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| Craftsmen turners have provided articles of use and decoration in many parts of the world for well over two thousand years. Although there are many possibilities for variation, the turning process, in essence, involves the rotation of a firmly held piece of wood (or bone, metal, stone etc.) and working its available surfaces with cutting tools. The machine which accommodates these three actions, holding, rotating and cutting, is the lathe. |
| The cutting tools may be hand-held, as in common woodturning, or clamped in special frames that can be controlled mechanically, the method usually adopted by the metal turner. |
| The power for rotation was for many years human in origin. For example, in the pole-lathe, the downward force of a foot on a treadle was in opposition to the upward (return) springiness of a forest sapling, providing a reciprocating rotation. Much later, after factories where banks of machines were powered by water, steam or internal combustion engines, the majority of lathes are now driven by individual electric motors. |
| Dependant on the dimensions and proportions of the starting piece, what results might be (with wood), a baluster, a newel post, a finial, a patera or the nave (or hub) of a cart wheel. By bringing several turned components together, a ship's wheel, a spinning-wheel or a chair may be constructed. Creating an "inside" surface, by cutting into the end of the rotating piece produces items such as boxes, goblets and bowls; the latter may be small food bowls or large enough for use in a dairy. Various factors dictate how the starting piece should be held, and whether the grain should be parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The timber used depends on the purpose of the turned work. For example most of the acers, such as sycamore, are suitable for contact with food. |
| The Register List gives the types of work each Member is able to do. Most work entirely in wood, a few in bone or metal. Some Members are "jobbing" turners, taking on any work that is offered, whereas others have developed special techniques which enable them to make unusual pieces for sale in galleries or to special commission. Some can do all this! A lot of jobs come from architects, builders, furniture makers, antiques restorers, craft shops, fairs and galleries, private families and individuals. |
| So, if you need a newel post near Newent, a bowl near Bowland Bridge, a candlestick near Canterbury, a presentation piece near Prestbury or a special commission anywhere, please consult Members of the Register. | The web-site list of Register Members, "The Turners", is arranged so you can review
the complete list in alphabetical order, by County
or by inserting the name of a known turner or county in the question
boxes . Photographs of some work is in the "Gallery", but many Members
have their own illustrated web-sites, linked to this one. In addition, some listings
include an  icon, which, if mouse-clicked, will yield pictures of
that Members work. |
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