Request of the Ornamental Turners

[RichColvin]

When I was trying to getting into Ornamental Turning, I found that getting started in the craft was far too difficult. This is not a criticism of anyone, just a statement of facts. If nothing else, consider that the go-to book is 130 years old (Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, vol. 5 – The Principles and Practice of Ornamental or Complex Turning, 1884, by John Jacob Holtzapffel).

I muddled my way thru it, and now have a working rose engine lathe. Nothing to write home about, but functional. A good first start anyway.

But I don’t want others to go thru the same difficulties I had to endure, so I have committed to building a curated eBook for those wanting to get started. You can see what I’ve started at :

www.OTBoK.info​

So here’s my ask of all y’all :

1. Please let me know if anything I’m putting together is incorrect. I really want the right information can be presented.
2. If you have videos or pictures that would help explain ideas, please consider sharing them. I will certainly credit you, as you can see on the others I’ve used.
3. If you have any ideas on things to add, please tell me that too.

The end goal is to present an unbiased set of information that is easy to access and use. I want no advertising there, and I am seeking no funding for this either. It is to be a truly free source of information.

When it is done, I will happily give it to the Ornamental Turners International club (a chapter of the AAW), or to the AAW in total. Either is OK with me as long as it is free and accessible to anyone who wants the information.

Kind regards,
Rich

 

[hockenbery]

Pretty to look at - no interest in doing it myself

You have probably done these already

Be sure to look at the article in the AAW journal by
John Magill - on building a rose engine lathe.

Basically it is components that attach to a regular lathe that you build yourself and avoid spending $40k for a Holtzapffel lathe.

Also see what David Lindow has to offer

 

[Richard Coers]

If you add your lathe to the information, I would like a design credit mention. Thanks

 

[Richard Kuivila]

When I was trying to getting into Ornamental Turning, I found that getting started in the craft was far too difficult. This is not a criticism of anyone, just a statement of facts. If nothing else, consider that the go-to book is 130 years old (Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, vol. 5 – The Principles and Practice of Ornamental or Complex Turning, 1884, by John Jacob Holtzapffel).

I muddled my way thru it, and now have a working rose engine lathe. Nothing to write home about, but functional. A good first start anyway.

But I don’t want others to go thru the same difficulties I had to endure, so I have committed to building a curated eBook for those wanting to get started. You can see what I’ve started at :

www.OTBoK.info​

So here’s my ask of all y’all :

1. Please let me know if anything I’m putting together is incorrect. I really want the right information can be presented.
2. If you have videos or pictures that would help explain ideas, please consider sharing them. I will certainly credit you, as you can see on the others I’ve used.
3. If you have any ideas on things to add, please tell me that too.

The end goal is to present an unbiased set of information that is easy to access and use. I want no advertising there, and I am seeking no funding for this either. It is to be a truly free source of information.

When it is done, I will happily give it to the Ornamental Turners International club (a chapter of the AAW), or to the AAW in total. Either is OK with me as long as it is free and accessible to anyone who wants the information.

Kind regards,
Rich

Rich - Great idea. OTBoK !
I've been a member of OTI for a number of years. One of my major disappointments is that the members love to show off their finished pieces, but are very closed as to HOW the work is actually setup and executed.

Sure, it rocks and pumps and rotates and cuts, but what are the steps process of selecting the parts - Rosettes, rubber profile, cutter, etc. and setup, that combined to give the finished results ...

I know I'm pretty good at two dimensional stuff, but maybe the three dimensions at once, are just too much for me ............

R
------

Is it all just a LOT of trial and error ?

 

[RichColvin]

Richard,

For the MDF Rose Engine Lathe 2.0, we’ve started compiling such information. It is available at the MDF Rose Engine Lathe 2.0 Library. No where near complete, but a start nonetheless.

Rich

 

[Ed Davidson]

The main problem I've found with all things Rose Engine is the lack of common tools among users. The original Lindow/White machine IMHO, was an attempt to standardize a modern design and make it available to the masses. But over the past couple of decades, even it has developed dozens of basic design variations, add-ons and possible setups. It's really hard to teach how something is done when every person in the room is working with a different tool.