A word from the author.

"For nearly four centuries, Engine Turning was kept as a mysterious art by those who practised it. I was the first to realise that keeping it secret was slowly destroying it. In 1983 I began to exhibit the craft with practical demonstrations at international trade fairs and in 1986, I gave my first lecture at Goldsmiths Hall, London, to an invited audience from our industry, using the latest miniature video camaras mounted on the machines to explain and demonstrate the craft for the first time in history for all to see and understand. I have since repeated this both at Goldsmith's Hall and at various other venues including the University of Central England School of Jewellery and the BJA Headquarters.
 
My intention is that this reference work should eventually provide as much information as possible to help to keep the craft of Engine Turning alive and preserve all the information we have learned over so many years. A growing legacy for posterity."
 
David Pledge, Ashtead, 2007.

Introduction

This is a complete revision of the Illustrated Engine Turning Reference™: the 2nd Edition.

The reference is intended to provide both an educational resource and research material for designers and design consultants, as well as a showcase for the skills and services provided by Pledge & Aldworth Engine Turners for manufacturers World wide.

Here you can learn how engine turning is done and be inspired with design ideas. We will show you its simplicity, flexibilities and possibilities to enable you to be creative with it. We even show you how to do it yourself, though as a caveat it should be noted that this is not a skill to be learned in a short time by reading books. Perfection requires experience, gained over years.

The engine turning process is used on virtually every type of product manufactured by the gold, silver, horological and allied industries. There is no other surface design and generation system with the flexibility and aesthetic qualities of what engine turning can do in the hands of good designers.

The lighter and Pen business has always been a large part of what we do, supplying companies around the world with a unique service. By using CAD/CAM engine turning, new low relief designs have become available and whole new areas of design development are now growing.

Unlimited by the constraints of Flat or Geometrically predictable surfaces Engine Turning provides an unlimited design medium which enables exploration of everything you can do with a surface, including colour, texture and reflection of light. The illustrations in this reference work form just a small sample of what is possible, and good designers will always be able to invent new styles of engine turning.

What we have provided here is a set of tools for the designer to ingest and use to create new products with well planned and pleasing surfaces which, rather than simply being added as an afterthought, are an integral part of the product design.

Supplying all market levels, Engine Turning can be applied directly to high quality products, and this has always been our traditional niche, but it can also be cast, stamped and perhaps most usefully of all, for mass production at the lower end of the price scale, it can be rolled into large sheets which are then used to make items which imitate much more expensive goods. Stamping and Forming after the pattern has been applied, surprisingly, does no damage to the design.

Engine Turning: A simple definition

Engine Turning is primarily a SURFACE GENERATION TECHNOLOGY, mostly used for precious metal surfaces. If you simply need to know in a nutshell what engine turning is, here is the answer.

Engine Turning, in French: "guilloché", is really a branch of what the English call Ornamental or Complex Turning. It is a process in which a (generally) metal work piece is moved mechanically against a fixed tool to cut a series of uniformly defined lines. It is rather like engraving with a ruler, or technical drawing on metal, though it does not look like technical drawing, rather a decorative surface which reflects light in an interesting way and has a tactile value as well. The process is commonly used on precious metal goods or other items of high value when applied directly, as it takes time and skill to apply, though by engine turning dies and reproducing the pattern it can be applied to all types of products.

Designing Metal Surfaces

Engine Turning is really a very simple mechanical process from the designer's point of view. You cut wavy or straight lines on a metal surface exactly where you want them and in whatever direction or position you like. There are machines to cut wavy circular lines, even ellipses using waves. The lines can be broadly parallel, or concentric circular, or radiate from a point either on or off the workpiece or design. Imagine what you could do with a ruler, compass and french curves, but with enhancements designed to facilitate the production of repetitive patterns included as optional, such as a ratchet to help make evenly spaced parallel lines or a dividing head that allows sunray lines to have even divisions.

Any flat or convex metal surface can be engine turned and some concave surfaces too. There are a few restrictions with 3D surfaces but in general you can do almost anything, hence the technical drawing analogy.

In addition you can vary the depth of the cut as you travel along a line so it is possible to create an image in low relief rather like that on a coin but with the advantage that since it was generated from a series of cuts it has reflective qualities which "highlight" the image in a completely unique way.

Creativity with Light

It is in understanding how light is reflected from wavy lines on different surfaces and in different directions to bring those surfaces to life, that the creative process is properly enabled for this wonderful design medium. To do this, it is necessary to properly understand how we create these reflections and make them work in a design.

The first stage is to understand the mechanics of engine turning, which is remarkably simple, contrary to popular belief! Please read on...