About: I'm the kind of person who's mind doesn't stop. Literally, I take medication to fix that just so I can sleep at night. I have an unhealthy obsession with making things and believe, firmly, in sharing what I le…

I've always had an affinity for traditional craft, and when I saw the 'hand tools only' contest I knew it was time to break out the wood working gear and make something I've wanted build for a long time. With this project, I figured I'd take it a step further. There are many people that don't claim a well equipped shop, or like me, would choose a hand saw over a table saw any day, so this is for them. Essentially, the entirety of this project was created, solely, using hand tools, and was built out of 100% recycled material.

Now I've used many electric lathes, and even had an opportunity to use a 'viking' pole lathe in the past. This lathe is based loosely on that design, with some modern tweaks added in, so to speak. My research into pole lathes turned up an abundance of information on different variations, but interestingly, there's little historical context available. Museums claim bits and pieces, but no complete pole lathe, to date, has ever been found. This wasn't a problem as, although the styles may vary, their principals are essentially the same.

A pole lathe, unlike its modern counterpart, relies on the use of 'green' wood, which basically means freshly felled pieces. It also uses a different array of chisels, and although modern variants will work, they are infinitely more difficult to work with. I do have a full assortment of modern chisels, but intend on making some for use with this lathe so stay tuned for that instructable, in the future.

As usual, I won't be giving a specific parts list since you may not have the same material, on hand, that I do. I will, however give some fundamental design specs with suggested materials and lengths.