TURNING. 



tlie piece fo firmly as not to be fhaken out, and yet loofe 

 enough to turn round without difficulty. 



This is the manner of fixing the work when it is to be 

 turned between centres ; but if it is required to be hollowed 

 out, the back puppet is removed, and the work mud be 

 fixed in a chuck at the extremity of the mandrel. For this 

 purpofe, a chuck is feleded which has a hole in it nearly 

 the fize of the piece of wood, the diameter of which being 

 taken in the callipers {fg. 35.), the chuck is fcrewed to the 

 mandrel : the reft is fixed in a convenient pofition, and the hole 

 in the chuck turned out by a proper tool to the fize meafured 

 by the callipers : the hole fhould be rather conical, and the 

 wood, being rafped to the fame figure, is driven in faft by a 

 hammer. By turning the mandrel flowly round, it will be 

 feen if tlie wood is fixed ftraight in a line with the mandrel, 

 and if not, a blow or two of the hammer, properly direfted, 

 will redlify it. 



If the piece of wood is not very long, the chuck will be 

 fufiicient to hold it firm whilft it is turned ; but if it is not, 

 then a fmall centre hole muft be made in tlie extreme end, 

 and into this the point of the back centre fcrew muft be in- 

 •ferted to tteady the work, until the rough part of the turning 

 is done, and then it may be removed ; but it is much more 

 convenient to turn without the back centre, and therefore the 

 turner fits the chuck to the wood with care, fo that it will 

 fix faft in the chuck. 



The work being thus chucked, or fixed in the lathe, the 

 reft is fet, fo that its edge is clofe to that part of the work 

 which is required to be turned, and the top of the reft being 

 railed confiderably above the level of the centre of the work, 

 it is there fcrewed faft. 



The turner now puts the lathe in motion by treading with 

 his foot, and takes a gouge, of a proper fize, in his right- 

 hand, and holds it by the handle a little inclined, keeping 

 the back of the hand lowermoft : he grafpsthe blade of the 

 tool with his left-hand, the back of which is to be turned 

 upwards, and he holds it as near the end as poffible on the 

 front fide of the reft ; then leaning the gouge on the reft, 

 he is to prefent the edge of it a little higher than the hori- 

 zontal diameter of the piece, fo as to form a kind of tangent 

 to its circumference ; {tejig.^2. Thisis the beft pofition for 

 cutting, and the tool muft be held very firmly, to prevent the 

 edgebeingdepreifedby the motion of the work, for if it does, 

 it will take hold too deep, and tear the work. The gouge is 

 apphed firft to one end of the work, and gradually advanced 

 to the other, turning the work true all the way, and re- 

 ducing it till the callipers (Jig. 36.) determine it to be near 

 the intended diameter. 



The chiftel is next employed to fmooth the cyhnder : its 

 handle is held in the right-hand, whilft the left grafps the 

 blade, and keeps it fteady upon the reft, holding the edge a 

 little inclined over the work, as mfg. 41 ; fo that one fide of 

 the flat part of the blade lies on the reft, and the other fide is 

 elevated, that the plane of the blade, and confequently the line 

 of the edge, is not horizontal, but inclined thereto, fo that 

 one corner of the edge of the chiffel is elevated above 

 the work : then the bottom of the edge of the chiftel, 

 or near the bottom, cuts away a {having from the work, and 

 this is the only way in which it will cut ; for if the edge of 

 the chiftel is held parallel to the axis of the cylinder, it afts 

 parallel to the length of the grain of the wood, fcraping away 

 the fibref, one by one, without cutting, and leaves a very 

 rough furface. In the fame manner, the narrow chiffels, 

 formers, and other inftruments, ai-e to be ufed accordhig to 

 the work which is to be done, taking care that the wood 

 be cut equally, and that the inftrumen: be not pufhed fud- 

 denly forwards, or fometunes more ftrongly than at others ; 



and takmg care alfo that the inftrument does not follow the 

 work, but that it be kept firm on the reft, without vieldinir. 

