Wm. R. Robertson 533 Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 My friend and fellow poster on the forum, Althea, had a project in mind that required some lathe work. She is a knitter, not one that normally uses machine tools or works to tolerances of a thousandth of inch. But like many skilled artists she took to this like a duck to water...... She wanted to do sort of face plate type turning so I set her up with a lathe I made based on a classic Japanese design with the spindle facing the operator. I used a Taig headstock and a jewelers 6 jaw bezel chuck.... It is a sweet little lathe for this kind of work.....And to start off, I feel you have to get a lesson in the basic proportion of turnings, and the best place to start is with Plumier's book from 1701, it was the first book ever written solely about the lathe and I happen to have a rare first edition..... So her she is studying a 313 year book...... And turning...... And success! 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
miraclechicken 173 Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Very cool! Lucky Althea Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Althea 61 Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I had such fun! How lucky am I that I got to play in Bill's workshop?!? And yes, it is just as amazing as you would think! Bill is a marvelous teacher...very patient, kind and encouraging. I learned so much. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackofalltrades 21 Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Althea, What are you going to make? You sure look happy! Jack Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gary 10 Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Waay better near eyesight than I have post cataract stuff.... I can't even see what you turned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
karincorbin 43 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Plumier's book on the lathe is available online at archive.org as a free download in several file format verions. We are very fortunate that museums and libraries are scanning these rare old books and making them available for free for anyone to read. There are now many such treasures we can enjoy and more are being scanned every month. Not the same of course as holding a 300 year old book in your hands but at least we can enjoy the contents. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_yRsLuVCA2y0C Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wm. R. Robertson 533 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Thanks for the link Karin, it is interesting in their copy some of the plates are out of order, also when the scan stuff they almost never unfold the big plates. Often in books of this age they would print a lot illustrations on a much larger piece of paper and mount it in the binding. Then the reader could unfold it.I agree it is nice to have these online, but nicer to hold in your hand if you can. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
karincorbin 43 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Thanks for the link Karin, it is interesting in their copy some of the plates are out of order, also when the scan stuff they almost never unfold the big plates. Often in books of this age they would print a lot illustrations on a much larger piece of paper and mount it in the binding. Then the reader could unfold it.I agree it is nice to have these online, but nicer to hold in your hand if you can.Perhaps someday you could get a grant to have some of your rare books digitized the way they ought to be done. Without of course doing any harm to your collection. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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