Saturday, April 10, 2010

Bow Lathe and Fancy Footwork

Here is a captivating video of a woodturner in Marrakech who uses a bow lathe—a tool that's been around since the ancient Egyptians—a chisel, and his foot (!) to turn some intricate pieces.



Here is the youtube link.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now, THAT is barefoot woodworking!

Very impressive. Looks like the captive ring was almost an accident.

... and all with only one chisel.

I'm going to cancel those gouges I have on order, then go sit in a corner and cry.

Bob Easton said...

Previous "anonymous" comment was mine. Blogger doesn't always expand the Name/URL option.

Wonderin' how we can ever be as good as a kid with a bow and one chisel.

Thanks for the humiliation! :)

Darnell said...

Gonna get him to turn a knob for your sawbuck table? :)

Buckboard WoodWorks said...

I sat here and kept saying WOW!

I think I am going to have to build a lathe similar to that.

Thanks for sharing this.

Alfred Kraemer said...

Wow, that's minimalist turning at its best. One wouldn't assume that the product could have been created with such simple, but well-selected tools.
The lathe - very simple but stable enough.
The skew chisel - the most versatile turning tool.
All it takes is the skill of the turner to show what can be done with them.
The tood seems to be olive which turns quite well.

Alfred

Mitchell said...

There must be a "Hammer Toes" joke out there that would be apropos right about now, but I'm going to refrain from looking for it.

Unknown said...

Wow! That was quite impressive. Thanks for sharing it.

But I have to wonder whether or not he goes home with an incredibly sore back after being hunched over like that all day.

The Cottage Workshop said...

Amazing! That one piece would take me about an hour... on my Rikon lathe! Maybe a bow lathe would be faster?
Thanks for sharing Kari!

Kari Hultman said...

I couldn't stop watching him. Truly incredible. He must have started at a very young age to be able to work like that.

Anonymous said...

Wonder what he charges by the foot!

Bob Easton said...

The LOML watched this video this afternoon. She has put my inadequate collection of tools up for auction on fleabay and has directed me out of the shop to my new woodworking venue at the edge of the road, down by the mailbox.

She let me keep a 1973 Sears Crafstman skew chisel and a pocket knife, the one with our wedding date engraved on it.

Tom Dugan said...

Good grief! I kept waiting for the blood when he casually turns his eyes away while doing the initial paring under his thumb at the beginning, but he seems to have done this work a couple of times before.

All with one skew. Sigh.

Kari Hultman said...

Anon, nice one. heh heh

Bob, what's your seller's name on ebay????? I mean, uh, sorry to hear that you have to get rid of all your tools.

Tom, that paring was a tad cringe-inducing, for sure. While I was watching, I started counting his fingers, and managed to relax a bit.

George foweraker said...

Very clever
GBF

Eric said...

Man, and to think I've been saving & saving to buy a nice lathe & plenty of tools.....
OY !!