Lathes were made by turners themselves. They made them with simple tools, namely an axe and a chisel. The first machines were primitive, with a long pole, by means of which the working part of the machine was set in motion.
The lathe machine set in motion with a swing wheel and a belt was implemented later, in the 1860s – 1870s. The first lathe of the kind was manufactured by Egor Vachkin, a peasant of the village of Shurma (nowadays the Urzhumsk District). 
Turners worked in pairs in a special room. One of them propelled the machine by rotating the swing wheel, and another one turned wooden blanks at the same time. Two masters could make up to 100 – 150 cups with one lathe in one week. Some turners could manufacture wooden pipes in addition to tableware and toys.
A turner making various products usually needed about two cubic meters of wood for a working season. The work was carried out in specially constructed premises, where the stove and lathe machines were set up. Plank beds for wood dehumidification were constructed on the walls from the floor up to the ceiling. The turned products were ground, colored, and polished. Various dyes, such as fuchsin, kroner canary, ultramarine and soot could be added to the polishing liquid. When rotated on the lathe machine the color was evenly applied in a thin layer on a product surface, and the subsequent polish added beautiful gloss to it.
The primitive lathes used in the 19th century have now been turned into compact high-production equipment, which gives the carver an opportunity to get fine workpieces for further decoration. Thus, the traditional Russian wood turning craft for tableware and toys has been preserved and revived in a better quality and richer variety.

 

 

 

Sources: http://nhpko.ru