Demonstration, Glenn McMurray, October 2001

Glenn McMurray, October 2001

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Comment tourner un trembleur? — How do you turn a trembleur?

First, you must know what a trembleur is.

It is a long turning with beads separated by very thin sections.The thin sections must be consistent along the whole length. When done properly, a trembleur is a marvel to observe and play with as it will shake and tremble with the slightest touch.
This is a technical exercise to improve your turning skill, but your work can also create a beautiful piece of art. These are unique, unusual and are a ton of fun to make. The challenge of turning something just beyond your skill level is to me a big part of the joy of turning.

Jean Francois Escoulen introduced us to turning the trembleur. He brought it to us from reading old books about turning. The rumor is that the trembleur is the turning that will elevate you to the level of master craftsman if judged acceptable by master turners.
The beads must be well formed and well turned. They should balance each other. It's a good idea to have them repeat along the trembleur.
The transitions from the beads to the thin sections should flow. Your eye should follow the lines gracefully from the bead to the spindle.

You'll need the following:

A lathe with a good standard steady rest.
String steady rest(s)
3" x 3" spindle stock. A wood with long interlocked
grain is best. Old baseball bats are great.
A roughing gouge
A good chuck.
A long and strong gouge with a "pointy" grind.
A bedan, a skew or bowl gouge with an Irish grind
to turn the thin sections.
Cotton string and paste wax.

Overview:

To make a trembleur, you start with a long cleanly roughed cylinder. Once that is chucked and a steady rest is set up, you will work from the tailstock end of the lathe toward the headstock. Lathe speed is pretty slow, maybe 150 rpm.Use your variable speed to start and stop the lathe slowly. Turn each section to its finished form and size before moving on. Once you've finished a section,
You Cannot Go Back. I went back just to sand a little bit one time and lost 6" off of a beautiful walnut piece.

Let's get started!

Set up your blank between centers and use a rough it round along its entire length. Remove the blank from the centers and re-mount it in a chuck. Set up your steady rest so you'll have about 6" to turn. Set your toolrest above center and turn off the end to remove the mark from the center. Create a finial and remove waste from just below the finial with the "pointy" gouge.

Now for the fun stuff — the thin stuff. Using the pointy gouge, sweep in from the headstock end to ward the tailstock end to create a spindle about 1" long by ¼" diameter. This thin work with the gouge needs a bit of special technique that includes turning with the gouge on top of the work. This is where the toolrest above center comes in handy.

Grab your tool of choice for the very thin spindle. I use a 5mm x 9mm bedan. Turning left handed helps because your right hand is free to support the spindle. You're really working less than 1" from good support, the cuts can be surprisingly aggressive. As you get thinner and thinner, (mine are about 3mm) the finial will wobble more and more. Adjust the speed of your lathe. You may need to support it with your “off” hand or pick it up off the floor and start over.

After you're 3" along the thin spindle, you'll set up your first string steady rest. Cut a length of smooth cotton string and give it a coating of wax. Tie the string to one post of the string steady with two half hitches. Loop the free end of the string around the thin spindle and return to the same post you tied the knot on. Continue the path of the string around the next post, around the spindle and back to the post. Continue around all the posts and tie off the string at the end. This string steady will stay in place until the trembleur is complete. It does nothing but support the work. It does not support the cut.

Once you turn enough to where you must move your “real” steady rest, make sure that you are at a transition from the spindle to a bead. If the steady rest, when moved to the new position, doesn't support the trembleur exactly concentric with the last position, the transition will hide this flaw.

Stop the lathe by slowing your variable speed down. Move your steady rest about 6" toward the headstock and reset the rollers. When you start up again, use the variable speed to gain speed slowly and watch for excess wobble at the finial or other heavy beads.

Having a spindle blank that is at least 2" x 2" is critical. If you try to work thinner than that, the section of wood between the "real" steady rest and the headstock will flex, leaving you fighting chatter. In addition, the large beads contrasted against the thin spindle gives your trembleur a dramatic effect.

That’s an introduction to turning yourself a trembleur. To create one as long as your lathe, repeat the above. Above all, have fun!

Click here for diagram

Glenn McMurray October 4, 2001

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Chicago Woodturners 2004
A Chapter of the American Association of Woodturners
Last Updated January 5, 2004