 Conventional metalworking lathe In woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glassworking, a lathe is a machine tool which spins a block of material so that when abrasive, cutting, or deformation tools are applied to the block, it can be shaped to produce an object which has rotational symmetry about an axis of rotation. Examples of objects that can be produced on a lathe include candlestick holders, table legs, bowls, baseball bats, crankshafts or camshafts. Conventional lathe. ...
Conventional lathe. ...
A Woodturned Chess Set Woodturning is a form of woodworking, that is used to create wooden objects (e. ...
Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ...
Metal Spinning is a process by which circles of metal are shaped over mandrels (also called forms) while mounted on a spinning lathe by the application of levered force with various tools. ...
A machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by the selective removal of metal. ...
Rotational symmetry is symmetry with respect to some or all rotations in m-dimensional Euclidean space. ...
The axis of rotation of a rotating body is a line such that the distance between any point on the line and any point of the body remains constant under the rotation. ...
This article should be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...
Furniture is the collective term for the movable objects which support the human body (seating furniture and beds), provide storage, and hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. ...
For other meanings of the word bowl, see Bowl. ...
In baseball, a bat is a smooth rod, often but not always wooden, used in hitting the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. ...
Crankshaft Continental engine marine crankshafts, 1942 Crankshaft is also the name of a comic strip about an old, curmudgeonly bus driver. ...
The camshaft is an apparatus used in piston engines to operate poppet valves. ...
The material is held in place by either one or two centers, at least one of which can be moved horizontally to accommodate varying material lengths. In a woodworking lathe, an adjustable horizontal metal rail between the material and the operator accommodates the positioning of shaping tools which are usually hand held. With wood, it is common practice to press and slide sandpaper against the still-spinning object after shaping. Artists can use woodworking to create delicate sculptures. ...
 Image File history File links Lathe. ...
In a metalworking lathe, metal is removed from the workpiece using a hardened cutting tool, which is usually fixed to a solid moveable mounting called the "toolpost", which is then moved against the workpiece using handwheels and/or computer controlled motors. A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
A tool bit generally refers to a plain High Speed Steel (HSS) tool. ...
In metal spinning, a disk of sheet metal is held perpendicularly to the main axis of the lathe, and tools with polished tips (spoons) are hand held, but levered by hand against fixed posts, to develop large amounts of torque/pressure that deform the spinning sheet of metal. Metal Spinning is a process by which circles of metal are shaped over mandrels (also called forms) while mounted on a spinning lathe by the application of levered force with various tools. ...
In a glassworking lathe a torch to soften the glass may be either hand-held, or mounted to a banjo/crossslide. Tools to deform the glass, and tubes to blow (inflate) the glass are usually handheld. Image File history File links Copy_Lathe. ...
Image File history File links Copy_Lathe. ...
Major Categories of Lathes
Woodworking Lathes Woodworking lathes are the oldest variety of lathes. All other varieties are descended from these simple lathes.
 A modern woodworking lathe. A picture, taken by me, of a woodlathe in my basement, which I own. ...
A picture, taken by me, of a woodlathe in my basement, which I own. ...
Metal spinning Lathes Metal spinning lathes are almost as simple as woodturning lathes (and, at this point, lathes being used for metal spinning almost always are woodworking lathes). Typically, metal spinning lathes require a user-supplied rotationally symmetric mandrel, usually made of wood, which serves as a template onto which the workpiece is moulded (non-symmetric shapes can be done, but it is a very advanced technique). E.g.: If you want to make a sheet metal bowl, you need a solid chunk of wood in the shape of the bowl; if you want to make a vase, you need a solid template of a vase, etc. Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. ...
Chinese vase A vase with a sunflower pattern The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. ...
Given the advent of high speed, high pressure, industrial die forming, metal spinning is less common now than it once was.
