Lathe – #3 Wood

The Barnes #3 Wood Lathe is arguably one of the most highly decorated pieces of foot powered machinery with pin striping on all metal parts and a distinctive decoration on the wooden lathe bed. These are some pictures of a fully restored Type 3 lathe ready for use. Here is a link to a video on the #3 – Click Here

The #3 was a follow on to the first and other true wood lathe made by Barnes, the #1. (Barnes did make a #2 lathe which was smaller in size, had a solid cast iron bed and was described as being more delicate as a jeweler’s lathe) Three versions were made beginning with an introduction in the October, 1877 catalog. It and all the other two versions used the patented velocipede pedal drive and varied in the type of seat used and style and type of belt drive.

By 1884, the second type was shown in their catalogs which introduced the distinctive cast iron “tractor” style seat that the operator could slide back and forth across the bed. (Not sure why the change as it would seem easier to slide down the wood seat as opposed to getting off to reposition the cast iron seat.)

The third and final type is shown in this catalog cut and associated description. In addition to the velocipede version, it was also available as a bench top machine that would have been powered by a counter shaft as show below.

While the pin striping on the legs basically stayed the same, the decorations on the wood bed varied widely. Guess this must have been left up to the minds of those that hand painted the beds.

The #3 could also be obtained with a longer wood bed and thus the ability to turn longer items. Note this one had 5 pedals between the legs versus the normal 3 pedals.

Barnes did offer a true treadle version of their metal lathes. While not common to find examples, only recently has the treadle option been noted on a #3.