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Turning and wood-shaving trees |
Well-known and popular: the nutcracker. With his slightly grim look he is a symbol of the Erzgebirge. Initially modelled after a king, soldier or forester, he can now be found in almost any kind of variation. Did you know that up to 130 manufacturing processes are necessary to produce a nutcracker?
In Neuhausen, more than 4400 of the merry fellows from far and near await being marvelled at in the only nutcracker museum in the world. In the turning process, a piece of wood spins around its axle on a turning lathe. Originally, simple symmetrical toy figures for children were made this way. Details were added by paintbrush. Nowadays, apart from wooden toys, the well-known incense smokers and miners are manufactured in the same traditional way.
Wood-shaving trees are made by lifting shavings from a straight stick of basswood in freehand operation. Wood-shaving trees are used for decorating toy boxes, pyramids and arched candle stands. A good visual judgement and extreme dexterity are required for this work because one wrong cut could destroy the tree.
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