Building a Pole Lathe & Wood Turning to make Medieval Arrow Blunts. Part 1
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- čas přidán 20. 09. 2018
- Building & Using a Spring Pole Lathe to make Medieval Arrow Blunts. Part 1. Isn't archery and its associated crafts and trades fascinating? I was looking at images taken from the 14th Century illuminated manuscript Luttrell Psalter and noticed that the archers depicted in an end-margin were practising using wooden-ended arrows - so called blunts. Blunts - walnut sized and shaped wooden arrow-heads - have been used for centuries both for practise and also stunning and killing birds and small game. But the image set me wondering: How, six hundred years ago, did they make these circular wooden arrow heads? Then I had a thought; I wondered, were they made on what is perhaps the oldest type of machine tool known to mankind - the spring pole lathe? And at that moment I decided that I would investigate whether or not my theory had any truth in it - could I, using ancient methods and tools such as a spring pole lathe and shave horse, make archery blunts on a spring pole lathe? But first, I had to make the lathe...
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I'm Mick Grewcock, retired from business and now self-learning the arts of longbow- and film-making. Join me in my light-hearted quest for knowledge as I learn to combine the ancient woodworking craft of bow-making with digital videography and film making - I'd be delighted to have you for company on this bizarre journey combining digital and primitive technology.
I have a deep passion for the medieval English longbow, the great warbow - the powerful version of the English longbow that earned its fearsome reputation during the Middle Ages, notably the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries on the ferocious battle fields of France and England during the One Hundred Years War (and in the hands of Robin Hood too!). It is an iconic weapon - and to this day, exudes heritage and awesome power.
Lots of bow making on my channel - do browse, view, like comment and subscribe. I have videos on making yew, hazel, elm and blackthorn longbows as well as many others related to primitive and instinctive archery, target archery arrow and bow making. In my videos you will see and hear what it is like to self learn bow making. I am self-taught as a bowyer - learning the hard way to work wood to make a bow - and still discovering every day. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I succeed; but I'm always learning. I also explore the UK's rural landscape, sometimes in search of bow making woods, discovering survival skills, sometimes in search of the glories of this landscape.
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Music by Epidemic Sound traditional - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Nice to see an Englishman in an English wood celebrating our culture
Like your video on making a shave horse, this is a great instructional. Again, not just for bow makers. Thank you!
I hope you are proud of this video Mike, its a brilliant example of living history meets ingenuity, I can go out to my yard now and using this video as a guide recreate this for myself. This is what youtube should be about, you are a scholar and a gentleman, cheers
Thank you, that's an appreciated comment - I always hope to give a nudge toward people having a go! Easy to build - took me about a day to construct - and cost me £5.73 altogether!!
I've watched a few videos about pole lathes and what I like about this one is how you present the basics of the lathe's structure. That makes it easier to follow your presentation.
Thanks
Thank you 🙏
Gotta say, your vids are saving me a fair deal of money xD which is also helpful because I have absolutely no place to store power tools, whereas I can just shove a shavehorse and this lathe under my hammocking trees
Cheers :D
I had never seen an illustration of a pole lathe using a treadle, but it makes sense so that one man can operate it. The only ones I can remember seeing used a much larger spring pole and it looked like the lathe was powered by one man pulling the pole down then releasing it for the power stroke. I for one loved seeing your dogs.
Thanks Bob. Works surprising well with a small pole though I guess a powerful pole and heavier lathe would enable more aggressive work. Glad you like seeing the whole story, not just a bare instructional. My life includes sandwiches in the woods, my dog and wind and rain - so they all get a turn in the video!
Well done, as always. When you were talking about making archery blunts on a pole lathe, I thought, "Well, then you'll have to do a video on how to make a pole lathe." Lo and behold, next thing you did was show how to make one. Looking forward to more in this series and all your other adventures. Cheers!
You could have fooled me that you had never used a lathe before. I thought you did a GREAT job in both building the lathe and using it to turn your blunts!!! Just discovered your channel and have really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work.
Thank you 🙏
Mick of many trades. Another great video. Can't wait to see what you get into next. Well done Mick.
Mick .I remember a teacher who went to Papua new guinea on her holidays and came back with some arrows to show the class. Some where blunts,when i asked her why they where not sharp It was because they used them for hunting Birds that have colourful plumage and the feathers where worth some money. If the hunters used sharp arrows the blood would have riuned the feathers. ATB.
