The lathe is an ancient tool, dating at least to the Egyptians and, known and used in Assyria, Greece, the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
The origin of turning dates to around 1300BC when the Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. The Romans improved the Egyptian design with the addition of a turning bow. Early bow lathes were also developed and used in Germany, France and Britain. In the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning, freeing both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. The pedal was usually connected to a pole, often a straight-grained sapling. The system today is called the "spring pole" lathe . Spring pole lathes were in common use into the early 20th Century. A two-person lathe, called a "great lathe", allowed a piece to turn continuously (like today's power lathes). A master would cut the wood while an apprentice turned the crank.
During the industrial revolution the lathe was motorized, allowing wooden turned items to be created in less time and allowing the working of metal on a lathe. The motor also produced a greater rotational speed, making it easier to quickly produce high quality work. Today most commercial lathes are computer-operated allowing for mass-production that can be created with accurate precision and without the cost of employing craftsmen.
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