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Traditional craft of Mallorca

Torners (wood turners)

At a glance

The turner shapes the wood by turning it on the lathe while cutting with gouges and chisels. He makes revolutionary pieces: mortars, bowls, legs, bars…

Crafts
Traditional craft of Mallorca
Artisans in the register
6 · Palma, Consell, Manacor, Sóller, Son Servera
Words
baldufa, barrot, desbastar, escarpra, gúbia, perfilar

What it is and technique

The turner shapes the wood by turning it on the lathe while cutting with gouges and chisels. He makes revolutionary pieces: mortars, bowls, legs, bars, handles... and the xeremies tubes.

Short story

  • Before the 20th century: pedal or bow lathe; pieces for home, furniture and tools (to verify local dating).

-c . 1980: Bartomeu Frau (Sóller) plays xeremies; A documentary records it on the lathe.

  • 60s-80s: Manacor experiences the boom of the turned olive tree souvenir; falls in the 80s due to cheap imitation (UIB, 2019).
  • 2000s: Rafel Moll (Sa Pobla) learns "from a neighbor turner" and begins to build xeremies and flabiols.
  • Category "whip turner" in the Government's Cercador d'artesans.

Process step by step

1. Block: dry, squared or rounded wood.

2. Fix between points or on a plate.

3. Roughing with a cylinder with a roughing gouge.

4. Profile with gouges and chisels (mouldings, collars).

5. Empty (bowls) or drill (instrument tubes).

6. Sand on the lathe and finish with oil or wax.

Forms and objects

  • Morters, bols, salers (olive).
  • Barrots and pots for chair, bed and railing.
  • Tool mannequins.
  • Grall and xeremia bordons; flabiols.
  • Tops (baldufes) and toys (to verify local production).

Vocabulary

  • torner: turner.
  • torn: lathe.
  • gúbia: gouge.
  • escarpra: chisel.
  • punt: attachment point.
  • plat: holding plate.
  • desbastar: remove material.
  • perfilar: define the shape.
  • barrot: bar.
  • baldufa: top.

Geography

  • Manacor: olive wheel (souvenir).
  • Sa Pobla y Sóller: instrument lathe.
  • Turners with names linked to instruments: Rafel Moll (Sa Pobla), Bartomeu Frau and Joan Marroig «Piu» (Sóller). See instruments-tradicionals .
  • Olive tree turners active in Manacor: not identified by name (to be verified).

Xifres

  • Golden age of the turned olive tree: until the 80s.
  • Turned Xeremies: about €1,000 per set (Moll).

Why is it design

  • Geometry of revolution: useful, resistant and easy to repeat shape.
  • Transferable knowledge: from mortar to xeremia, the same lathe.
  • See fusta-d-olivera and proximitat design .

State

Alive but scarce; linked to instruments and a few pieces of olive wood.

For the project

  • Possible piece: turned olive pruning series with traceability; Open lathe workshop with a luthier.
  • Contact: Rafel Moll (Sa Pobla); turners of the Cercador d'artesans.
  • Background question: what do a mortar and a xeremia have in common?

Frequently asked questions

What is Torners (wood turners)?

The turner shapes the wood by turning it on the lathe while cutting with gouges and chisels. He makes revolutionary pieces: mortars, bowls, legs, bars…

Who practises Torners (wood turners) in Mallorca today?

The Balearic Islands Crafts Register lists 6 artisans linked to this craft, in Palma, Consell, Manacor, Sóller, Son Servera.

What are the traditional words for Torners (wood turners)?

Some words: baldufa, barrot, desbastar, escarpra, gúbia, perfilar, plat, punt.

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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