The production value is excellent on all these videos, it is absolutely ridiculous that there isn't 100x the views on these. Fantastic job on these videos.
Thank you very much. I keep trying!
Brilliant as usual Mike. Extremely professional presentation and editing.
Mick, that lathe is too cool. I cannot wait to see the next video!
I haven't been on this channel for a few months. I come back and you have not disappointed. You keep making this fantastic content! It's amazing to see your woodworking journey. Very informative and great fun!
Amazing!! Great job!
Great vid...nice to see tools that our medievil ancestors used
wonderful point about continual learning. thanks
Lot of great info thanks Mick
I really like the direction your channel had been going lately. Branching out from just making bows but still having a relation to archery. Your editing and filming is constantly improving too even though it's phenomenal now. Keep it up Mick, good work!
great video Mick!
Tom
This is one of the greatest how to videos I have watched about wood craft .and omg your cap is totally the coolest 😎.best wishes from Ireland mick 🇮🇪
Thank you Mark! Cap is a Stetson. Stay well.
Absolutely great,what a challenge,well done Mick,fred
Thanks Fred. Fun project!
awesome video love the fact you don't hide the hardships it's all part of it awesome job my friend
Thanks Chris!
the purest inspiration, sir!
Thank you 🙏
I'm so pleased I chanced upon your channel Mick. I'm almost caught up with all your videos now and am gob-smacked with the professionalism you show - truly awesome!
Thank you Richard!
That’s brill, well done 👍
You are an inspiration. Absolutely enjoy the videos and have really enjoyed following your journey. Keep them coming.
Thank you Richard. I’ll continue to try!
Brilliant! I always look forward to new videos from you. I have been interested in pole lathes for quite a while also. Well done, I'll be waiting for the next one!
Thanks Nick. Interesting device to build, challenging to use!
This has really inspired me -- Just need to find the time to make one now! Thanks for the video.
Hal M-J Thanks and good luck 🙏
Beautiful piece of craftsmanship it was a honor to watch to explain and then build a wonderful tool .thank you so much and best wishes for you and yours in this troubled times ..
Thank you Mark. Glad you found useful. Stay well and safe. Mick
@@MickGrewcock I will be looking forward to more of your great videos
Hi Mick, great project, you definitely have the skill, it just needs refining, great work, thanks for sharing, lol.👍 😃 ✔
Well done, sir! You're going to find the blunts very easy to make with some practice.
Thank you Lonnie!
Another great video.
neat! gives me some ideas of something like that but with sand bags and pulleys
you sir have a full time subscriber love your video's
Great video 🖒
I can’t wait to make one of these 😅😅 just need to finish my bow 😂
A very good job I enjoyed the video.
Good effort Mick, as I mentioned a few videos back, I too have often fancied a pole lathe but couldn't justify to myself making one. Congratulations to you on finding an archery project for one. With the shave horse and now a pole lathe you will have to take up green wood bodging....I can see you being surrounded with spindle chairs and stools lol.
Hi Keith. Thank you. Yes my bit of woodland is sprouting devices all urging me to make a chair. Or maybe an archer's stool - if such a creature exists! Still much to do on the blunts though. More to it than meets the eye it appears. So the stool will have to wait a bit!!
brilliant!
thanks for the video
Amazing
Very well explained, thanks
Thank you 🙏
so cool
Fabulously put together video, very interesting.
Thank you Sue
Hi Mick,
Got to where I could sleep with the Blackthorn, so you might guess it's going well enough. :-)
It was interesting to see the photos of the blunts, specially the one made as a single piece with the shaft.
In cultures where wooden blunts were made in small quantities the shaft and head were quite commonly made in a single piece. See native American types illustrated by Steve Allely.
But it's not much of a stretch to imagine separate blunts being turned on a bodgers lathe.
There are at least two shapes in that picture from the Lutrell Psalter and the shaft to head transition on the small "walnut" sort certainly looks like it might be a one-piece.
What interests me most about the Lutrell Psalter is the use of them to limit penetration when shooting at earthen butts.
This makes sense because wear on the fore-shaft can be pretty heavy when arrows are repeatedly shot into and withdrawn from the abrasive face of an earthen butt.
For wand shooting I might favour a small "cropped" crescent head to catch the garland and which can also act as a form of judo point.
