by Elia Bizzarri | Apr 21, 2026 | Sprinpole Lathe | 4 Comments
I've just returned from a two-week trip to England with my wife Morgan. Bath, London, the Lake District. Almost nothing had to do with my work....except a day in High Wycombe. I've heard about High Wycombe since I started chairmaking. When I was 16,...
by Elia Bizzarri | Mar 16, 2026 | Craft Films, Sprinpole Lathe | 8 Comments
I've been on the pole lathe turning a pile of parts for upcoming 18th-Century Chairmaking classes. I've turned a few hundred parts on the pole lathe before, but this is the first time I've turned this many - 75 legs or so - on the pole lathe in one go. I'm really...
by Elia Bizzarri | May 8, 2022 | Samuel Wing Book Project, Sprinpole Lathe | 2 Comments
A few days ago I picked up the spikes for my new lathe from blacksmith Peter Ross. He seemed to enjoy making them: "People don't want work this rough very often, but I was trained to make reproductions like this." Peter thinks the hardware was make by the Dominys -...
by Elia Bizzarri | Apr 25, 2022 | Samuel Wing Book Project, Sprinpole Lathe | 1 Comment
Last fall I had the joy of spending a couple hours in the Dominy shop at Winturtur to measure their Springpole Lathe. I've finally started building a copy of it, for use in the book on early 19th Century chairmaking that I'm writing. A local sawmill gave me a pine...
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