The cups we had made so far in the project were all without handles. Now I should mention that this makes sense for a wooden cup. Since wood isolates very well, a wooden cup does not get hot on the outside, not even with hot tea or coffee. This is in contrast to very thin, ceramic or metal cups. Historically, you see cups without handles for a long time. It was only with the arrival of porcelain and pewter cups that the handle was used frequently. But anyway, now a cup with a handle, just because we can.
It is actually not so easy to make a handled cup. When carving out the rough shape, you have to take the handle into account. You end up with a cylindrical piece of wood, with a bit sticking out. That protruding piece turns very fast on your lathe and you have to be careful that it does not hit your fingers.
Now, you have two ways to deal with the part of the cup where the handle is located. Do you turn it or do you not turn it?
In the photo above you can see the result of the two methods. With the right cup, Pieterjan chose not to turn the part of the cup at the height of the handle, but only the part above and below it. Now that is already quite difficult, as the handle protrudes upwards as you are able to see in the photo. You must therefore be very careful that it does not hit your tool and break off. Pieterjan did not turn the piece at the height of the ear, but trimmed it later. To emphasize that, he cut a pattern into it.
The left cup is made in a different way. This one is also turned at the handle. Now that is more special than you might expect at first. This is not possible on an electric lathe. An electric lathe rotates continuously, whereby you would automatically knock the handle off if you tried to cut at the height of the handle while turning. A pole lathe, on the other hand, has a special property. Namely that it rotates back and forth. By control of your foot, you can turn up to the handle and then back again.
