THE LATHE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI c.1480
Stuart King RPT has made the first-ever known lathe from a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci
The significance of Leonardo’s drawing or rather, sketch, is that it depicts for the first time a lathe which uses continuous revolution, as well as a (fly)wheel, and a crankshaft such as is used in the engines of cars we drive today!Prior to Leonardo’s machine, turning was via reciprocal motion, as found in the primitive strap, bow and pole lathes. The use of these can be traced back several thousand years but however efficient they were in skilled hands, they were limited in the main to the production of smallish objects.
As nobody appeared to have built a full-size replica from Leonardo da Vinci’s original sketch to see if it was a viable and practical machine, it seemed a fitting project for the Worshipful Company of Turners quater-centenary celebrations. Woodturning historian Stuart King started construction.
Stuart says that
“although the concept is very simple, with the original being a collaboration between turner and blacksmith, the end result is a surprisingly powerful machine. The kinetic energy produced via foot treadle and flywheel is amazing. This is only one small step in historical science but we have proved that, yet again, Leonardo got there first. And yes, it does work! Whether Leonardo actually designed this treadle lathe, or just sketched what already existed, will always be a matter of debate, but one thing is certain: without it there would not have been – could not have been – an industrial revolution! This lathe is the first machine tool, the father of all others that led to ever-increasingly complex machines, leading to where we are today.”