Treadle lathe with flywheel
Torno de pedal con volante y cigüeñal (rotación continua)
- Date
- c. 1480 · confidence medium
- Place
- Southern Germany
- Credited to
- Anonymous (Mittelalterliche Hausbuch); Leonardo da Vinci
- People
- 👤 Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A lathe driven by foot via a crank and flywheel that maintained continuous rotation in a single direction, instead of the back-and-forth motion of the pole lathe. It freed both of the craftsman's hands and allowed the turning of metal.
What it led to
- The turning of metal and of precision parts for clockmaking
- The spread of the crank-and-connecting-rod pair in machinery
- Scientific instrument workshops
Built on
- Pole lathec. 200 BCE
- Crankshaft and connecting rod
- Flywheel