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Needed, old English brown oak for lathe restoration

rivett608

Diamond
Joined
Oct 25, 2002
Location
Kansas City, Mo.
With the pandemic it seems a good time to get to all those projects I have been meaning to do for years. I’m making progress! One thing that has bothered me is the modern and ugly replacement treadle on my 1770s English Gentlemen’s Lathe.

I want to make a correct style replacement and it should be made of English Brown Oak. I don’t need much and have looked online and can’t seem to find any. It would also be nice to use old timbers, doubt I’ll find 200 year old stuff but a hundred would be nice. It would also be great if it was already on this side of the pond to save on shipping. I figure somebody has some of this laying around, just not me. I got tons of old wood but none of it is the right stuff.

Here is what I need,

1 1/2” square, 24” long
2 pcs. 1“ x 2” X 28” long
1” x 3” x 28” long
1” x 4” x 24” long

Note, the 1” stock should be close to a real 1”, it will taper a little thinner at one end.

So, anybody have anything that will work?

Thanks in advance!

Btw, here is the lathe. A Very Early, Pre-Maudslay Lathe.... circa 1770?

A Very Early, Pre-Maudslay Lathe.... circa 1770?
 
There is a place in FL that buys old logs from rivers / sunken tree's from all over the world. Specialty Wood Products in Santa Rosa Beach. 761 Woodland Bayou Dr, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
(850) 267-1480 ask for John...He and I know each other..... he maybe able to help.
 
Thank you Richard, your stuff sounds like the best option so far so I'll let you know. In the mean time try to remember where somewhere is.

A few months ago I put some tools somewhere in my shop, That somewhere remains a mystery.
 
I would cut and finish the wood then fume it outdoors in a box inside a garbage bag. It will need to be sanded again when it comes out of the box. let it air out several days before bringing it in. No metal inside the fuming chamber or it will rust solid black.
I just use household ammonia so some water vapor that will raise the grain.
Can you buy ammonia these days?
Put in a test piece and cut a slice off every so often to see how deep the color goes. I have got it 1/4 deep in a few days.
You can always refume if the color is not dark enough. No way to lighten the color afterwards.
Bill
 
As I remember, the English Brown Oak has a different texture from the American white oak, much milder. I think it's side effect of the process that causes the color change.
 
As I remember, the English Brown Oak has a different texture from the American white oak, much milder. I think it's side effect of the process that causes the color change.

I may be mistaken but I thought "the process" was due to a particular fungus that attaches to the trunk and stains the wood brown as the tree is still growing.
 
Found it Bill! Was between the Danish and French oak, underneath the Albanian, Bulgarian,and Czech oak.

Just a few boards, but enuf to make the parts you need. Hope you can find some stuff that matched the age of the lathe tho, make a better narrative.
 
Great Richard, I think that will work since I have had no luck with ancient stuff. Email me at toolhistorian at geee maildotcom and we'll figure out what to do next.

Thanks, Bill
 
I while back I asked if anyone had any old English Brown Oak that I could make a reproduction treadle for my 1770s English gentleman's lathe. Richard Newman had the perfect wood for this and gave it to me. Thank You Richard! I also posted about making the jam nuts for this. Today I went out to my shop and thought, I'm going to play with this today, the wood parts. Truth be told, I'm not really a good woodworker when it comes to doing full scale work. Also my woodworking bench is in the fair weather shop out back and it totally covered in other stuff. So I just machined the parts. This is the back shaft of the treadle, it mounts between those pointed bolts and I still have the original rolled iron ferrules. The Brown Oak is 1 1/2" square, that is huge for me. I first turned the ends, then milled the corners off forming an octagon. A little more milling down the side and after some work with knife and file they have a delightful "lambs tongue" in the corners. I just love the color of the wood, it seems to age just by handling it. I'll have to decide how much wear I'm going to add to the treadle when done.
 

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Thanks for posting this Bill, looking forward to seeing it done.

Your pix remind me of an adventure I had in the 80's. I went to look at a huge Leblond lathe for sale in the classifieds (remember those?). The seller had a huge machine shop, but was burnt out by the business and was focusing rebuilding Mini Coopers for racing, the originals. He was also a restoring a Mini Cooper woody wagon for his dad, and chewing away at some wood on his Bridgport at low speed, shredding it. I got him to crank up the rpm's and use a sharp endmill and things improved greatly. Then he showed me the "special english oak" he was buying from England for big $. It was actually ash, so I just gave him a bunch of it.

It turned into a great relationship - he taught me how to scrape and then I rebuilt and remachined a big German shaper in his shop. I gave him a cabinet makers bench and taught him how to use planes and wood scrapers. He was a brilliant guy, retrofitting huge mills he got surplus from Xerox with cnc, his specialty was anything too difficult or too large for everyone else. The stuff he showed me got me into all sorts of rabbit holes...
 
Great story Richard, I wonder do the younger kids today still have these kind of experiences? Those that result in lifetime friendships and knowledge.

I hope so.
 
Great story Richard, I wonder do the younger kids today still have these kind of experiences?

Certainly it happens to you guys?
I know Richard has a long tail of "apprentices" & associates in wood, music, dance. And they all still go to stay at his & Amy's house when in town.
Many famous now in their own right. Not all even in "craft" fields, but they found inspiration in knowing/working/being around Richard.

Richard - how come you never introduced me to the mini-Cooper guy???

smt
 
Great story Richard, I wonder do the younger kids today still have these kind of experiences? Those that result in lifetime friendships and knowledge.

I hope so.

Absolutley Bill! I'm sure people are still connecting no matter what their age. It's always happened, and always will, it's how we interact as a species. I've just talked to a young man who's bought a tonewood business and is very interested in my wood stash. We're really looking forward to meeting face to face, and trading some wood for cash. But he'll have to listen to a bunch of my stories first...
 








 
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