One for Wilbur, and those without a lathe

[hbmcc]

I would guess that they don't have a lathe available in the proper size, because they are out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2jP219H1Fw#t=368

[tim_leo]

I tried to do that a few years ago because I wanted to make a wooden flagpole. I gave up, it's harder than it looks. My main problem was the wood would warp as I was working it down...I was constantly chasing the warp. With properly seasoned wood it might be easier.

[EricU]

that is really nice, you couldn't do that on a lathe anyway without a lot of steady rests.  I have been known to cut tubing on my metal lathe, can be a really bad idea.  It's amazing how a small thing can shake a really big lathe if whirl takes over.

[hbmcc]

I know what you mean. I have some Big-leaf Maple that has gone from 5/4 to about 3/4, and keeps cupping the same way. The future end tables are back in the drying pile for another year, or two.

Random thoughts:

My first thought when seeing the small pole was, this guy is whittling a toothpick! On the large poles, I wonder if the central cored cavity and slit are intended for drying control, or something else? After a couple of passes on the long poles, he will lean back ... in relief, or prayer. I think it is relief saying, pull planes must have a definite technical limitation.

[Bill_Houghton]

This is pretty much how spars and masts are made by the wooden boat people - at least some of them - out here on the Left Coast.

[SCMedLion]

I'm assuming these are posts and beams for a timber frame structure. Anyone have a pic or link for finished project?

[Paul K. Murphy]

The quarter columns on many Philadelphia lowboys and highboys were done that way.
The bases and capitals turned on a lathe, but the shaft, hand planed.

[Wilbur Pan]

My guess is that the care in planing is not so much to get a pole that’s perfectly round, but to create a surface so fine that adding finish wouldn’t be necessary. This is a common goal in Japanese architectural woodworking. (I’m assuming that this column is for a structure, or maybe for the world’s tallest 4 post bed.