I am thrilled to finally be writing this blog post! 15 years after having an idea; almost 3 years after starting intensive development of that idea; and many trials and tribulations later, we are pleased to announce that we are finally taking pre-order deposits for the Gramercy Tools Treadle Lathe.
Last Sunday night we sent out an email to our mailing list of people who signed up to be notified of the lathe's progress and almost immediately sold out the first batch. So we added a second batch at the same pre-sale price so that more people could lock in their place in line.
We are still not quite at the point of shipping actual lathes, but being comfortable with offering a pre-sale is a huge milestone for us.
I must admit that I originally envisioned this project’s milestones as more reasonable and attainable. The lathe has turned out to be the most complicated project of my career and possibly the most complicated hand tool manufactured in the United States since WWII (or WWI).
Our saga begins with the notion that a treadle lathe would be fun to use - and the unfortunate realization that I didn’t have space for a lathe, so the lathe would need to be folded up. The other realization was an acknowledgement that if setting the lathe up and putting it back were too much work, I would not use it. I may be lazy but at least I’m honest!
I ended up being willing to work hard to circumvent the downsides of my laziness. (Paradoxical, I know.) Good thing I wasn't alone in this. I want to acknowledge and thank everyone at Tools for Working Wood who contributed to the project. Kris Pastuszka was the engineer who designed the folding mechanism and a multitude of other details. Naomi Baxter, who is the shop supervisor, and Joel Sena (yes, we are a multi-Joel enterprise), run production in our shop and are responsible for making all the parts of the lathe that we directly produce. Which is a lot of parts! Our friend and woodturning wizard Alan Dorsey has been a source of invaluable inspiration and advice throughout the project. You can see Alan using the lathe here. Thank you as well to the numerous well-wishers at the Amana Hand Works show who gave us feedback and encouragement after trying out a prototype of the lathe, and more recently, visitors to our Brooklyn showroom who have seen the real deal.
We have a lot of advantages over the 19th century, including ball bearings and aluminum. I'm looking forward to spending time on the treadle for exercise and actually producing something at the same time. The most exciting thing is I feel like I can finally help people who live or work in tight quarters, who have the desire to make something but don't have space for a standing shop.
We expect to be delivering lathes by the end of 2025 with a second batch in early 2026, although I wouldn’t be shocked if it would be a little later depending upon when all our parts arrive. There are over 100 parts in this lathe and the logistics involved with sourcing, identifying and keeping track of them has been mind-boggling. The final cost of the lathe will be $3,600, though we are offering the pre-order opportunity to pay $3,400 for the lathe, secured by a refundable $500 deposit. If you opt for the pre-order cost, when your lathe is ready to ship we will contact you for the balance of $2,900, which you can either pay or request your deposit back. This offer will be available until we either sell out this current batch, or start delivery. (This cost does not include the shipping charge.)
We encourage you to come by the shop if at all possible and play with the lathe prototype in person. And once the lathe is available to take home, we encourage you to do that in person as well. Your gratification has been delayed long enough!
Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement on this long and winding journey.
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08/27/2025 Bill
Wow! Lots of work and I am sure some frustration. Congratulations on your success.
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