[modeleng] Re: Swarf!
- From: "Tony Wells" <oaksfield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 16:01:18 -0000
FWIW, this is a pole lathe that Hubert describes here, and is actually
making a comeback in the world of woodturning (my other hobby). From the
woodturning records, Bodgers went around the country, setting up their
lathes wherever they could find a suitable tree branch, and then mostly
doing repair work by turning new chair backs and legs etc. As the work of
some of these itinerant workers was of dubious quality, the name "Bodger"
became a term of abuse, denoting a lack of skill, rather than the high
quality of the original artisans.
If you can ever go to a large woodturning show here in England, you will
more than likely see someone demonstrating a pole lathe, and the skills of
the bodger. One chap even resigned from his job in forest management with
the NationalTrust to become a commercial pole lathe woodturner - he did not
make vast amounts of money but he did help keep pole lathes alive and got a
lot of job satisfaction. He probably makes moremoney from doing
demonstrations now though. I am also fairly sure that he was also the same
chap who won a contract to make duplicates of the turned wooden objects
found on the Mary Rose - "Treen" it is called and includes beer mugs, egg
cups,slat and pepper shakers etc, along with the more usual bowls, dishes
and platters.
There are quite a few web sites giving details of how to make your own pole
lathe, and I also have instructions on how to make an poleless pole lathe,
using a rubber "bungie" luggage strap as a giant elastic band as the return
spring instead of a pole, if anyone is interested in further reading on the
subject.
Tony Wells.
----- Original Message -----
From: "shep" <shep.28@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 3:40 PM
Subject: [modeleng] Re: Swarf!
> Hi Peter
>
> According to my records, one form of Bodger was the chap who sat in the
> beechwoods in the Chilterns, surrounding High Wycombe; put two spikes in
> the
> ground, cut living branches from the wood, placed them between the centres
> of the spikes; wrapped string around the branch, and attached this to a
> springy overhead bough; brought the bough down with one foot, and then on
> the return stroke, turned the round 'dowels' that appear in the back of a
> 'Windsor' chair. He used a heavy gouge, which is was recently still sold
> as a 'bodger's gouge'. He sold these to the many furniture factories in
> High Wycombe at an agreed price per gross. This activity was still being
> used in the woods, right up to the beginning of WWII! I am not aware of
> the bodger's role in shoemaking.
>
> Here endeth the first lesson!
>
> SNIP
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