Carving a mushroom in seasoned pink ivory wood BY HAND

[Robson Valley]

The design of the "pole lathe" has caught my fancy. Human powered. Winter storage might be problematic for me.
The main frame for my biggest trebuchet is outside (covered). The arm and counterweight frame are in the house.

I have lost all good references to the design and now all I find are poorly made videos which presume you have built 4 or 5 already.
So I don't have a clear idea how much of the lathe could be left outside. Still think it would be a fun thing to build.
Would never want to be sitting down at a lathe. Just puts my face too close to a jammed and flipped-out lathe gouge edge.

We have our "Pioneer Days" celebration June 2/3/4 = pole lathe demonstrations? Too late for this year.

 

[Janne]

Trebuchet??
You are preparing for an invasion from the south???



I made one small one with my on about 15 years ago. Got the best result (longest throws) with a semi flexible arm.
Surprisingly accurate things.

 

[GGTBod]

My minds eye lathe is a standing up to use lathe run by a re-purposed pedal crank to my left run by my left hand, this will spin a large heavy bike wheel that engages the fly wheel when in gear, so i will pedal with the re-purposed mountain bike gears to get the bike wheel up to a good speed and then engage the fly wheel, once up to speed engage the lathe gears and boosh, then just the odd top up to the speed from the left hand crank arm every now and then should keep things rolling at a good speed with the weighted flywheel, all just the mad imaginings in my mind right now

 

[Robson Valley]

In my "Treb Period," I built 14 of them. The big ones had to be left outdoors and after a year they aren't safe except in a wood stove.
The "banquet busters" are for ice cubes, cheese & olives & pickled things for attacking the head table. Believe I have 2 or 3 left.
Only good sized one left has an 8' oak arm and less than 300lbs in the counterweight. I built it in modules for ease of transport.
It will fling a 500g/1 lb ice cube at least 100yards. Partly assembled:

I want to see the lathe. I've watched video of a pole lathe in action. Looks big enough and fast enough to be very useful.
I'm trying to imagine how to include turned pieces into my wood carvings

 

[GGTBod]

So far mate it is just ideas floating in my mind as to how i would approach the task of making a lathe using the skills and knowledge i have from basic cycle mechanics to drive the pole mechanism, i guess i'd learn if i can make it happen or not by trying, soon i am leaving my high rise tower block life for a place in the country with a garden, then i can explore my hobbies and mad ideas better

 

[GGTBod]

loving the trebuchet

 

[Robson Valley]

Never mad ideas. Anybody with a motorized lathe can't cope without juice.

Apple wood splits like hello = really poor for wood carving. I could stand at the pole lathe and reduce that apple log to chips.
Then, I could eat rubbed & smoked BBQ pork side ribs for years. I use chunk apple now, it smokes up fine.

Trebs scale up arithmetically. Get a good working design and you can make them big enough to throw coffins, dead pigs, flaming toilets, etc.

The counterweight in the one shown is two long pieces of 1" x 2" steel with a 2" x 2" piece welded across the bottom.
Then I stack more loose 2" x 2" x 16" steel bars above that. I was too lazy to haul them all out for the picture.

Trivia: you could carry all the dimensions for the WarWolf as a knotted cord in your pocket.
There is no known medieval document which shows the details of the trigger design.
Hugh Kennedy's big treb has 40,000lbs in the counterweight. The trigger is a secret.

I can do a really good one with a rope.