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The August 2016 edition of Popular Woodworking has an article by Roy Underhill, on building a double spring pole lathe. The design looks simple, but fairly elegant (lots of ogees). Reading up at the summer place, I thought it would be a great project. With a vintage Beaver lathe in the workshop there, we can and do turn. But the Beaver cannot do bowls without making a new stand and gearing to slow it down, and it is limited in length to about 34" between centers. Plus the article about turning handled vessels such as lamhogs was interesting.
Question One was whether or not I could make it longer. As designed, it has about a 46" distance between centers. That would add a full 12 inches, but still be shy of the longest object I can recall wanting to turn, somewhere around 48". Plus, it would be neat to make a bedpost. So I sent an email off to Mr. Underhill, hoping he would have time to respond at some point.
To my surprise, I got an answer back later the very same morning. Yes, it was indeed possible to make it longer. So there it was..I'd need a little more wood, probably a 2 by 12 by 16' instead of the 12' length Roy used. I think I am going to do this.
Question Two - what to make it with? In North Carolina, most of the construction lumber would likely be Southern Yellow Pine, practically ideal. Around here, the SPF is mostly S, and these days fairly fast grown. I toyed with the idea of using maple, which I may yet regret not doing. But that would make for a much more expensive project. On the bright side, a 16' length of 2x12 SPF is about $30. Not an expensive project, and a good chance to work on some joinery and decorative work. So for the next couple of weeks I more or less stalked the nearest big box lumberyard, looking for pine or fir. No such luck, but I did end up settling for a nice straight length of spruce with no pith and fairly tight growth rings. A few knots, but I should be able to have largely clean lengths for the long runners.
The article has a solid description of the steps along the way, starting with building the frame with mortise and through tenons. I'd love to take the class linked in the photo, but I will stumble along. Off we go...
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