only to embellish their instruments, but also 
to give them the necessary dimension and 
precision. In short, it is an art absolutely 
necessary to the' goldsmith, the watchmaker, 
the joiner, and the smith. 
Turning is performed by the lathe, of which 
there are various kinds, and several instru- 
ments, as gouges, chisels, drills, formers, and 
screw-tales, used for cutting what is 1 to be 
turned into its proper form as the lathe turns 
round. See Plate Miscel. tig. 131; and Plate 
Lamp, &c. fig. 6, &c. 
The lathe should be fixed in a place very 
well lighted ; it should be immoveable, and 
neither too high nor too low. The puppets 
should neither be so low as to oblige the 
workman to stoop in order to see Iris work 
properly, nor so high that the little chips, 
l which be is continually driving off, should 
come into his eyes. 
The piece to be turned should be rounded, 
\ (if it is wood) before it is put on the lathe, 
1 either with a small hatchet made for the pur- 
pose, or with a plane, or with a file, fixing it 
m a vice, and shaving it down till it is every 
where almost of an equal thickness, and 
leaving it a little larger than it is intended to 
be when finished off. Before putting it on 
the lathe, it is also necessary to find the 
centre of its two end surfaces, and that they 
t should be exactly opposite to each other, 
that when the points of the puppets are ap- 
.. plied to them, and the piece is turned round, 
no side may belly out more than another. 
To find these two centres, lay the piece of 
wood to he turned upon a plank ; open a pair 
of compasses to almost half the thickness of 
the piece, fix one of the legs in the plank, 
and let the point of the other touch one of 
the ends of the piece, brought into the same 
plane with the plank on which the compasses 
are fixed, and very near the fixed leg. De- 
| scribe four arches on that end at equal dis- 
tances from each other, at the circumference 
of the end, but intersecting one another with- 
in ; the point of inteisection is the centre of 
the end. In the same manner must the 
| centre of the other end be found. After 
finding the two centres, make a small hole at 
.teach of them, into which insert the points of 
the puppets, and fix the piece so firmly as 
not to be shaken out, and yet loose enough 
to turn round without difficulty. 
The piece being thus fixed, it is necessary 
in the next place to adjust the cord, by mak- 
. ing it pass twice round the piece, and in such 
a manner, that the two ends of the cord, both 
that which is fixed to the spang and to the 
footboard, come off on the side on which the 
turner stands, that the piece may move 
against the edge of the cutting-tool and be 
■turned. If the lathe is moved by a wheel, 
the manner of adjusting the cord needs no 
direction. 
If the workman does not clause to be at 
the trouble to find the two centres of the 
piece in the manner described above, let him 
■ lay, as nearly as lie can, the centre of one 
' end upon the point of the left hand puppet, 
and then let him push forward the right hand 
puppet, striking "ft with a mallet till its point 
is as near as can he in the centre of the other 
1 end of the piece ; and then fixing the right 
hand puppet by a gentle blow of the mallet 
on the key, let him turn round the piece to 
gee by the eye if Lhe centres have been pro- 
TURNING. 
perly found. If any part of it bellies out, 
let him strike that part gently with the mallet 
till it goes properly ; then let him strike one 
ot the puppets pretty smartly to drive the 
points into the piece, and afterwards fix the 
puppet by striking the key. If the workman 
cannot judge by the eye whether the piece is 
turning properly round its centres or not, he 
should apply gently the point of an instru- 
ment called a triangular graver, leaning it on 
the rest, and it will mark by a line the place 
where the piece is out of its centre; and bv 
striking upon this line with a mallet, the 
piece can easily he placed properly. The 
rest, of which we have just spoken, ought to 
be placed upon the two arms of the lathe, 
and fixed with screws as near the piece as 
the workman pleases. 
The piece being fixed between the two 
points of the puppets, the cord adjusted, and 
the rest fixed as near the work as possible 
without touching it ; the workman is now to 
take a gouge of a proper size in his left hand, 
and hold it by the handle a little inclined, 
keeping the back of the hand lowermost. 
With his right hand, the back of. which is to 
be turned upwards, he is to grasp it near 
the end on this side of the rest ; then lean- 
ing the gouge on the rest, he is to present 
the edge of it a little higher than the horizon- 
tal diameter of the piece, so as to form a kind 
of tangent to its circumference ; then putting 
the right foot on the footboard, and turning 
round the wheel, and holding the gouge 
firmly on the rest, the piece will be cut neat- 
ly. In the same manner are the chisels, 
formers, and other instruments to be used, 
taking care that the wood shall be cut equally, 
and that the instrument shall not be pushed 
improperly, sometimes stronger than at 
others; and taking care also, that the instru- 
ment used does not follow the work, but that 
it is kept firmly in the hand without yield- 
ing. 
