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MADE Lathe

Overview

MADE Rose Engine Lathe
Image courtesy MADE Ornamental Rose Engine Lathe

The MADE Ornamental Rose Engine Lathe is one of the finest machines you can buy, if not the finest. It was designed by and for some of the field's top ornamental turners, along with some fine machinists.

It is a very sturdy machine, designed with the ruggedness needed for fixed tool work (at which Al Collins excels).

I have come to believe that this machine has so many capabilities that you should not be allowed to buy one until you can demonstrate that you know how to use it by demonstrating a large volume of excellent work.

In addition to its capabilities, this lathe is itself fine piece of artwork. In speaking with the makers of this machine, great care has been taken to use materials and processes that hold to the history of such machines. The picture to the right does not do the machine justice for its beauty.

The acronymn "MADE" comes from the 4 principals involved in the machine's creation:

• Mike Stacey - President and founder of Columbus Machine Works in Columbus, Ohio.
• Al Collins - a renowned ornamental turner who has made quite a few award-winning pieces on his MADE lathe. Some are shown on his Instagram page, but these pictures don't do them justice. If you get the chance, check out his work.
• David Lindow - owner of Lindow Machine Works in Pennsylvania. Lindow Machine Works also makes beautiful clocks and the Lindow-White Rose Engine.
• Eric Spratt - a rose engine collector (and the guy whose name changed the lathe's name from DAM to MADE ... That makes me wonder: If I'd been a part of the team, would the R in my name have made it the DREAM Lathe?).

An informal walk-around of the MADE Ornamental Lathe at the 2012 Ornamental Turners International Symposium is shown in this YouTube video.

Al Collins has made some really significant additions to this machine. One is the medallion engine he demonstrated on his Instagram feed. This is amazing.

This machine is quite expensive, but if you can afford it, you will be able to make some incredible works.

Additional pictures of this device