26/03/2016

WORKINGWOOD:HumanPower

WORKING WOOD
Tu e s d a y, D e c e m b e r 2 9 , 2 0 0 9

Human Power

LINKS

Halifax Homes For Sale

CME Handworks Inc

TomFidgen.com
The Unplugged Woodshop

Search This Blog

Search

Blog Archive

Sociable

2012 (33)
2011 (30)
2010 (10)
2009 (90)
12/27 01/03
(1)
Human Power
12/20 12/27
(1)
12/13 12/20
(2)

I'm going to make an assumption here if

you read my blog then you're probably
into hand tools and if you're into hand
tools then you're probably like me and spend some time browsing the Internet looking for
things like vintage planes and hand drills, old hand saws, and treadle lathes....basically the
cool old tools Roy Underhill used for all those years. Well a few weeks before Christmas I
stumbled into the ebay store of CME Handworks Inc. in Palos Heights, IL. USA.
Chris and Mary Yonker run CME Handworks where Chris manufactures beautiful hand tools.
From wooden bodied scrapers and mallets to bow saws and treadle lathes. It was the treadle
lathe that really caught my eye and was the item I was searching for that brought me to
their web page in the first place. I've always kept my eye out for a foot powered lathe and
finding a decent antique lathe is like finding a needle in a haystack. They don't come up
too often.

12/06 12/13
(2)
11/29 12/06
(3)
11/22 11/29
(3)
11/15 11/22
(3)
11/08 11/15
(1)
11/01 11/08
(2)
10/25 11/01
(2)
10/18 10/25
(3)
10/11 10/18
(2)
10/04 10/11
(3)
09/27 10/04
(3)
09/20 09/27
(2)
09/13 09/20
(1)
09/06 09/13
(4)
08/30 09/06
(2)
08/23 08/30

http://tomfidgen.blogspot.ca/2009/12/humanpower.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+WorkingWood+(Working+Wood)

1/4

26/03/2016

WORKINGWOOD:HumanPower
(3)

Chris has come up

with a design that is
both aesthetically
pleasing and
completely user
friendly.You'll see
what I'm talking
about when you visit
their store. It's easy
for him to ship via
UPS (they even offer
free shipping to 48
continental United
States) and for the
customer to re
assemble it is a
breeze. How do I
know? Well Santa
must have saw me searching the web site and brought me one for Christmas!
The lathe is made from 1 3/4" Poplar with a hard maple tool rest and Bubinga handles.
It's relatively small footprint is perfect for any wood shop at only 42" Tall, 34" Long and 24"
Wide. It has 18" between centers with over 5" from center to top of bedway. The lathe was
shipped in two separate boxes and included a set of detailed, easy to follow instructions and
as mentioned was a walk in the park to reassemble. All that was needed was an adjustable
wrench and an 5/32 Hex Key. The entire process took only a half hour.
Now I'm not a wood turner and I shouldn't comment too much on the performance
yet...but I'm planning on putting some miles on this thing over the next few months and
incorporating some turned elements into my furniture design.

08/09 08/16
(1)
06/21 06/28
(2)
06/14 06/21
(4)
06/07 06/14
(2)
05/31 06/07
(3)
05/24 05/31
(4)
05/17 05/24
(8)
05/10 05/17
(2)
05/03 05/10
(2)
04/26 05/03
(1)
04/19 04/26
(2)
04/12 04/19
(3)
04/05 04/12
(1)
03/29 04/05
(2)
03/15 03/22
(1)
03/08 03/15
(1)
03/01 03/08
(2)
02/08 02/15
(3)
01/25 02/01
(1)
01/18 01/25
(1)
01/04 01/11
(1)
2008 (67)

I'll be posting some

more detailed
information on the lathe as I get into it but I suggest you stop in at the CME Handworks eBay
store and check them out. If you're like me and have dreamed of owning a foot powered
lathe than this may be just the thing for you.
Cheers!

friends

You might also like:

TurningWood

Unplugged
SummerPartFour
(andfinal)

ADedicated
SharpeningBench
final
Linkwithin

http://tomfidgen.blogspot.ca/2009/12/humanpower.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+WorkingWood+(Working+Wood)

2/4

26/03/2016

WORKINGWOOD:HumanPower

6 comments:
David December 29, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Ok Tom, how good was good? I was good to but santa didn't bring me a lathe!
this is a great find, I don't know if I'm happy that you share that with us... I realy like his
fret saw and the price as well!!
Thank you.
David
Reply

Eric Madsen December 29, 2009 at 4:30 PM

That's a pretty awesome looking tool.
Reply

Dave December 30, 2009 at 10:13 PM

I've been dreaming of a treadle lathe for a while. Now that someone is selling them and I
don't have to build it myself... well what can I say. Now the only thing left for someone
to design is a treadle grinding wheel bench and I'd be as happy as a pea in a pod! Hey,
sharpening bench... grinding bench... possible modification idea?
Reply

Shannon December 31, 2009 at 12:14 AM

Tom, you are my hero! A few of us were drooling over this lathe on Twitter earlier this
week. I have one of CME's bowsaws and it is a beaut. This lathe is at the top of my list in
fact I have already swapped some emails with Chris about possibly modifying his design
for a longer bed to allow for longer spindles. Please tell us more of your thoughts as you
break it in.
Shannon
Reply

Tom Fidgen

December 31, 2009 at 7:49 AM

Thanks for the comments

Dave a treadle grinding bench? good idea ! :)
Shannon, I will be posting my thoughts and ideas as I get into the world of turning wood
keep well everyone and have a happy new year!
Cheers
Reply

Alex June 26, 2015 at 7:43 AM

Hi, Tom!
Sorry
for
my
English.
I'm
from
Russia.
Really
pretty
tool
(http://tomfidgen.blogspot.ru/2009/12/humanpower.html). Is there a drawings of this
tool? I would like to make such a machine.
Alex
Russia
pdp8dec@gmail.com
Reply

http://tomfidgen.blogspot.ca/2009/12/humanpower.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+WorkingWood+(Working+Wood)

3/4

26/03/2016

WORKINGWOOD:HumanPower

Enteryourcomment...

Commentas:

Publish

Unknown(Google)

Signout

Notifyme

Preview

Links to this post

Create a Link
Newer Post

Home

Older Post

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Google Analytics

Simple template. Powered by Blogger.

LinkWithin

http://tomfidgen.blogspot.ca/2009/12/humanpower.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+WorkingWood+(Working+Wood)

4/4