I Built a FOOT POWERED Lathe. (Most requested video.)

Just to clarify: there are some really great treadle lathes in the world. The basic idea is sound. But they're much harder to build than a spring pole lathe and some of the shop-made examples I've seen haven't worked well. If you're building your first lathe, the spring pole design is more likely to work on the first try.

But ... I just bought a 12-18 1HP DC Rikon Lathe with the optional bed extension. Don't do this to me Rex, not now. 😆

A tip for using a pole lathe is try to work with green wood as much as you can, just get 90% of the way done and then finish the piece once it has dried and warped. It's a significantly quicker and much more enjoyable tool to use that way

Good timing! I'm just building a foot operated lathe from an old bicycle wheel, parts of a fitness rowing machine, and some wood I had lying around.

In regards to learning the first time you make something, regardless of how experienced we are, Jimmy Diresta has a great saying: "You go to school on the first one."

I'm from a long line of woodworkers, on both sides of my family. I am a woodworker as well, and I make it a point to do high quality work. My father was a woodworker, his father was a woodworker, and about two or three more generations back were also. My grandfather on Dad's side made his own wood lathe, and he had repurposed an old foot powered Singer sewing machine for the turning action. When he passed away the tools in his shop were meant to be passed down to me, through my Dad. That old foot powered wood lathe was one I was especially hoping to get my hands on. I wanted to try doing the turning the old fashioned way that my grandfather used. His wood lathe was definitely more refined than the one you made in this video, and the belt drive worked off of the foot pedal of the old singer kept the material turning in the same direction. Unfortunately, a cousin took all the tools from Grandfathers old shop and sold them. He did not ask to do so, he just did it. I've not associated with him since that time, because he knew that was supposed to be my inheritance, and did not care. He just wanted the money he was able to get out of it. Not being in the family business of woodworking may have played a part in his choices. Grandfather's furniture was some of the best made furniture in the whole area of northwestern South Carolina, The adjacent parts of North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. On my mother's side of my family was a buggy building company partnered ownership. The one that was my ancestor designed and built the carriage of Catherine the Great of Russia. If you've ever seen photos of that carriage, you know how ornate it was. That is what my family is about, high quality in everything we make. I still live by that tradition to this day.

I really love these 'history of woodworking' projects.

Man, that Manx design leg is AMAZING. Solves a lot of problems

Using that screw from the c-clamp was a stroke of genius.

I build a spring pole lathe just like this 20years ago. I used it alot and its fun. I never missed a moving headstock . I used it alltime outside and fixed it to the ground so i can do heavy cuts . sometimes its usefull to ad some wight to the legs when you can´t fix it to the ground

When am I by myself assembling something with stand up legs that want to fall over, use a traditional carpenters clamp at the foot of the legs against the floor to hold them upright. Works like a charm. I learned that some where along the way. Really useful tip.

Very cool idea, looks kinda portable. You could move it outdoors and not have to cut a limb😅. Hey Rex, I have been following your videos for a couple of years and really like the information you share with the community. I live in Hartville, so if you ever come to the flea market let me know. I have a lot of antique stores you may want to check out and some you have mentioned in the past. I have been out of work for 2 years and cannot afford to subscribe to your patrion or I definitely would. I hope one day to shake your hand and thank you personally for the encouragement you have given me to get back in the shop.

YES!!!!! Love this video! I built a pole lathe a few years back and it is one of my most favorite tools to use and I’ve built a lot of really gorgeous stuff with it. Turned table legs, in particular, put your furniture in a different category. I built mine crazy cheap and fast – 100% SPF (except the tool rest) and didn’t even plane the parts or even wait for the wood to dry. It twisted some, but still worked great. No real joinery (except the wedges); I just screwed it all together. It's very "bodger" style - down and dirty. But it works amazing. So great I never bothered to build a “nice” one. I have low ceilings in my basement so I use a bungee instead of a pole. I also eventually rigged up a couple pulleys to get a 2:1 mechanical advantage so now with each stroke I get twice as many turns and twice the turning speed. And with pole lathe turning the number of rotations and rotational speed is KING. Just promise to keep make pole lathe videos. Too many popular woodworking youtubers make one video on making the pole lathe, try a video using it, and then you never see the lathe again. So please keep using it and making videos with it. I will also say that a pole lathe is the absolute cheapest and easiest way to MASSIVELY expand one’s woodworking capabilities. Everyone should make one. Once you can turn something it opens up a TON of new options.

A good example to study is Roy Underhill’s design. I think he solved some of the problems you encountered while trying to provide a similar, inexpensive path to a human powered machine that can produce high quality results. I applaud your ingenuity and tenacity and I’m impressed with your creativity. I would encourage you to study others designs who have expressed a similar motive for bypassing the modern electrical contraptions and opting for a closer relationship to the material we love to transform into beautiful, functional objects.

Very interesting video - Thx Sir! I learned a lot ❤ Cheers from Poland 🍻

I've been searching for a good hand built lathe video as I work totally unplugged. Loved this, I really enjoy when you show the honesty of how your build processes go!

What a teaser! Can't wait for you to refine your design to the point that you publish plans...

This is amazing, can't wait for the plans!

If anything will get me back into the woodwork shed. Itll be this project

Hey Rex!! TYSM for the inspiration and motivation to make mine. To know that a pole lathe is better than continuous motion was the last thing I needed to hear to give me the push. I’ve started it! I’ll be using the style of legs you shared, the takedown style so it doesn’t occupy as much space, and the same screws you showed here. I’m making it more traditional style because I have access to plenty of wood, and I’ll make it closer to Townsend’s version, mostly from a single tree, milled by myself. I’ll also be making it to work standing up, I’ll get more power on the leg’s downstroke. I’m using parts of old tires instead of a pole though - learned I could do this from Advoko Makes. He has tons of brilliant content. He cuts the sidewall of a tire into a continuous rubber strip/strap. Good use for what would otherwise be trash in a landfill. Ps: check out his clamper. I fixed all the old chisels around the garage that my dad had split open because he didn’t know they had to be used with a wooden mallet instead of a steel hammer. Easier than remaking handles and have withstood a lot of work, and will stay in place till I remake them on my new lathe haha