Build Your Own Pole Lathe—The Plans

For the past 6 months I’ve been working with Jeff Lefkowitz on a set of pole lathe plans. It’s been a slow and steady process. Jeff’s a top notch designer and I’m really thankful for his expertise. You may know him from his plan drawings for Curtis Buchanan’s chairs, Tim Manney’s Shaving Horse, and Dawson Moore’s Spoon Mule to name a few.

This lathe design which I have titled “Pole Lathe with Bungee Drive” is one that I’ve been refining over the past 10 years. I’ve built a lot of lathes both for my own use and for teaching. Every time I build one I make small changes to improve it. In the fall of 2019 I began offering Pole Lathe: Build, Forge, and Turn workshops—first at The Port Townsend School of Woodworking and then at North House Folk School (scheduled for Oct of 2020, which was canceled). I ran another small workshop here at my place in Nov 2020. Through those classes even more refinements were made. It was great using the first few iterations of the plans with actual student feedback.

This design was based off of a lathe that Robin Wood shared on the old Bodger’s Ask and Answer Forum. Some of you might remember the good ol days pre Facebook and Instagram when information was shared without a middle man skimming off the top—no algorithms messing with the feed or attempts to monetize posts through third-party advertising. The old school forums were in many ways better in content and interactions than the “new” social media platforms that I somewhat reluctantly participate in these days. Robin’s lathe was made from in-the-round wood aka a log, whereas my design calls for dimensional material which is easier to lay out because you can use a framing square as well as other common tools and techniques for its construction.

Many of you know I’m working on a book about pole lathe turning. I hope these plans will wet your appetite for what is coming. I still have more work before sending the manuscript off to Lost Art Press, so not sure the timeline yet. Another thing I’ll be offering which will fit nicely with the plans are pole lathe hooks. I’ve been making and selling them randomly through the years, mostly after teaching workshops, however, last Fall I invested in some equipment that will make tool making more efficient so I’ll be making centers, beginners sets, end grain hook pairs, coring hooks, and the other styles available more regularly. I take custom orders too for people who aren’t in a hurry. Just send an email through the contact page and we can sort it.

There is some confusion about pole lathe designs, which I break down in my book. To clarify a little, regardless of the lathe used, there are two main types of turning—spindle and face. When you make a chair leg or stair baluster you are spindle turning. When you make a bowl from half a log you are face turning. Each type of turning requires different techniques and tools. This is due to the wood’s grain orientation in relation to the axis of the lathe. This important distinction plays out with spring pole lathe designs—of which there are two types. If you do a quick internet search for spring pole lathe almost all the images are of lathes designed for spindle turning. If you want to make bowls, that more commonly found design won’t work nearly as well as a lathe designed for bowl turning. In fact it will be a big struggle. The main difference is in the tool rest, but other key design features differentiate them as well. Needless to say, the Pole Lathe with Bungee Drive plans are primarily designed for bowl and cup turning. Of course you can set up an actual spring pole—I suggest dry conifer, but with bungee cord as the drive system the lathe can be set just about anywhere. Plans include 3 pages 24 x 36in, a tool list, materials/cut list, step by step directions, half to full scale drawings, detailed measurements, elevation views, knot diagrams and more. If you want to build a lathe for turning bowls (or cups) my plans will help set you on the right path. Plans designed by Jarrod Dahl and drawn by Jeff Lefkowitz.

You can find them here on the shop page.