It would probably not be supposed that a simple cylinder without any mouldings is far more difficult to turn than such a piece as a baluster or pillaret, but so it is. Nevertheless, a wood-turner, skilled in the use of gouge and chisel, will accomplish it readily enough by hand, where an amateur would fall back on the slide rest to give the rectilinear motion to the tool. In short, a slide rest, or other mechanical appliance, is not to be found in a wood-turner's shop, and is, indeed, quite unnecessary, except for ornamental work in hard wood and ivory, and for turning metal.

To turn a cylinder, the top of the rest should be level, and if notched it should be corrected with a file, so that a gouge or chisel may slide along it with regularity. After the wood has been roughened down almost to size, the gouge should be carried along quietly and steadily, using its side more than its point, and the chisel must follow; great care being taken to keep it at the same angle throughout, that it may not cut more deeply in one place than in another. A series of light cuts with a good quick speed will best insure success. Quick speed is absolutely essential in turning soft wood - it can hardly be too high - but for hard wood it may be more moderate. But in all these mechanical arts we can only say how the tool is to be held and used: we cannot give skill, which nothing but long and careful practice can afford. It is no use for a learner to think he will turn out good work; he will turn one handle or egg-cup while a good workman will turn a couple of dozen, and his work will also be inferior. But that workman also was once a learner, and his acquired skill is likewise attainable by perseverance. In nothing is this so true as in turning soft wood, because in this you are not able to use those mechanical contrivances which insure correct results. With ivory and hard wood, you may turn and hollow out and decorate a true sphere almost with hands in pockets, leaving the Lathe and tool to do their own work. Hence it is that an amateur spends so much and finds turning so costly. He does very little, and that little is expensive. He then goes, perhaps, into such a shop as Oetzmann's or Maple's, and sees overmantels, and cabinets, and tables, and all kinds of serviceable articles of great beauty, to which the Lathe has contributed very largely; and he may rest assured that neither slide rest nor any costly apparatus has been used in the manufacture: only plain Lathes, two or three tools, and a good deal of labour and skill. Turning should cost very little - such turning as the generality of amateurs ought to take up - and Lathes are getting cheaper than ever, so that even a labourer, with spare time upon his hands, might profitably employ himself in turning, and add a few pounds to the family purse. Where most amateurs fail is in the matter of patience. In some of the articles, for instance, just alluded to, there are, perhaps, fifty to a hundred little turned pillarets, all exactly alike, and about 2in. in length. To an amateur, this would be a tedious job; but a professional will go on, day after day, and all day long, till the Lathe bed is piled with pillarets; and although the gouge and chisel alone are used, and, probably no measurements are taken, yet all are alike in size and pattern.