I hadn’t heard of engine turning at all until a sculptor I’m friends with got interested in making orrerries with elliptical orbits. He decided to modify a small jeweler’s lathe for the task and asked me what I knew about rose engines, which was exactly nothing. I got interested pretty quickly once I started looking into it- I’m sort of a closet watch and clock works nerd.
The Janvier Pantograph is new to me, thanks for posting the link! I think you’re right- leaving out the reducing function, it operates on the same principle as the z-axis rosette patterns on a rose engine. I’m adding it to the list of tools I will have once I have made my fortune…
BTW, if you are interested at all in watchmaking or toolmaking, the blog Adventures in Watchmaking is pretty great. The author decided he wanted to build a replica Daniels timepiece from billet stock (with little or no prior experience), so he bought a Cowells lathe and jumped in. He doesn’t update that often, but he takes a lot of pictures and his work is meticulous. I browse it sometimes when I need a break from the raging stupid that is everywhere these days.
