Bill Lantry
Member
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Hey, folks,
One of the joys of living in DC is that every year around this time, the Smithsonian hosts a folklife festival on the National Mall. We go just about every year, and there's usually something woodworking related.
http://www.festival.si.edu/
This year, there was something to interest both turners and boatbuilders among the exhibits from Columbia. For turners, there was a guy turning exquisite forms out of palm nuts. His "lathe" was a wheel-less eight inch grinder, and it must have been spinning at 2,000 rpm, maybe way more.
The boat builders were making canoes out of long straight planks. Four 12 foot by 12" by 3/4" pine planks were enough for a canoe. The only tools I saw were hammer, nails, circular saw, drill, and rope. They sealed the seams with a kind of waxy local tar, which they then dilute and use to paint the whole thing...
Thanks,
Bill
One of the joys of living in DC is that every year around this time, the Smithsonian hosts a folklife festival on the National Mall. We go just about every year, and there's usually something woodworking related.
http://www.festival.si.edu/
This year, there was something to interest both turners and boatbuilders among the exhibits from Columbia. For turners, there was a guy turning exquisite forms out of palm nuts. His "lathe" was a wheel-less eight inch grinder, and it must have been spinning at 2,000 rpm, maybe way more.
The boat builders were making canoes out of long straight planks. Four 12 foot by 12" by 3/4" pine planks were enough for a canoe. The only tools I saw were hammer, nails, circular saw, drill, and rope. They sealed the seams with a kind of waxy local tar, which they then dilute and use to paint the whole thing...
Thanks,
Bill
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I'm betting that grinder/lathe is running at either 3450 or 1725 RPM. 
