Industrial sized Lathe type devices in Ancient Egypt

a reply to: Dmvr34

I think it's a gear because you don't see sharp flutes on these columns but you would see that sort of sharpness in a worn gear, which had years of use being driven by a wooden gear. Or even driving the wooden gear.

a reply to: bluesfreak

Thanks for replying.
But is that not just extra work then?
Could've just cut the shape into a roughly shaped work piece and skip the turning process.

If that shape was achievable by hand shaping/cutting after the turning process , I can see them doing the same for the "smooth" columns without the need for a lathe.

The concept of using a lathe is definitely interesting and probably not out of the realm of possibility, but I'm still leaning towards it being done by some other, more manual labor type, method.

Thanks for this thread btw. Been enjoying the insights shared on the subject.

a reply to: anonentity

It does indeed look very "gear" like.

Thanks for replying. But is that not just extra work then? Could've just cut the shape into a roughly shaped work piece and skip the turning process. If that shape was achievable by hand shaping/cutting after the turning process , I can see them doing the same for the "smooth" columns without the need for a lathe. The concept of using a lathe is definitely interesting and probably not out of the realm of possibility, but I'm still leaning towards it being done by some other, more manual labor type, method. Thanks for this thread btw. Been enjoying the insights shared on the subject.

Hi Dvmr,
Yes indeed it’s extra work, but it’s the look they were going for. Often times in manufacturing something it’s a several-stage process .
So my thoughts on the ‘turning ‘ side regarding that piece is this :
If the outside circumference were not ‘true’ or as near to perfectly circular as one can get , it would affect the way the flutes are cut into it; there would be an uneven look to the fluting and each uneven flute would have a knock on effect to the next , continually throwing the whole thing out as the work progressed.
The thinnest sections you can see ‘between’ each flute are the true diameter that was turned - the actual ‘outside’ of this circle , and the flutes are cut in after to create the effect .
If it was not done to a set of tolerances , or template numbers, you could not stack these pieces without them looking odd, and the possibility/probability of the flutes not lining up accurately would be very high.

The ancient Greeks did have a vertical lathe called a ‘Tournos’ I believe and the same principles apply vertically as horizontally.
Turning the piece against a fixed tool will provide a highly accurate circular piece to then divide accurately for fluting.

I know they LOOK like gears , but this is from the same site and was link posted earlier in the thread - a fallen set of these stacked pieces .


.. and it’s not to say that the ancient Greeks couldn’t have produced similar sized actual gears from various materials , but these in the pictures are most probably marble too, you MIGHT need a harder stone for effective gears of this size , I don’t know though !
And ps- as much as ‘experts’ would disagree with me, those flutes are all so beautifully done, accurate , symmetrical and similar , that to me personally, they look like they were done with a rotating rounded ‘ball nosed ‘tool on a guide .
I’d love to measure them.
Pps- I count 24 flutes on that piece . There must be circular accuracy to achieve that number throughout the length of the column repeatedly for each section .





a reply to: Dmvr34

More interesting analysis done on that lathe turned pre dynastic vessel .
More proof that the ‘expert’ gatekeepers are way behind in what they understand about manufacturing , tolerances , and how these tolerances were achieved , mechanically speaking .
Enjoy :
Further analysis of the vase - precisiona reply to: anonentity

Been thinking of something.Maybe because we havent seen any evidence written or kept on the lathes is because they were a trade or Egyptian sect secret.The glory of Egypt was something every Egyptian was supposed to aspire to so maybe the tradesman were sworn to secrecy on how they created the early pillars.

Think how many people today don’t have a clue about how virtually anything is made .
It still goes on today , the secrecy.
They sure didn’t want to describe in any way how they built the pyramids either heh heh a reply to: Blackfinger

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Been thinking of something.Maybe because we havent seen any evidence written or kept on the lathes is because they were a trade or Egyptian sect secret

...

An image of carpenters working on a lathe can be found in the Ptolemaic tomb of Petosiris.

An image of carpenters working on a lathe can be found in the Ptolemaic tomb of Petosiris.

Have you read ANY of this thread ? With that lathe already discussed ?

a reply to: Hooke

originally posted by: bluesfreak

An image of carpenters working on a lathe can be found in the Ptolemaic tomb of Petosiris.

Have you read ANY of this thread ? With that lathe already discussed ?

a reply to: Hooke

So why didn't the poster to whom I was replying, who said there was no evidence of lathes, take account of that part of the discussion?

a reply to: Hooke
Thats a small lathe.For a big lathe for columns there is nothing.The pottery turntables and lathes came a lot later in Egyptian history I thought.