I called myself searching so if i missed it delete this thread. SOOO saw some really cool engine turned metal the other day. Just wondering how long have folk been doing that? What is the earliest example of E.T. And wonder why? just early retirement bored. LOL
According to Merriam-Webster, the first recorded use of the phrase "engine turned" was 1764. Probably coincides with building machine tools (rose engine) for doing such work. It's mostly decorative, hides surface flaws, easier than a full polish, but when done on moving parts, the surface scratches hold/distribute oil better than a smooth part.
True engine turning with a rose engine is different than the abrasive spotting that is commonly called "engine turning" today.
I am not aware of the earliest engine turning but the 18th century sounds about correct. It was originally done in the gold leaf on fire engines hence the name.
For my dos pesos worth, I read once on another forum that engine turning processes were known back in ancient Roman times. I don't know, wasn't there. I watched a couple of YouTube videos on how to do it. The "turning " part isn't that tough ( or so it seems), the tough part is getting your jig set up to get the correct spacing. Sounds like one of those "practice on scrap first" type things.
Use a mill for the table. you can use double face carpet tape to hold the piece and move over X amount every time
I like the look of Engine Turning a lot ! I did it too a lot of things over the years,I didn't have $s for chrome,an some flat parts screamed for being done this way! Something I could do,with out $,just my time. I made my own starter covers,coil covers an Gen. covers,even did a fire wall panel an rear tag box with it. As a little kid,the first time I remember seeing the style was part of a model airplane kit I built"The Sprit Of St Louis" engine cowel. From then on,it was in my go things for making things look cool,with $ cost,just my time !
I've done an off-topic part using a mill as well, to keep the spacing spot on. Just playing around with it to see how it turned out. I used a wooden dowel with valve grinding compound for the tool.
Definitely practice. It’s not hard to get your pattern set up. You just need a flat surface and a yardstick. Some practice to get the feel for how long and how hard to pull the handle is all it takes. There are a few threads on this. I’ll recommend my own on making the dash insert for my 37 Chevy. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/making-a-37-chevy-dash-insert.1139385/
Romans and probably the Greeks did it. A wooden stick, olive oil, grit and a hand bow. Turn the stick with the bow and work in a pattern. Don't get caught up on the "Engine" part.
I am doubting the connection with ‘fire engines’. Sorta suspect that the term ‘engine’ in this context has to do with a ‘motive force’…..a device that powered a rotating machine, however crude. Water wheel, horse or mule marching in a circle turning a central shaft, steam power, etc. I agree that some such devices go waaaay back. Ray
The process has been around for 500 years or more, another term for it is guilloché. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilloché
While we are talking about metal finishes, what is it called that I have seen on mill and lathe ways? It looks like a bunch on triangles in alternating patterns, almost 3 dimensional in the way that the light reflects off the surface. I’m thinking it’s to hold lubricants between the ways, just wondering how it’s done and what it’s called.
Those are hand scraped ways, and you are correct, they hold lube better and are also a precision trued surface. Google “hand scraped ways” for videos on how it’s done.
I engine turned my champ car dash with a stiff wire brush that I wrapped the bristles with a wire tie, so the bristles wouldn't splay outwards as it spun. I used a drill press. A couple of tips: Clamp a guide marked off in increments to index the part as you slide it along. Offset each row by 60 degrees. The array looks better than one over the other.
I have it on the interior for trim on my 63 race car instead of the plain aluminum panels. They sell it by the sheet.
Hello, The term engine turned describes using a drill press on items that can be put under the press. The other non removable items got their share of hand held drills with a modified scrubbing or abrasive end on the tip. But, when we saw the turned design on the dash boards and whatever else was available, we wanted to do the same. As little kids, we had no access to drill presses or even handheld drills. So, we used a steel wool pad to swivel in a circle to make the desired swirling pattern on the item. It was everything we could get our hand on at the time. A black cover on our mom’s lawnmower was sanded, and given the steel wool swirl pattern as neatly as we could. Then coated with clear shellac. It was not the perfect rows that most see on aluminum panels on custom cars. But, it was our handiwork as little kids. Jnaki The objects were different each time. Our hands tried to keep a straight pattern, but it was useless. We even tried drawing a straight line with a marker, but still the rows were not totally uniform like the show cars. It was fun to keep trying to duplicate the swirling pattern. Also, the grade of steel wool versus a similar, thicker strands of metal scrubbing pads made the difference in patterns and work. One of our elementary school vacations we rode our Schwinn girder fork bicycles all over our neighborhood and into downtown Long Beach along the L.A. River. Then as we got interested in making a custom bicycle, things started to come off of the stock bikes. The fake gas tank was sanded down to shiny metal and given the same treatment as our mom’s lawnmower metal cover plate. It looked cool and we were proud little kids when others saw the custom tricks we did to our bikes. Thinking back, it was hot rodding for young kids as a stocker gets the stripped down modification to create a hot rod. We did not know it then, but it was similar to what we did many years later on our own hot rod builds and race cars. Note from a previous post: Our stock bicycles: mine was red, my brother’s was black. We liked the features on those Schwinns. The best part was the girder front forks to allow better suspension over curbs and bumpy roads. The simulated motorcycle gas tank and girder front forks made these bikes look like old choppers we saw cruising around. Of course, with the early hot rodding ideas, things came off from the stock configuration. The chrome fenders, rear bike rack, no nighttime riding, so the front fender came off and we got mud streaks up our backs and fronts of our white T-shirts. Now, the girder front end really helped in our rough house off road dirt lots in the neighborhood. Sorry, purists, we should have left them stock. But, who knew back then that these bikes left in stock configuration would bring big bucks later on in life? No one back then saved stuff for that purpose. The purpose was to ride them to death and have fun while doing crazy preteen/teenage stuff. On a sad note: We used the front forks/hub/downtube for the front of our lawnmower motor driven, custom made, Doodlebug, to make it handle well over curbs and dirt fields. The rest of the Doodlebug frame came from an errant, lost, supermarket chrome cart. Yes, there goes the original bicycle value... But, we gave the complete other Schwinn to our cousins. Doodlebug in the pits
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