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Bow lathes by Gale Wollenberg

September 27, 2010 By

Meet Gale Wollenberg, as he set up shop with his bow lathes at the Tecumseh (Kansas) Heritage Day festivities. On Saturday, September 25, Sandy and I had a wonderful drive to Tecumseh, just outside Topeka, Kansas. And we had a chance to meet Gale Wollenberg (and his wife Betty).

Gale was easy-going, pleasant, and knowledgeable about bow lathes. I need a vest like his, especially during video shoots, and field photo sessions:

Gale Wollenberg, maker of bow lathes.

His large lathe, in bow drive mode:

The large lathe at work.

Gale at the small lathe; but notice the dual-pedal, string drive on the large lathe (Gale made the spool, holder, everything on his lathes):

The small lathe (notice the drive on the large one).


The pointed center on the tailstock is standard. However, Gale also made the cupped holder, to enable the user to turn small-diameter pieces:

The tailstock options on the small lathe.

I was able to pitch in and help Gale get additional information on 18th Century lathe holders from the Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent, CT (with thanks to Barb Russ, Museum Assistant):

Work piece support, after the 1778 lathe at the Sloane-Stanley Museum.

The following is Gale’s version of the work piece holder, later confirmed by photos shared with us by Barb Russ at the Sloane-Stanley Museum:

New work piece support, front view.

Question: What makes the bow lathe run smoother?

Answer:  (From Gale) Pork fat or bees’ wax.

I received a gift from Gale before leaving on our return trip home – he gave me the piece he had been turning during the demo:

I accept a memento of our visit - the turned demo piece.

I struggled trying to decide the best way to show the gift from Gale. In the end, as I edited photos and video shot during our visit, I took the easy way out. I decided it was best to show off the turned piece in our office, as part of the editing work:

Getting a good angle on my memento piece.

If you are interested in buying a bow lathe from Gale, please contact him directly via e-mail, at gwollenberg@gmail.com. I won’t provide his phone number here, but he will gladly provide it if you are serious about a lathe purchase.

The following is the edited version of the video I shot during our visit. You will hear a lot of background noise, as the Heritage Day festivities took place all around us. Gale demonstrates the use of his lathes:

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I also thought it suitable to share the March 2010 YouTube video by Stuart King during a visit to Marrakech, Morocco:

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Let me know if you connect with Gale. I look forward to hearing about your experience with the wonderful bow lathe!

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Lathe Tagged With: , ,

Old lathes at the Sloane-Stanley museum in Kent, Connecticut

February 25, 2010 By

Fellow blogger Bob Easton has started building a treadle lathe, courtesy of the weather that prevents him from working in his shop building a second boat, the “Eva Too”.  In the introduction to his latest blog entry he shares some of the results of his research, including photos of various foot-powered lathes. These triggered memories of two lathes of old Sandy and I saw last October in New England.

First things first, however.

Fond memories at the lathe, making pens early in my woodworking efforts many years ago, made me appreciate the fine workmanship of superb craftsmen. Although I never really mastered the skew chisel, for example, I am always amazed and intrigued by the results that woodturners get using even rudimentary tools. My wife Sandy took to the lathe with gusto over 25 years ago. One of her early projects at the lathe was a pair of extremely long knitting needles. Made without the benefit of a steady rest for the thin form, it was a wonderful project that my Mom enjoyed for years. She used the needles until her eyesight started to fail.

During our visit to the Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent, CT, in October 2009, we saw the following knitting needles — I am familiar with the pair in the foreground, but I have no idea what the pair of headless needles in the background might be used for (Note to self: I should check with our daughter, as she spins her own yarn, and knits a lot!):

I would imagine most readers would think these are not so special. However, the needles were next to one of the following two lathes, suggesting that the needles had been turned on a very, very old lathe. The Sloane-Stanley Museum has two old (treadle?) lathes – notice that the pedal mechanism is not visible. The first, from 1815:


The form of this lathe reminded me of the first pair of saw horses I ever made. However, the details are amazing — a massive drive wheel, huge chunks of wood and large through mortise and tenon joinery:


The construction suggests sturdy, vibration-free turning at this lathe — but no treadle mechanism can be seen anywhere; the flywheel is wide enough for a single belt, and so is the drive pulley:

Details of the tool adjustable tool rest and the centers (click on the image to enlarge):

Only two years after the American Declaration of Independence, an even earlier lathe:


This lathe is also likely to have been powered by a treadle mechanism, although I was unable to see evidence of the foot pedal anywhere:


A little closer, details of the drive mechanism — the multiple pulleys suggest a treadle mechanism; the tool rest is adjustable left-and-right, but the height does not appear to be so, unless a longer rest was used; note also the bolts to hold the centers:

My thanks to Bob Easton for triggering these still-fresh memories of our visit to the Sloane-Stanley Museum, and to the New England region at the height of foliage colors last Fall.

— Al Navas

More about the Sloane-Stanley Museum: Click on this link

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Filed Under: Blog, Lathe, museum, Tools Tagged With: , , , , ,

Oh, Woodturners, exercise caution . . .

May 5, 2008 By

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My wife Sandy is the woodturner. In 2007 she had an incident at the lathe, just minutes after I left the shop to prepare a quick sandwich lunch. Here is the story, in her own words: 

Oh, Woodturners, exercise caution . . . 

. . . I wish I had thought of that about 2 o’clock this afternoon. Here’s the scenario – I had turned the back of a bowl yesterday evening and left it on the lathe, worm screw in place. This morning I took it off (worm screw still in the bowl) and turned a new longer handle for my bowl gouge. After I had it all put back together, I put the worm screw back on the headstock. About that time my husband reminded me we hadn’t eaten lunch and, because I’d been having so much fun, he offered to run to the house and fix a sandwich.

Why can’t I remember that screws go in clockwise and come out counter-clockwise? My first attempt, needless to say, was the WRONG way, thus tightening the screw instead of loosening it. I turned the correct way and removed the bowl, stopped the headstock and tried to remove the worm screw . . . and it would not come off. What would you do? Funny, I only have these short Tomy bars and instead of getting something to put on extra leverage, I threw my weight into it. When it came loose, the Tomy bar came out, my hands were left holding air, and I lunged forward, striking my head and glasses on the lathe ways. Did you know that cast iron hurts when your skull cracks it?

I managed to steady myself – knowing that I was alone – and reached the phone (about 4 foot away). I kept dialing our home phone number and couldn’t understand why the line was busy . . . before realizing that the only way I could reach Al to get help was by calling his cell phone. No lacerations, no bleeding, but a huge goose egg showed by the time he reached me. He rushed me to Urgent Care and they, in turn, called an ambulance and sent me to the hospital for care – CT scan, etc. After 4 1/2 hours they released me with cautions and a horrendous headache.

This was NOT the exciting afternoon I had planned in the shop. I ruined a brand new pair of glasses (thank you polycarbonate lenses), have a headache to break all my past records, and look like half a raccoon. Caution out there, guys and gals.




Filed Under: Blog, Lathe, Safety

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