Union Hill Antique Tools - Outfits for Ornamental Turning

This article was originally published in the Society of Ornamental Turner's Bulletin. I felt it answered alot of questions for both beginners and more advanced turners, so I copied it here.

Following the publication of the schedule of a "Complete" O.T. outfit there have been requests for a similar schedule or sets of schedules of ascending degrees of completeness. This is an attempt to meet those requests.

To avoid repetition, the following are assumed to be included in ALL outfits:

A reasonable number of slide and hand rest tools, not necessarily a complete cabinet; At least as many tools for cutting frames-again not necessarily "cabineted"; Enough wood block and brass cup chucks to enable work to be held. (Wood spring chucks can easily be made) And the usual adjuncts of measuring calipers, keys and spanners etc.

Nor is the "Overhead Drive" mentioned. Modern practice is to use a free standing motor on the backboard and only the purists will still use the overhead drum. However, the presence of the overhead adds materially to the completeness (and value) of the lathe even if little to its usefulness. Similarly with the treadle and stand. Excellent work can be done without either, but their absence suggests that the machine has been mishandled in the past. Naturally, users who have no motor drive will need both treadle AND overhead, as there is no other way of driving the cutting frame.

Finally, the "Glass fronted Cupboard". Some storage for accessories is a "must"; the glass front adds much to the impressiveness of the outfit. But such cupboards range from stained deal to Oft high polished mahogany-the last being a very valuable piece of furniture but no more effective than the former. Sets of drawers mounted below the machine bed can be a nuisance, and the famous backboard "coffin chest" even more so.

(NOTE: Each incremental "Phase" is assumed to add accessories to those previously listed)

PHASE 1 - The Basic Outfit

With which quite elaborate surface and cylinder decoration can be carried out. Screw joints made with hand chasers.

Headstock	Common Mandrel, (i.e. with a tailscrew to take the end thrust), with at least three dividing rings and plain index.
Sliderest	10 to 12 inch, with index to feedscrew and the normal topslide. All but the earliest lathes had locating pedestals; if this is not available, then a "turning square" or try square is essential. Fluting stops an advantage, but can be improvised.
Hand rest	With short and long tees.
Tailstock	With male centres. Ejecting pattern preferred.
Cutting Frames	(1) Eccentric Cutting Frame (2) Vertical ditto (3) Horizontal ditto A "Universal" frame can serve in place of the last two.

PHASE 2

Makes the work easier, and adds to the variety.

Headstock	Traversing or sliding Mandrel, with screw cutting bobs. Adjustable index to dividing circles. Tangent screw motion. (Usually includes sector stops)
Sliderest	Fluting stops. Protractor base to pedestal.
Cutting Frames	(4) Drilling Instrument and a few drills
Accessories	Mandrel nose thread tap, for chuck making. Faceplate. Small 4 jaw chuck. Tailstock drill chuck.

PHASE 3

Headstock	Six dividing rings. (Counting index an advantage). Sector stops on tangent screw motion. (Segment Apparatus)
Chucks	Eccentric Chuck
Tools	More complete range of sliderest and cutting frame cutters, drills, etc, usually in a cabinet.

PHASE 4

This approaches closely to what might be termed a "full" outfit. Most work in Vol. V can be done on it, other than "Spiral" work.

Headstock	"Equal Division of the Ellipse" apparatus. (This division can be done by calculation, in which case a "counting index" could be used instead).
Sliderest	Curvelinear Apparatus and templates.
Chucks	Elliptical Turning Chuck, Dome or Spherical chuck.
Cutting Frames	Internal cutting frame
Accessories	Boring collar(s), Goniostat. (Though many experts PREFER to use "offhand" methods with slips)

PHASE 5

This outfit would be regarded as "Complete" by most standards - "all else is luxury"-and is therefore listed in full.

Headstock	Traversing Mandrel with screwcutting bobs. Six or seven dividing circles with counting index. Tangent screw motion and segment apparatus. Equal division of the ellipse apparatus.
Sliderest	12" or 15", with registering pedestal and protractor circle. Fluting stops. Curvelinear apparatus. Spiral apparatus. Counting ratchet to deedscrew. Screw feed accessory to toolslide. Surface spiral. Metal cutting Sliderest.
Chucks	Eccentric Chuck, Elliptical Turning , Dome or Spherical , Rectilinear Chuck.
Cutting Frames	Eccentric cutting frame, Vertical Cutting frame, Horizontal Cutting frame, Universal cutting frame (essential for spirals), Drilling Instrument(s), Internal Cutting Frame.
Tools	Complete range of hand tools in cabinet. Full set of sliderest, cutting frame, and drill cutters in cabinet. Sliderest gouge cutter holder and bits. Metal turning tools.
Accessories	Boring Collar(s). Goniostat. D bits to fit tailstock. Mandrel nose thread taps. Apparatus for sharpening concave tools. (Though a conical arkansas stone is almost as convenient). Support for slender turning (for those addicted to this art).

