Page 72 - Australian Wood Review №103 2019
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A piece of elastic cord is then The turning tools you need are sharp pieces, shed walls and the occasional
stretched between the two poles to and simple. For marking centres I use turner, is reduced to a gentle, but
again provide the spring you need. an awl (photo 11); stick it in, twist cheeky, puppy on a pole lathe
I much prefer this design as I can set (photo 12), and then add a drop of because of the slower speed and high
it up in the shed in winter, and then oil to the holes. tech braking mechanism (you stop
move it out to the garden as things pedalling if it catches).
get warmer. No extension When roughing out I use a basic
cord needed. carver’s gouge (photo 13). I’ve used For smoothing flat surfaces a simple
numerous sweeps and widths and flat and wide chisel (about 25mm+)
The final thing to make is the treadle. they all work well if they are sharp. will do a fine job (photo 20); it will
This can be made from a forked Use a gouge to turn a thinner section also do the job of a skew chisel if the
branch, or in my case hardwood (photo 14); when the cord wraps last one you used is still embedded
tomato stakes attached to a wide around this it will spin the blank in the wall.
piece of wood for you to stand on faster. Photo 15 shows how it also
while pedalling. The hinge is just holds the cord in place which helps to Using the tools is perhaps the
made from pieces of leather nailed to prevent slicing it with the tools! trickiest part to get right. Commonly,
the base and treadle. when people are getting started, they
For more detailed shaping I use a tense their upper body and pedal
How to bodge spindle gouge (photo 16) and skew using short pushes. Try instead to
So let’s use this thing. Grab a straight chisel (photo 17, 18, 19). I use ever so slightly lean into the rotating
log, green hardwood is best, and specific turning tools for these two blank as your leg pushes with long
split it into four pieces (photos 4–7) as I find the longer handles give me and confident movements on the
before shaping one of the wedge more control. And that skew chisel, treadle. As your leg returns, lean back
shaped pieces into a cylinder using an the much feared woodturner’s tool and pull the tool a millimetre or two
axe or drawknife (photos 8, 9, 10). that enjoys wrecking near-finished away from the blank.
72 Australian Wood Review
