Water Lathe Wood Craft of Uttarakhand

Water-wheel or gheraat has been used since ancient times in Uttarakhand. Other than being used in agricultural purposes and for running mills to extract oil and grind grain, they are also operated in powering lathes used in small wood-based ventures.

In the village of Chori Bagad of Uttarakhand the water-lathe is used to make wooden water containers in various shapes and sizes. An iron rode is connected to the water lathe which rotates when a turbine is created by the paddles of the water wheel that move because of the flow of the water. The spinning motion of this central rod is powered by the water which has a wooden block or ‘job’ attached on it. Onto the overhead of the bamboo split water droplets are collected that are thrown up by the vanes of the turbine. Continuous motion heats up the metal which can spark a fire in the wood shavings for this reason the split helps it to cool down by dripping water on it.