what exactly did a wood turner or turner do?

[greenvalley]

One of my ancestors was a turner or wood turner.

Now I understand woodturning, hubbie used to have a lathe years ago, and he turned wooden heads for golfclubs. But I cannot figure out what exactly the profession of woodturner implies.

He isn't a joiner or carpenter - so what does he turn, who uses his products and what are they?

May sound silly but my mind is just drawing a blank here.

Greenvalley

[youngtug]

If it is round then it is likely to have been turned on a lathe. A turner is a person who uses/operates a lathe whatever the material. Chair and table legs are turned, although some of the early or rustic chair legs where made by a bodger who is a person who used a primitive form of lathe.  Don't forget that a lot of things that are now made of plastic were at one time most likely made of wood, such has tool and knife handles.

[aghadowey]

Furniture (chair legs already mentioned), staircase spindles, kitchenware (bowls, platters), candlesticks...

[Flattybasher9]

Wood turners also made wooden bobbins vital to the spinning and weaving industries.

Regards

Malky

Photograph from English Heritage.

[Rena]

I thought you might like to see this 1921 illustration of a wood lathe.   A wood turner was a craftsman who probably had many different tools in his toolbox which he used over his lifetime. It depends which industry he supplied - was it shipbuilding? furniture? cotton or woollen mills?  Or was it all of the above. For all we know he could have been manufacturing musical instruments, for example flutes.   How intriguing, the next time you see the "Antique Roadshow" you might be looking at your ancestor's work.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/mLibrary/Fairham/1921-Wood-turning/1921-Wood-turning.asp

[greenvalley]

Thanks for that, I think it is becoming somewhat clearer.

I guess what confused me is that Alexander was born in Scotland, married in Kendal, England in 1840, went back to Perth in 1841, moved to Auchterarder, then to Newburgh, Fife, and finally to Dundee and later he was in Glasgow for a while.

So would it be reasonable to infer that he probably made bobbins for the spinning and weaving industries? What do you guys reckon?

Is there an agricultural product he could have made as well?

Greenvalley

[aghadowey]

Difficult to say really. Lots of scope for agricultural items. It may even be that he turned his hand to whatever work was available (if you'll pardon the pun)   

[TropiConsul]

Chair and table legs are turned, although some of the early or rustic chair legs where made by a bodger who is a person who used a primitive form of lathe.

I have never heard of a bodger.  The word does not even appear in my Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of 1854 pages.  It's amazing what you can learn on RootsChat.

[Skoosh]

Interesting the bobbin thing, here they were called pirns, usually made of birch, hence the place name Pirnmill, this work provided employment in remote forest areas using water power.
 My own g'gramps made the drones etc' for bagpipes and also bowls. Family mythology has him going to West Africa with his employer on a trip to buy blackwood.

Skoosh.