A lathe is a machine that rotates a piece of wood, metal, ivory or other material about a fixed axis so that it can be shaped with cutting tools held against it. It produces objects that are symmetrical around their centre, such as chair and table legs, balusters, finials, bowls, candlesticks and knobs.
Lathes have been used since antiquity, and early woodworkers relied on the pole lathe, in which a cord wrapped around the work was attached to a springy sapling overhead and a foot treadle, giving a reciprocating motion. Treadle and flywheel lathes allowed continuous rotation, and by the Victorian period steam-powered machinery made turned components cheap and uniform. Specialised ornamental turning lathes, notably those made by the London firm of Holtzapffel, were a fashionable pursuit for wealthy amateurs and could produce intricate patterns in ivory and exotic woods. For collectors, the lathe leaves telling evidence: hand-turned work shows slight irregularities and tool marks, while machine turning is crisper and identical from piece to piece. Antique lathes and turning tools are themselves collected by enthusiasts of traditional craftsmanship and the history of technology.
