Turners of the Machine Age

Reverend G. A. Grace (d. 1959)

An excerpt from the tribute by S. G. Abell in the Society of Ornamental Turners Bulletin #21:

G. A. Grace was an accomplished mechanician as well as a gifted ornamental turner. He had the artist's eye for a design which, combined with technical skill in execution, placed all his work in the very highest class. For many years he was a regular competitor and exhibitor at the Worshipful Company at which he won many prizes.

He was a prolific as well as a lucid writer on the subject and contributed a long series of articles to English Mechanic and latterly to our own Bulletin. We have in our library the manuscript of his magnum opus, it contains much that is original and a great deal of useful information not otherwise available; it is to be hoped that the Society will undertake its publication. [Note: Published in 1961; see below.]

G. A. did much in the way of improvement in the design of apparatus at the making of which he was skilled and claimed, with justification, that his workmanship was equal to Holtzapffel. He had many lathes through his hands all of which he re-conditioned and improved. He had the highest admiration for Goyen's lathes which he considered to be in a class by themselves.

His knowledge of apparatus was encyclopedic, and he was adept at evolving new uses for old tools, notably the eccentric cutter. As far as I know he never motorized his lathes holding that the foot treadle had an advantage in smooth even running and control; as he did a great deal of rose engine work this must have entailed many hours of continuous treadling!

By the death of G. A. Grace, ornamental turning has lost an outstanding exponent who was prominent for over half a century; it is no exaggeration to say that he was one of the greatest ornamental turners of his generation, if not of all time.

The Art and Craft of Ornamental Turning, by G. A. Grace, was published by the Society of Ornamental Turners in 1961.

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