PHASE 6

Luxury items, which may be added to the above according to taste!

Headstock	Back gear. Only needed for metal turning, seldom found on other than Birch lathes.
Sliderest	Tangent screw and pulley for driving from treadle or overhead "power feed". 18" or longer sliderest.
Spherical Turning Sliderest	Needs carefully designed tools and is not as easy to use as it looks.
Elliptical Cutting Frame	Used as is the E.C.F. but cuts ellipses instead of circles. Must be in good condition or results will be disappointing. Often available with extra gears for cutting 4 lobe figures, but then condition is even more important.
Transfer Chucks	Have special screw collar which ensures accurate exchange of workchuck from one ornamental chuck to another. Can only be used on the machine and chucks for which they are made.
Geared Cutting Frame	Really intended for gear cutting, but have their uses when extra deep cutting is done.
Saw Spindle and Bed	Enables circular saws to be used on the lathe. A cheap bandsaw is better-O.T. Lathes do not run fast enough.
Combined Eccentric and Elliptical Chuck	This will run more truly than fitting the two chucks together, but is seldom needed.

PHASE 7

Exotica! For the expert enthusiast, and even then he must expect to spend most of his time in the workshop! Some items for the specialist only.

Atkinsons Reciprocator	Used in conjunction with the Spiral Apparatus AND the Surface spiral accessory-both are needed as well, for surface patterns. "Wavy Flutes" can, however, be cut if the surface spiral apparatus is missing. Produces attractive decoration but needs care in setting up.
Geometric Slide rest	A substitute for the one part Geometric Chuck, but presents fewer problems in use on the lathe. Cuts Trochoidal surface patterns.
Epicylcoidal Cutting Frame	Also cuts Trochoidal Surface patterns, but is much lighter than the Geometric slide rest. VERY susceptible to wear. Not easy to use, as in the most attractive patterns the tool must cut on its sides and back as well as the front. Needs a fair amount of study of geometric principles if other than the simplest patterns is to be cut. A specialist accessory.
Geometric Chuck	For the specialist ON LY, and will drive the user almost insane if he has not a copy of the Bazley "Index". Used far more for drawing patterns with a pen than for cutting purposes. Usually set up as a "machine" on its own rather than used on the lathe. A 2 part chuck has several tens of millions of possible patterns.
Rose Cutting Frame	Like the Rose Engine Lathe, this is a COPYING rather than a GENERATING device and less attractive to many for that reason. For surface patterns only. Needs a lot of thought and preparatory experiment before cutting if acceptable patterns are to be expected, and hence rather time consuming. (The same applies to the Epicyloidal Frame and even more so to the Geometric Chuck) Really for the specialist.
The Rose Engine Lathe	This needs a book on its own, and those interested should consult the monograph written by Mr. Norman Tweddle. Not many have been made.

OTHER NOTES

The beginner setting out on the purchase of his first lathe would do well to remember that the very best work is often produced on the simplest apparatus. He will do well to look for a limited outfit in good condition rather than a more extensive set of equipment which has had a lot of use. It's as well to remember that the NEWEST lathes are now approaching three score years and ten! Many of the items in Phases IV onwards will be used but seldom, even by an enthusiastic expert, and examination of a Phase V outfit will reveal that though over 100 years old, some parts have never been used. If spare cash is available, this is far better spent on additional TOOLS, especially sliderest and cutting frame cutters: These are not easy to make, still less to heat treat, and even then will not give as good a performance as those made from the now unobtainable Crucible Steel. in this connection it should not be forgotten that the most attractive shapes are always produced by hand turning, followed by discrete decoration. A case of Holtzapffel hand tools, in good condition, is not only worth its weight in 50 pence pieces, but far more than many of the luxury or "exotic" items, even to the expert. (Perhaps even more so to the expert, at that!)

Essential to all Ornamental Turners is a copy of Holtzapffel's Volume V of "Turning and Mechanical Manipulation" Reprints, in absolutely first class style, have been made by Dover Press Ltd (and others, see Bibliography) and can be obtained from the Society of Ornamental Turners. One of these should ALWAYS precede the purchase of an outfit.