over and upon each other without destroying the character of either—we say, by such movements, and many others which it would be confusing to follow, the most beautiful forms are made. ”

“ The mechanic who earns his living by working ten hours a day in a workshop, does not care to go home and pursue the same calling in the evening; but he can institute an agreeable change in his life, beautify his dwelling, and cultivate his taste, by the use of the lathe, and thus obtain ornaments that would cost large sums if purchased at the stores; or he may, indeed, make the lathe a source of revenue, and sell the product of his skill and ingenuity at high prices to those who admire, but have not the ability to construct. ”

“ It distresses a workman greatly, when chasing a fine thread on a small diameter, if he has to tread fast to get up the proper speed, as he does when there are only two speeds. On the contrary, for larger jobs, it is difficult to keep up a rotary motion if the foot moves slowly, as it must in order not to burn the tool by a high velocity on some kinds of work. Foot lathes, in general, are not geared, although some are, and ought to have wider ranges of speed than they do. Where one class of work is done, however, it makes little difference, but for general turning, the speeds should vary. ”

“ There is no tool more efficient in the hands of a good workman, than the diamond point, Fig. 2, here shown. For roughing off a piece of metal, for squaring up the end, for facing a piece held in the chuck, for running out a curve, or rounding up a globe, it is equally well adapted. It may be truly called the turner’s friend.
CHAPTER II. TOOLS. Any one who has watched a novice at work on a lathe, must have remarked the difficulty he has in controlling the tool and keeping up the motion of the treadle at the same time. ”

“ The tool must not be treated as a blacksmith does iron, nothing like so hot, but so as to be of a dull cherry color. Steel that will not harden at this heat is poor stock. When so heated, plunge it into cold water. This will make the tool hard and brittle, like glass, so that it is not fit to cut with; you must then rub it bright on a piece of emery paper or a grindstone, and hold it in the fire for a second or so at a time, until the temper is drawn to the right degree of toughness and tenacity. This will be, for turning-tools for hard wood, of a dull blue-brown, say violet, color. ”

“ Cast iron is not good, and steel is not so good as wrought iron. A special rest should be kept for chasing threads with, since the least obstacle is enough, when running up a fine thread, to divert the chaser and spoil the job, by making a drunken thread. If we now suppose the lathe to be in good order, the centers true and well-turned to a gauge, the rod (if that is the job) between them and properly “dogged,” the centers oiled, and the rest at the right height, we shall be all ready to start. The rest should be high enough to bring the point of the tool a little above the center. ”

“ It can scarcely be called variegated, except so finely as to be unnoticeable, but for a rich brown color and tint it is unapproachable. It is chocolate brown in hue, and so hard and close in fibre, as to rive like the husk of a cocoanut, while under a burnisher alone it polishes like ivory. It is seldom one meets with a wood so wholly satisfactory, in its general nature, for all kinds of work where a hard grain and fine surface is desirable. ”

“ CHAPTER XII. TOOLS FOR WOOD TURNING. It does not seem necessary to go into the discussion of tools, or shapes of tools, for wood turning, for the grand and great reliance for roughing is the gouge, and a skillful workman will do as many things with it as the Russian carpenter is said to do with his axe, which is almost his only tool. For smoothing, there is the flat chisel, and for special work, every one will find tools, or, rather, make those he finds best suited to his needs. ”

“ There are not a few turners who spoil work simply from heedlessness. Not because they do not know any better, but because they are averse to taking a little extra pains. If a mandrel runs out of truth a very little, sooner than alter it, or make a new one, they will try to “make it do.” The result is easily seen when work is to be put together. Moreover, many persons use little caution in setting their work in the lathe. ”

“ Steel and iron are best polished with a sharp tool and water. To turn steel with a handsome surface, the tool must be sharpened on an oil stone, and the speed high, then spit on the work and take light cuts, and you will have a nice job. To make a very brilliant polish on steel, it is necessary to use emery and oil, plenty of oil and not much emery, but this makes such a nasty mess on the lathe, that few good turners will do it. A file should not be used in the lathe if possible; filing a job makes it uneven, and spoils the looks of it. ”

“ In fact, it is just this stubbornness of grain which renders them beautiful, for, by running in all directions, interlacing the fibres, so that the end of the grain is alternately presented side by side with the parallel grain, the light is caught and retained on dead surfaces that absorb it, making those beautiful contrasts which the most uncultivated admire. ”

“ For ordinary turning, we do not appreciate a slide rest on a hand lathe so much as many do that we know, but for boring out valves, cocks, or, in fact, anything, a scroll chuck and a good slide rest are invaluable. ”

