File:Arbors set (AM 2004.44.70-12).jpg

English: Set of 12 turning arbors Twelve brass and steel arbors, brass disc attached to pointed steel rod, in cardboard box with red paper exterior. "1 Jeu arbres lisses 1 qualite - No. 1-12" printed on top of box. Pencil notations on top of box. An article with a hole in in was mounted firmly on the tapered part of the arbor. The arbor was mounted between the points of the turns, and the arbor and work were revolved forwards and backwards by a bow. Watchmakers' turns are a simple type of lathe. The work was mounted between points and revolved forwards and backwards by a bow, which had a thread (usually a horsehair) wrapped around a collet or small pulley attached to the work. The turning tool (graver) was held against a T rest as in a woodturning lathe. The sharpened tip of the graver was applied to the work at the correct angle and cut only on the downstroke of the bow, when the work was revolving towards the operator. Later, with the advent of electricity, a small electric motor was used to drive a small lathe, which held the work in a collet or chuck, and cutting was continuous, rendering the turns largely obsolete.