Traversing mandrel lathe

Dateca. 1804

Artist/Maker W. Walters

Attributed to William Walters

OriginEngland, Hertfordshire, Bassingbourn

MediumOak, elm, mahogany, fruitwood, lignum vitae, iron/steel, and brass.

DimensionsOL: 93"; OW: 42 3/4"; OH (to top of pulley): 54 3/4"

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Emil S. Pollak.

Object number1988-14

DescriptionTreadle lathe with A-shaped trestles/legs at each end. Inlet into the trestles and supported by them is a 6' bed consisting of two bearers joined and spaced 1-1/2" apart by a large butterfly inlet into each end. The bed is secured to each trestle two bolts in a bed-bolt arrangement. The top surface of each bearer is V-shaped to form a prismatic seating for the popits. The outside side of each bearer is decorated with a horizontal fillet and an ovolo, below which the sides are rabbeted to receive the top rails of the drive assembly.

For further details, see object file.
Label TextThis elaborate homemade English lathe has a mechanism that allows it to cut screw threads on wood. Few of the large human-powered machines--lathes, looms, and various types of mills--made in the eighteenth century have survived.
MarkingsTop of tailstock stamped twice "W.Walters" and "1804." Frame and popits stamped in several locations "W .W / B," and "W W."
ProvenanceRoy Arnold, Suffolk, England; purchased by him from a second party who had, in turn, purchased the piece from the Walters family of Bassingbourne, Hertforshire.