 The gouge and chiffel are the inftruments by far the moft 

 frequently ufed, and the moft neceffary in this art. Soft 

 woods arealmoft entirely turned by them. 



To make the end of the work exadly flat, the thin fide 

 ot the chiffel is laid upon the reft, fo that the plane of the 

 edge may ftand exadly upright. The hand is deprefl'ed, 

 that the lower corner of the edge may rife againft the work, 

 and cut a deep circle into it, near the end, and being 

 fteadily advanced, cut to the centre, feparating a thin 

 round chip, and leaving the end quite flat. The cutting 

 corner of the chiffel muft be direfted exaftly perpendicular 

 to the length of the work, in advancing it, otherwife 

 the end will be either concave or convex, and care muft be 

 taken to keep the plane of the edge truly /upright, and 

 hold it very firm, for there is danger of the work drawing 

 the chiffel into the end of it, with a deep fpiral cut, like a 

 fcrew, and tearing the work out of the chuck. 



A cyhnder of wood being formed by the procefs we have 

 juft defcribed, if it is required to turn it hollow withinfide, 

 the reft is fixed oppofite the end of it, with the edge of the 

 reft perpendicular to the length : then a fharp-pointed 

 tool is ufed, to bore fuch a hollow in the end as will 

 form the required cavity, ufing the infide callipers (Jig. 35.) 

 to determine the fize of it. The fide -tool, which is made 

 with a cutting edge on the fide, like a knife, rnay be ufed, if 

 it is required to make the bottom of the cavity fquare ; or 

 a hooked tool, with the cutting edge at the end of the hook, 

 may be employed to e.ilarge the infide to the proper fize : 

 the gauge {Jg. 34. ) is ufed to determine the depth to which 

 it is to be turned. 



This is the procefs for tuniing foft woods, wliich are 

 generally of a fibrous texture : but hard woods, ivory, and 

 bone, are turned with different tools. The points or 

 cutting edges of fome luch tools are reprefented in Jigs. 23. 

 and 24; they are bevelled only on one fide, and the angle of 

 the edges is obtufe. The round-pointed tool, and the 

 (harp angular-pointed tool, are thofe employed for firft 

 roughing out the work, and by them a number of con- 

 tiguous grooves are cut in the wood, until its grain is broken 

 and divided, and the irregularities reduced ; then an edged 

 tool can remove the remainder : but as the edged tools will 

 only cut or fcrape off thin fliavings, they are not ufed when 

 the work is to be reduced to fize, but only to finilh it. 

 Tiie manner of applying the tools to the work is fliewn in 

 Jig. 39. and is nearly the fame as for turning brafs, or other 

 foft metal : the upper furface of the tool is direfted to the 

 centre of the work, the intention being to fcrape away 

 fliavings in hard wood, and in foft to cut chips, as at 

 J!gs.^i. and 42. The graver {/^. 40.) is avery ufeful tool 

 for hard wood : the manner of ufing it, as well as other tools, 

 will be defcribed when we come to fpeak of turning in 

 metal. 



After the work is completely turned, it is next to be po- 

 liflied, and this cannot be done with the inftruments hitherto 

 mentioned. Soft woods, as pear-tree, hazel, maple, &c. ought 

 to be poliftied with fhark-fl<in, or Dutch ruflies. There are 

 different fpecies of fliarks, fome of which have a greyiih, 

 others a reddifli fldn. Shark's (Idn is always better when 

 it has been ufed ; at firft, it is too rough for fine pohftimg. 

 The Dutch rufh is the equifetum hyemale ; it grows in 

 moift places, among mountains, and is a native of Scothuid. 

 The oldeft plants are the beft. Before ufing them, they 

 fliould be moiftened a httle, otherwife they break m pieces 

 ahnoft direaiy, and render it exceedingly difficult to polift 

 with them : they arc particularly proper for fmoothmg the 

 3 L 2 . hard 