In writings on the subject of shooting at wands the term "pricking" can be found, which might be taken to imply the use of sharps, but which might just refer to accurate shooting and the old method of marking the (score) card by pricking it.
fwiw
Rod.
It's been a surprisingly interesting and challenging project Rod! No idea how they were made but it does seem possible at least that they were made on a pole lathe. But I haven't finished with it yet; the more I've worked the lathe the more I've wondered how to make blunts efficiently and that's my next adventure down the wood. Email soon. Hurricane heading East the other afternoon, high but with a thrilling rumble!
I'm wondering how practical it would be to make one with less play in it and a "through-centre" set-up.
Superb. Your cinematography makes it a pleasure to watch. You deserve to have millions of subscribers....
Thank you. I keep trying!
Master great video!!! Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷
Greetings and thank you.
That must be very therapeutic as you listen to the breeze through the trees.
It is! Thanks for watching.
Great job! Here in Florida, we do not have all those great, beautiful, straight grained woods. Everything is crooked and thorny. (I think as a form of defences against people like us!) Now I want to make a spring pole lathe. Need a shave horse first, though. I have some squiggly blackjack oak that may work.
Tom Squiggly blackjack oak! That sounds more than awesome 👏 Good luck and thank you for watching 🙏🙏
@@MickGrewcock,Well, I got so fired up I went out and cut some "choke" cherry trees for the legs of the shave horse. Then the sun went down, so I quit. Didn't want to cut my foot off. So tomorrow, after church, I'll slab out a base for the horse, and basically steal some of your design. Hope ye do not mind! Thanks for making such entertaining and educational videos!
@@tomsensible3999 Steal away Tom! Not my design, just something I built having briefly glanced at a few images. When you've got the concept down, you'll be able to adapt and work with what you have rather than slavishly follow what I and others have done. And 'choke cherry'! You sure have some outstanding names for your trees!! Best of luck from a windy, rainy and almost midnight UK. Mick
Me too, though im um in New England. Love the accent. :)
enjoyed. thank yew mick.
When you are done with this project .
I recommend
You go shoot some pole archery in Belgium. Or popinjay. Think thats still done in england .
i love this
Very well done. I’d like to see a collaboration video with you and Harry Rodgers now that you’re stepping into boddger territory. 😁
OOoh. Yes I've snuck in to bodgerdom. Let's see how long I stay! Thanks for watching.
i do believe you've cracked it. Cheers !
I always thought it was "puppets". Anyway, for more refined or long-lasting work, it's best not to use full branch rounds, as the pith will cause issues with warping and cracking. Best way to go is using halves and quarters of logs (branches or trunks). For the more indoor oriented woodworker, there are lathes that can be mounted in the vice which simplifies construction vastly and uses the bench as a stabilising weight.
David Rekowski Thank you David
I've seen a lot of pole lathes in the last week, and since most of them used a bungee cord for the return tension it's nice to see someone actually use a pole. Perhaps if you build a new lathe you might try incorporating a bow as your return spring instead of a pole?
I shall be building a new lathe now that I have learned from the last one. And yes, I could use a bow for the spring!!
Wow! Great presentation! Simple and well explained. May i ask, what type cord did you use? Years ago, I used a hemp rope, however, I can no longer find it.
Hello from Arkansas, USA .
Thank you for sharing.
Mick, I'm ashamed to say that I'm behind on watching your videos, but they are of course worth the wait. Not only do I marvel at your awesome video-making and woodworking skills, you were kind enough to allow quite a few views of that lovely Omega Speedmaster. Did you ever get your Breitling? All the best to you sir!
Haven't got the Breitling yet John. Still on my list. Sorry for slow reply. Hope you are well. Mick
This is beautiful carpentry, along with your shave horse. I can't tell exactly how you're chiseling, but it seems that you're applying force to the tool both when it's spinning toward you and away from you; as far as I know, you're only supposed to apply force to the chisel when the work-piece is spinning toward you, when using a pole lathe. I believe it has something to do with dulling the chisel faster than it should.
Hi there Noah. It’s a challenging technique but I apply pressure when the piece is rotating toward me and lift when it returns - except when using a wide chisel or skew when I ride the bevel and lift the chisel handle as the piece rotated towards me and relax the handle a little as it spins back. Took a while to get the rhythm though!!
