Recently returned from holidays in Morocco and happened on this woodturner in a small alley in Marrakech. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me as previously whenever I took out my camera I was besieged by everyone within 50 yds with their hands held out for perceived use of their image, and I just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle anymore. This guy was using a homemade lathe, constructed using a 4′ x 6″ x 2″ board as a base, the headstock was a huge block fastened at one end with the spindle a long bolt through the headstock, sharpened to a point on which to impale the workpiece. The tailstock was similar to the headstock but able to travel between two pieces of 1″ x 1″ nailed along the base, to stop the tailstock falling off. It was held in place by weight and the grace of Allah. He took his workpiece (6″ length of poplar branch I think) took a turn around it with a bow, impale it on the headstock, dragged the tailstock along the bed, impaled the job and set to rotating the work with the bow in his right hand. He did all this sitting on the ground, and turned the job using the roughest skew chisel I have ever seen ( a piece of old car spring it transpires), freehand and occasionally using his foot as a toolrest. I have attached a photo of a goodluck piece he turned for my wife, and it took him all of about 40 seconds to do it. I was most impressed! He drilled the hole using the lathe. The drill was a length of dowel, drilled to slide over the headstock spindle, with a bit made from a nail, flattened and filed to a diamond point, glued in the other end of the dowel. It was operated with the bow. When I look at my stuff and compare it with what he had, I have all these feelings of inadequacy, overkill and whatever and wonder what he could do with my gear. I’m never going to complain again about a bit of a vibration or other minor thing again. Also attached is a photo of a pipe in camel bone I purchased from him and some other old stuff I got elsewhere. wot