མེད་དུས་པའི་ཕོ་ལ་ལེ་ཐ་ཙོ་སོ་དང་རྒྱུ་གེགས་ཀྱི་རིལ་སོ།

Select a green wood blank of ash, birch, or sycamore, approximately 200 millimetres long and 75 millimetres in diameter. Mark the centre of each end with a punch or knife point. Set the poppets in the bed rails so the centre spikes engage both end marks, then lock with pegs driven into the bed rail holes. The blank must spin freely between the points without wobble.

Take the slack loop of the drive cord and wrap it once around the workpiece. One full wrap is usually sufficient for green wood — the natural grip of hemp on bark or rough-cut surfaces provides enough friction. If the cord slips, add a second wrap. The wrapping direction matters: when you press the treadle down, the workpiece must spin toward you so that cutting happens on the downstroke.

Press the treadle down with your foot. The cord should spin the workpiece toward you. When you release, the spring pole should pull the cord back, spinning the workpiece in reverse and lifting the treadle to its rest position. If the return is sluggish, move the cord attachment point closer to the flexible tip of the pole. If too violent, move it toward the stiffer base section.

Hold a turning gouge firmly with both hands. Press the treadle to spin the workpiece toward you and apply the gouge edge to the wood on the downstroke only — lift the tool clear on the return stroke, as cutting against the reverse rotation would dig in and wreck the workpiece. In green wood, long curling shavings should peel away cleanly. The reciprocating action becomes rhythmic with practice: press, cut, release, pause, repeat.