The young turner ought to endeavour to 
acquire the management of the gouge and 
the chisel, which are the instruments by far 
the most frequently used, and the most ne- 
cessary in this art ; by them, almost entirely, 
are the soft woods turned ; as for hard 
woods and other things, as box, ebony, horn, 
ivory, and the metals, they are hardly ever 
turned except by shaving off. In that case 
gravers are to be used with square, round, or 
triangular mouths. They should he held 
horizontally while applied' to the wood, and 
not obliquely as directed for the gouge and 
the chisel. 
After the work is completely turned, it is 
next to be polished, and this cannot be done 
with the instruments hitherto mentioned. Soft 
woods, as pear-tree, hazel, and maple, ought 
to be polished with shark-skin or Dutch 
rushes. There are different species of sharks ; 
some of which have a greyish, others a red- 
dish skin. Shark-skin is always the better 
to be a good deal used ; at first it is too rough 
for polishing. The Dutch rush is the equi- 
setum hyemale Oi Linnaeus, which grows in 
moist places among mountains. It is re- 
markable for having flinty particles in the 
substance of its leaves, which render it so use- 
ful m polishing, ft has a naked, simple, 
and round stem, about the thickness of a 
writing-pen. The oldest plants are the best. 
Before using them they should be moistened 
a little, otherwise they break in pieces almost 
8 TS 
immediately, and render it exceedingly dil* 
lieu i t to polish with them. They are pai* 
t’cularly proper for smoothing hard woods* 
as box, iignum-vita', ebony, Ac. After hav- 
ing cleaned up the p.ece well, it should be 
rubbed gently either with wax or oibe-o>i, 
then w iped clean and rubbed with its own 
raspings or with a cloth a little worn, fvo \ , 
horn, silver, and brass, are polished with p - 
mi( e-stone finely pounded and put upon lea- 
ther or a linen cloth a little moistened : with 
this the piece is rubbed as it lurip round in 
the lathe; and to prevent any dirt from . fi- 
ltering to any part of it, every now atid th< it 
it is rubbed gt ntlv with a small brush dipt t* 
water. To polish very finely, the workmen 
make use of tripoli, and afterwards, of puttv 
or calx of tin. Iron and steel are polished 
with very fine powder of emery ; this is mix- 
ed with oil, and put between two pieces ot 
very tender wood, and then the iron is rubbed 
with it. Tin and silver are polished with u, 
burnisher, and that kind of red stone called in 
France sanguine dime. They may be po- 
lished also ; with putty, putting it dry on 
shammy-skin or with the palm of the hand. 
To succeed in turning iron, it is necessary 1 
to have a lathe exceedingly strong in all its 
parts, and exceedingly well fixed. The pup- 
pets should be short, and the rest well fixed 
very near the work ; the back ot the rest 
should be two or three lines lower than the 
iron to be turned. 
The lathe and other instruments being pre- 
pared, it is necessary to determine the length 
and thickness of the iron to be turned ac- 
cording to the design which is to be execut- 
ed, and to make a model of it in wood a little 
thicker than it ought to be ; then one exactly 
like this is to be forged of the best iron that 
can be procured ; that is, it must not be 
new, but w r ell prepared and well beaten with 
hammers ; it must have no flaws, nor cracks, 
nor pimples. New iron, which lias not been 
well beaten, often contains round drops of 
cast iron, called by the workmen grains, 
which blunt the edges of the gouges, chisels, 
and other instruments used for cutting ; break 
them, or make them slide. The iron bbing* 
forged according to the model, it should 
be annealed, that is, heated red hot, and al- 
lowed to cool slowly on the coals till the fin? 
goes out of itself. Some people, to soften the 
iron, cover it over with clay and allow it ttf 
cool. r l he iron cylinder being (Inis made,, 
it is next to be put upon the lathe, finding 
the centres as formerly directed, and boring 
a small hole in them that the iron may not 
escape from the points. 
The points should be oifed from time t* 
time to prevent their being excessively heated 
and spoiled while the iron is turning. A 
crotchet i- then to be applied to the iron to 
be turned, a little above its centre, pretty* 
gently, and by this means the inequalities of. 
the cylinder will be taken off. Other instru- 
ments are then to Ik; applied to mould the 
iron according to the model ; and whenever 
any of them grow hot, they are to be plung< <1 
into a bason of water lying beside the work- 
man. If the iron, after being properly turn- 
ed, is to be bored like a gun-barrel, one of 
the puppets is to be removed, and another 
substituted in its place having a square hole 
through it, into which the collar ot the iron 
is to be fixed firmly, so as not to shake; 
then borers are to b<> "oplied, like tho»<? 