Brilliant mick. If i may a thought.It must be possible to make a drive pulley for the rope that is attached on a square section on the spike and have a spade with the spike to bight into the timber being turned. I know you can work out what i mean not that im telling you what to do i hope I've not come over like that. From a smithing point that spindle would have been easy to make even many hundreds of years ago. Any love watching what you are creating as always. Laters mate
Cheers Trevor. Yes, I thin I understand! I hope to build a small forge soon and all being well another pole lathe. The spikes might well be my first forging project. Mick
Thank you for sharing. I'm doing a 3D modeling project of a Medieval Lathe using an image as reference and I'm having trouble discerning certain parts, as it's a 3/4 view with some parts somewhat hidden. Do you have any recommendations of any schematics that would break down how the different pieces join and interact? I'm willing to share the image if necessary. Again thank you.
thank you !!! :
Lovely Mick. Great video. How long did it took you to make that blunt?
Hi there. That was about my fifth try using green (freshly felled) ash. They take just minutes but the set up, preparation of the wood etc adds to the time. I'm still learning, stumbling, making mistakes etc. Got some better tools now and have learned a lot. Next video I hope to show the whole process - but I've got to practise more first! Thanks for watching.
Mick, Ive done achery for a long time but I left the local clubb years ago. Now when im shoting I cant really draw my bow to the anchor point. I can do it without an arrow and if I close my eyes, sometimes I can do it but my hands just let of the arrow. This is making achery for me very boring and I dont know what to do.
Hi Max. Maybe get a lighter bow and reestablish your technique. What draw weight is your current bow?
Im not sure. Was long ago, but think its 25 lbs. So its not an powerfull bow.
I can draw the bow fine but when I have a arrow on or go near a target I just cant do it.
How u meant to smoke a blunt like that
Great work buddy ,new dog ?
Borrowed dog!
Hello Mick, why haven't you got your own cable channel? Yet again a beautiful video that I'll watch many times over.
Hi Ray! Well, I've got youtube instead ;-). Glad you enjoyed.
@@MickGrewcock tell you what Mick, you must have done a lot of research on how too make one. Being an ex precision engineer the pole lathe is a little bit basic for me, but I highly admire your love for the ancient way of making things. I wanted too take up archery but instead of just buying a bow etc I made one so I could understand just how it works. Plus doing archery has tought me that things can and will fail which in precision engineering it has to be write first time. After making your lathe you'll be making chairs next. Lol
I worked forty plus years in electronics manufacturing Ray so right first time and precise etc. were hourly watchwords. But as you say, this is an exploration (at a very amateur level) of an ancient device that probably was and still can be made in the woods with the simplest of tools. Not much research went in to it - just a grasp of the concept, watching a few videos and then a root around the shed for bits of wood!
@@MickGrewcock the amassing thing is too us this is primitive engineering, but back in the day it was the height of invention. Thing is they took it to its maximum and had skilled workers that could get the best out of what they've got. I bet there warbows were far better than we can make. We've lost such a lot of skills.
Oh agreed. We underestimate the skills that can be developed with just hand, eye and a simple tool. Yes, we have gained much but that progress has come at the cost of losing many skills and crafts. My explorations are the merest scratches on the surface of the past.
Do you have a video on this subject that’s educational?
Sorry, I don’t
🤔60th like
100th
Why the music??? Do you really need it???I watched to 2:36
I just made a blunt with no tools whatsoever. Never even had wood.
Did you have Lego as a boy?
Great work, although it's a shame with such authentic craftsmanship that you wussed out and used stainless steel in the end. Digging that bad 70's porno music though. :P
Ah, but the next one I build will have proper blacksmith forged spikes!
Treadle is too long. Best at about 42"/106cm.
Thank you Rick. Useful info.
i am sorry i genuinely though it was hugh fearnley whittingstall doing a pole lath video :D
Ha!
May I suggest that the "fluff" like you dogs exiting the van are not adding to the value of your video.
Thank you Sinom for your comment. But that 'fluff' is part of my life.
I think that it adds to the value of the video. You dog has a history in your videos, and I hope you keep him in.
Peter James
He will always be in videos of this type! He has many fans ;-) Thanks for your comment.
@@MickGrewcock another vote for keeping the dogs Mick. It's like Gardeners world would not be the same without Nigel and Nell!
I think those bits of “fluff” add to the life of the video and give it a more personal feel.