Nepal · Wood Turning / Lacquerware
लाखे काम (Lakhe Kam)
Lakhe Kam is the Newar tradition of producing lacquered wooden vessels on a pole-lathe (Dhand) — one of the few surviving pole-lathe turning traditions in Asia. The pole-lathe uses a springy bamboo pole attached to a treadle and cord wrapped around the workpiece: treadle pulls the cord spinning the wood; bamboo spring reverses it. The turner's chisel cuts only on the downstroke (toward rotation) and lifts on the upstroke (against). Stick lac (natural resin from Laccifer lacca insects) is applied directly to the spinning friction-warm wood — the resin melts from friction heat and bonds in a controlled color band. This lac-on-spinning-warm-wood technique is entirely distinct from all other lacquer traditions in the database where lacquer is brushed onto stationary surfaces. Band width controlled by stick lac pressure; band fusion or separation controlled by timing.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Nepal national ICH list; Bhaktapur craft heritage
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