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Origin of the term "Banjo" on a lathe?

B

bonsaipeter

Peter Toch
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
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Roanoke, VA
Does anyone out there know how the tool rest holder on a woodturning lathe came to be popularly known as the "banjo?" Where, who, or why was the term "banjo" coined for the tool rest holder part of a wood lathe? I did a little research on the web and found many references for "banjo" as that part of a lathe that holds the tool rest, but no references at all as to the origin of name "banjo."

Just a curiosity.

Thanks, Peter Toch
 
Heck I don't even know the origin of the term Banjo, for a Banjo. Watched a special on PBS one night on the origin of the banjo. ( yea I know I was really bored but it turned out to be quite interesting) Apparently Pete Seeger had a huge amount to do with making it popular. It came over from Africa with the slaves. Perhaps it's african in origin but can't help you at all on how it got to be used as a term for lathes. Hope you find out.
 
This subject has been discussed several times on this forum, but the answer seems to be that there is no answer. I found English references calling it a banjo on metal lathes that predates the Oneway use of the term and it possibly has to do with early designs having a shape that resembled the musical instrument. It could also be a corruption of some other term that has become lost to time. When I started turning there seemed to be an effort to use the term "tool rest base" instead of "banjo" or at least that is the terminology used in some owners manuals from a decade ago. Personally, I prefer tool rest base because it is descriptive and doesn't require an explanation to a new turner.
 
I've been told it's an old term too. I think it refers to the shape of the old style ones when viewed from above. The part that was held to the ways with a bolt was narrow, like the neck of a banjo and the part where the tool rest goes was round, like the body, kind of like this: 0----
 
There is a country start who has a pool shaped like a guitar. I always thought a banjo made more sense. You have a diving well where the body of the banjo would be and the neck would make a great lap pool.
surely there's a program somewhere on the internet where you can look up word origins.
 
Brent@TurnRobust said:
I've been told it's an old term too. I think it refers to the shape of the old style ones when viewed from above. The part that was held to the ways with a bolt was narrow, like the neck of a banjo and the part where the tool rest goes was round, like the body, kind of like this: 0----
Click to expand...

This is exactly the way I've come to think of it, but can't remember where I got it from......probably wood lathe folklore! 😀

0----- Yep, that does look like someone somewhere might have thought that shape resembled a banjo! 🙂

ooc
 
I have a copy of a book printed in 1846. In that book the banjo is U shaped and called a Forked foot. So far that's all I've found about the tool rests and banjo's. In one book the tool rest was called a T. I'm sure that's based on it's looks so it makes sense that something with a hole shaped like a banjo would be called a banjo.
 
Origin of the term "Banjo"

Hi guys:

Thanks for the discussions and speculations on the origin of the term "Banjo" when referring to the tool rest holder part of a wood lathe. It appears there is no answer to the question other than perhaps some unknown ancestral turner decided that when viewed from above older style tool rest holders vaguely resembled a "banjo" in shape and the term has persisted ever since. So be it.

Thanks, Peter Toch
 
Thanks

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to the this discussion and speculation as to the origin of the term "banjo" when referring to the tool rest holder on a wood lathe.

Peter Toch
 
An old book on turning

I just looked at an old book,

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Course In Wood Turning
by Archie S. Milton and Otto K. Wohlers, published in 1919

and there was no mention of the term "banjo".

It can be found at

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15460/15460-h/15460-h.htm#CHAPTER_II

There seems to be no lock between the lathe ways and a plate supporting the tool rest. There seem to be lateral guides on the platform to guide the support.

There is a tool rest clamp but it seems to lock the tool rest to the support plate. (there is a T slot in the tool rest base, visible in some pictures). This lock could serve a dual purpose locking the tool support angle and position as well as the base plate position.

This book is past copyright time and free to copy if you adhere to project Gutenberg rules.

Stu
 
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