“ Fibrous wood such as white oak, makes a good mandrel, for the reason that work, driven on it, compresses the fibers instead of scraping them, so that the size of the mandrel is unchanged.
Steel mandrels should be turned two in one, or largest in the middle, for small work, each end being a different size. Each end should be thoroughly centered with a drill, and countersunk, and a flat place filed so that the dog will hold; not a scratch with a tool should ever be made in one, though few persons will take the pains to avoid doing this. ”

“ It is so easy to make a drunken thread, or one in which the spirals are not true, but diverge or waver in their path around the shaft, that many are made. That they are more common than true threads, is well known to mechanics. To start a thread true is quite easy with an inside chaser; for, strange as it may seem, it is seldom that a drunken thread is made on inside work; only have the bore itself true, and the chaser will run in properly. ”

“ Very many veneers cannot be handled at all when dry, without breaking all to pieces and spoiling the pattern. It will be necessary to soak ebony, for instance, for some time before you want to use it. With this precaution, you can cut it in any shape without danger. It is the same with maple veneer. When I have cut out an intricate pattern in ebony, and wish to inlay the same with holly, I obtain an exact duplicate of the shape the holly should have, by placing it, wet, over the ebony, holding it firmly, so that it cannot slip, and then rapping the holly with the end of a tool handle. ”

“ In the matter of ornamental work, there are other details and plans in vogue among experienced turners, which can only be alluded to, not discussed at length, for the reason that the styles are so numerous that an elaborate work might be made of them alone, with great profit. The scroll chuck or geometrical chuck, as it is sometimes called, is a complicated piece of mechanism, too costly for general use, and too limited in its application, to mechanics in general, to be of much utility. ”

“ I think that some of the methods I practice are new to most persons, and I am sure they will be found accurate and expeditious; which last is a point of no small importance; for when a person works a long time over an elaborate thing, he gets terribly tired of it after while, if it is slow and plodding. In fact, where there is much that is uniform in character, as in making a check pattern, in black and white colors in squares, not over the tenth of one inch wide—it is impossible to make any thing like regularity, or fine fitting, and close joints, by handling each piece separately. ”

“ We have chased quantities of small screws, with forty-eight threads to the inch, and not a sixteenth of one inch in diameter. If the chaser once hesitates on such screws, they are spoiled. For heavy threads—seven and eight to the inch, which is about as hard work as any one wants to do,—it is the custom of some turners to use a tool with only two teeth, and some use only a sharp-edged cutter, like Fig. 18, to deepen the thread, the chaser being used afterward, to rectify the job. ”

“ The great trouble and vice of amateur mechanics is haste; they are too anxious to see the result of a design to give it proper attention in detail, and, as a consequence, it lacks that nicety and uniform elegance that characterize the shop-made goods. For where men work by the day, they are not too energetic as a rule. ”

“ It will easily be seen why so many amateurs fail in producing that vitreous glaze, or polish, which is so universally admired. Not one in fifty has patience enough to wait until the first coat dries, before the second is applied, and they keep trying the varnish, to see if it won’t work, in a day or two after it has been put on. It sometimes takes ten days before the third coat is ready to apply the next. It is a common fault to apply too much varnish on the first coat. It is necessary to rub it into the grain of the wood, so that it is thoroughly charged with it, and sinks into the pores. ”

“ We live to learn and to impart what we know to others, and I have taken this method of giving my experience in a pastime that is elevating, artistic in every sense of the word, and a wholesome relief from the cares of business. ”

“ By a simple change of tool, it can also face off any casting, and can easily be made to cut a thread, of a given pitch, by any ingenious workman. Not only this, but it can also be made without planing; or other work most amateurs have no facilities for. It is within the range of ordinary lathe work, and will be found indispensable. The T-head may be of cast iron, but the spindle should be steel, with a brass nut let in the back end for the screw to work in. ”

“ The lower handle enables the workman to have great power over the edge, and to direct it from or to the work without danger of catching. The tool is used by resting the end on the shoulder, as in Fig. 8, and turning the lowest handle. Since the heel holds the tool from slipping, there is no occasion to bear against it. In fact, there is no occasion, at any time, to force the tool from the workman, but it must be turned sideways, back and forth. A piece, properly centered, may be cut in any way without destroying its truth. ”

“ It takes time and experience to make a good finisher, and patience also, for men who are good turners, and can make excellent fits, are sometimes botches at polishing.
After emery of the finest possible description has been used, a little rouge powder should be put on a piece of buckskin and applied to the work. This will make a polish equal to gold on brass, and like silver on iron. Instead of these methods many persons burnish their work. The burnisher is sometimes made of steel, of bloodstone, and of agate. Steel is the material generally employed. ”

“ The natural tendency is to slack up or stop the motion of the treadle while the tool is engaged, and the tool is, therefore, at one time under the work, at another time above it, at another jumping rankly in, until, finally, the piece goes whirling out of the center or the chuck, and the operator flushes all over at his awkwardness. ”