Pole Lathe -- Shape Wood and Bone
http://www.regia.org/images/lathe.gif
I've been researching the uses of a pole lathe. This is a simple wood lathe that uses the tension of a large green pole or bungee cord to turn wood or leg bone to make spindles and such. One page I went to even had a bow lathe. It used a simple bow like the kind used with a bow drill to turn a spindle. I guess one guy worked the bow back and forth to turn the spindle while someone else did the cutting and shaping.
In a more permanent camp, a pole lathe could be used to make tools, arrow shafts, and other items like cups and bowls. If you put the words "pole lathe" into the search engine at Google, you get lots of websites devoted to making and using a simple pole lathe. At Google / Image search, you'll get all kinds of images of homemade pole lathes. I saw something similar in a Foxfire series book where the guy used a tree limb outside his barn window to use as the power source for his pole lathe. The living pole always stayed green and supple and he had a knee high pile of wood shavings under his lathe, so I could tell he used it often.
