Books on Ornamental Turning

Which books provide a good intro to OT?

These readily available books will give you a good overview when starting out.

• Ornamental Turning Lathes and Their Accessories, by John Edwards. 2007. Published in ten parts, in PDF format. View from SOT website
• MDF Rose Engine Lathe Overview, by Jon Magill. 2007. While not technically a book, this article is a good brief introduction to ornamental turning. It is intended as an overview to the MDF Rose Engine project published in the Spring 2007 issue of American Woodturner magazine. View PDF from Amercian Woodturner site
• The Illustrated Engine Turning Reference, by Pledge & Aldworth. Organized as a book, but available for free online, this is a useful resource for students, designers and practitioners, complete with photos and some instruction. Also includes a very useful glossary; perhaps the first ever A to Z index of engine turning. View The Illustrated Engine Turning Reference
• Engine Turning 1680-1980: The Tools and Technique, Martin Matthews. 1984. (ISBN: 0950880108 ISBN-13: 9780671613693) Hardcover. 180 pages, containing 84 black and white photos, 2 color plates, and 35 line drawings. The book provides a detailed description of the technique by which an engine turned or guilloche surface is created. The operation of both the rose engine and straight line machine is explained including types of patterns produced, shaping of the cutter, use of a guide to control the cut, and types of rubbers used with the rosettes. A brief history of engine turning applied to security printing is included as well as the design and construction of a geometric chuck. A 16 page history of Plant (the last maker of engine turning machines) and Fountains (one of the last firms of engine turning in London) completes the book. A soft bound reprint is currently available (approx. £80) from: Martin Matthews, c/o 4, The Butts, Otford, Sevenoaks, Kent England TN14 5PR.
• Ornamental Turning, T. D. Walshaw, Argus Books, 1990 (hardback), 208 pp. (ISBN 0-85242-826-X). 1994 paperback reprint currently available (ISBN 1-85486-108-5). Contains nearly 200 drawings and photographs. The author is recognized as a leading practitioner of the art of ornamental turning. He is also well known under the pseudonym Tubal Cain as a writer on model engineering. A reprint from Trans-Atlantic Publications Inc. is forthcoming. Contact 215-925-5083. Purchase from Amazon
• Ornamental Turnery: A Practical and Historical Approach to a Centuries-Old Craft, Frank M. Knox, New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1986. (ISBN 0-671-61369-3) Oversize hardcover, 8.5 x 11 inches. Illustrated with B/W and color photography. The author is recognized as a leading practitioner of the art of ornamental turning. His work was done on an 1853 Holtzapffel lathe. He was a member of the Society of Ornamental Turners and past president of the International Wood Collectors Society. Includes detailed instructions for adapting a lathe for ornamental turning and choosing accessories, guidelines for following and inventing new designs, and advice for how to choose woods and other materials. Purchase from Amazon
• Woodwork - My First Seventy Years, by Bob Lynn, The Lynn Historical Woodworking Trust, New Zealand, 1992. (ISBN 0-473-015250) Oversize hardcover, 8.5 x 11 inches. Illustrated with B/W and color photography. 120 pp. Lynn is an expert on the hand tools used to shape and work wood and is an enthusiast in keeping traditional crafts alive. Covers a range of woodworking topics including woodcarving, woodturning, and ornamental turning. Special attention is given to ornamental turning history, Holtzapffel and other turning equipment, as well as rose engine and elliptical turning. All written from a first-hand and deeply personal perspective. Purchase from author's website