PTJ potential project - Spring Pole Lathe

I'm coming out to Wheaton Labs this summer (2024) for the Permaculture Technology Jamboree and one project I'd like to attempt is a spring pole lathe.  This is a thread where we can discuss it.

I've never built or used one so I have a wealth of experience to draw upon :)

My hope would be to build it generally with round wood and in a perfect world, with minimal metal.

 
 

Making one from a 2x12: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/roy-underhills-double-spring-pole-lathe/

Does anyone have experience with these?  To get it done during the PTJ I need to get it completed in a week so simplicity might be a virtue...

I am looking to build one of these myself! I would love to see a build of this at the PTJ

Yes yes yes!

I don't know if building it from round wood would be a major compromise?  I could see benefits from a couple of forked trees to make the legs...  But they don't have forked trees at Paul's place :(   And if it gets really heavy, it's hard for the boots to move it around.  And getting the moving pivot center to slide well would be more of a challenge with round wood. But it would be really cool looking.

If anyone's seen one of these in use, am I correct in that the wood shavings are removed from the workpiece when you do the downstroke on the foot pedal?  So the spring only needs to be strong enough to lift the pedal back up and counter rotate the workpiece?

Robin Wood just retired from full-time turning bowls, but there are a lot of videos available showing his pole lathe that you might find useful.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robin+wood+pole+lathe

Thanks Christopher!!!  Here's the first one I clicked on which was very informative.  Maybe I should make some hook knives while I'm out there too...

And maybe/maybe-not useful, but more info is usually better...

Howdy,

Also check out  Mike Abbott  Green Woodwork,

Heres some photos of Mike,


https://www.alamy.com/mike-abbott-a-coppice-craftsman-working-with-his-pole-lathe-which-image2784917.html

Howdy,

Also, a friend of mine built one of these and had a big wooden flywheel to help keep the motion going. I don't remember where he got the plans. He was doing production work and mainly making Windsor chairs, all with traditional hand tools, no power, so had to have variety of legs, braces, and rungs.

Thanks Randal!  Do you know if the flywheel kept turning in the same direction or did it alternate to and fro?

Howdy Mike,

Yes, flywheel kept turning in same direction(like a treadle sewing machine). Was made out of wood, was 3-4 ft. in dia and was HEAVY.  I "helped" him at times and would work the pedal, he would only be using the lathe tool on the down motion of the pedal, most of the time.

Treadle lathe, NOT spring pole

I’ve read spring-pole lathe users say that flywheel lathes are less controlled and less efficient, but I haven’t used either one, so I don’t really get it.

I like the two concepts and can see how the design probably evolved.  For the PTJ, I think the spring pole is a bit more fitting.  Not sure if the spring should be part of the lathe or a separate affair...  For WL, the more a device is "ready to go" and "all in one piece", the more likely it is to be used again and kept together.

Well, I've used both type of lathes
My original spring pole lathe was set up in my shop with an ironwood pole about 2 in in diameter attached to the ceiling with u-bolts.
The lathe itself was merely made out of two horizontal rough cut 2x4s with one stationary upright with a sharpened lag bolt screwed through it, and the other upright that could slide between the two horizontal 2x4s . Basically both uprights were dead centers. Bearings could be incorporated to reduce friction.
There was a hinge located in the shop floor attached to a 1x6 that was used for the pedal. A piece of cord was attached to the "spring pole" in the ceiling brought down wrapped around the workpiece with one turn and then clipped into the floor pedal with a snap link.. the whole unit was merely clamped into my woodworking bench vise.
The only problem with a treadle lathe is that because of the reciprocating motion you often times will not get a perfectly cylindrical piece.
The spring pole worked adequately but was rather slow and could not take a lot of pressure on the tool.
I then modernized, so to speak , and mounted various lathes, including a 36-in Craftsman on a table above a singer heavy duty sewing machine treadle mechanism,
I used leather v belts for drive, and now have a full rotational lathe and disc Sander mounted above the sewing machine treadle. This late also has metal turning capabilities.
From my experience the treadle powered lathe out competes the Spring Pole by a long shot. With the treadle you can get high speeds, similar to a electric powered lathe, and perfectly cylindrical objects, though with anything over 6 in in diameter you run into the leverage problem, trying to do anything over 6" can be rather difficult and slow.
I've made several small objects on the spring pole lathe, however since upgrading to the treadle lathe I have made dozens and dozens of objects, including plates, cups, goblets, candle holders, cookie jars and many other small parts to numerous to mention.

Mike Haasl wrote:I don't know if building it from round wood would be a major compromise?  I could see benefits from a couple of forked trees to make the legs...  But they don't have forked trees at Paul's place :(   And if it gets really heavy, it's hard for the boots to move it around.  And getting the moving pivot center to slide well would be more of a challenge with round wood. But it would be really cool looking.

If anyone's seen one of these in use, am I correct in that the wood shavings are removed from the workpiece when you do the downstroke on the foot pedal?  So the spring only needs to be strong enough to lift the pedal back up and counter rotate the workpiece?

It's important that the spring Pole when depressed has enough tension to maintain a tight grip on the work piece to avoid rope slippage,  and yes cutting of the work piece is only accomplished on the downstroke, as on the up stroke the workpiece rotates against the bottom of the tools edge. Sanding however can be accomplished in both up and down stroke.. therefore as much tension as can be attained is better.