“The world of lathes and machine tools was a complete mystery to me. That was until I walked into the Plumier Foundation one summer morning and before I knew it, I found myself falling head-first down the rabbit hole. Plumier is a nexus of art, history, and practical skills. Its core mission is to preserve and proliferate the esoteric craft of Complex Turning, but what that truly entails for its members and students is transformative.”

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Jean Claude is a retired engineer who built his own rose engines from engineering lathes.  He specializes in “fixed tool” work of the type done in the earliest days of ornamental turning and has set the standard amongst his contemporaries. 

Roy is an engineer, an amateur turner, and a practitioner of the rose engine. He is known for applying the math skills from engineering to create complex shapes with ordinary tooling. 

Al Collins is a retired cabinetmaker that made his own rose engine about the year 2000. Al was a co-designer of the MADE Lathe, and the “A” in stands for his name. He also did the cabinetry on the first four MADE Lathes.  Al does early style “fixed tool” work as well as many other forms including guilloche, and has produced a wide selection of specialized tooling.