Metalworking Lathes - Main article: Lathe (metal)
 The toolpost is operated by leadscrews which can accurately position the tool in a variety of planes. The toolpost may be driven manually or automatically to produce the roughing and finishing cuts required to turn the workpiece to the desired shape and dimensions, or for cutting threads, worm gears, etc. Cutting fluid may also be pumped to the cutting site to provide cooling, lubrication and clearing of swarf from the workpiece. Some lathes may be operated under control of a computer for mass production of parts (see "Computer Numerically Controlled). A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
A Lathe for Turning Metal From US Army training publication TC 9-524. ...
A screw thread is a system used to turn rotational movement into linear movement with a geometric form similar to an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder. ...
Worm and worm gear A worm gear, or worm wheel, is a type of gear that engages with a worm to greatly reduce rotational speed, or to allow higher torque to be transmitted. ...
Cutting fluid or coolant is liquid used to cool and lubricate the cutting edges of machine tools and the pieces they are shaping. ...
Swarf is the debris or waste resulting from metalworking operations. ...
A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
A computer is a device or machine for processing information from data according to a program — a compiled list of instruction. ...
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ...
A CNC Turning Center The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer(ized) Numerical(ly) Control(led), and refers specifically to the computer control of machine tools for the purpose of (repeatedly) manufacturing complex parts in metal as well as other materials, using a program written in a notation conforming to the...
Metalworking lathes are commonly provided with a variable ratio gear train to drive the main leadscrew this enables different pitches of threads to be cut. Some older gear trains are changed manually by using interchangeable gears with various numbers of teeth, while more modern or elaborate lathes have a quick change box to provide commonly used ratios by the operation of a lever.
The threads that can be cut are, in some ways, determined by the pitch of the leadscrew: A lathe with a metric leadscrew will readily cut metric threads (including BA), while one with an imperial leadscrew will readily cut imperial unit based threads such as BSW UTS (UNF,UNC). The metre (or meter) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ...
British Association or BA screw threads are a largely obsolete set of small screw threads, the largest being 0BA at 6mm diameter. ...
This article is about post-1824 Imperial units, please see also English unit, U.S. customary unit or Avoirdupois. ...
British Standard Whitworth (BSW) is one of three imperial unit based screw thread standards which use the same bolt heads and nut sizes, the other two being British Standard Fine (BSF) and Cycle Engineers Institute (CEI). ...
The Unified Thread Standard (UTS) specifies the standard thread form, series, class, allowance, tolerance, and designation for unified screw threads. ...
The workpiece may be supported between a pair of points called centres, or it may be bolted to a faceplate or held in a chuck. A chuck has movable jaws that can grip the workpiece securely.
Glassworking Lathes Glassworking lathes are similar in design to other lathes, but differ markedly in how the workpiece is modified. Glassworking lathes slowly rotate a hollow glass vessel over a fixed or variable temperature flame. The source of the flame may be moved along the lathe bed. The flame serves to soften the glass being worked, so that the glass in a specific area of the workpiece beomes malleable, and subject to forming either by inflation ("glass blowing"), or by deformation with a heat resistant tool.
Parts Of a Lathe A lathe may or may not have a stand (or legs), which sits on the floor and elevates the lathe bed to a working height. Some lathes are small and sit directly on a workbench or table, and do not have a stand.
All lathes have a "bed", which is an (almost always) horizontal beam.
At one end of the bed (almost always the left, as the operator faces the lathe) is a "headstock". The headstock contains a spinning bearings.
Rotating within the bearings is a horizontal axle, with an axis parallel to the bed, called the "spindle". Spindles are often hollow, and have exterior threads and/or an interior morse taper on the "inboard" (i.e. facing to the right / towards the bed) by which accessories which hold the workpiece may be mounted to the spindle. Spindles may also have exterior threads and/or an interior taper at their "outboard" (i.e. facing away from the bed) end, and/or may have a handwheel or other accessor mechanism on their outboard end. Spindles are powered, and impart motion to the workpiece. In the design of machine tools there is a need for users to be able to quickly and easily install or remove particular cutting bits or other accessories from the powered rotating spindle of the machine tool. ...
The spindle is driven, either by footpower, by a belt to an external power source, or by an integral electric motor (often either in the headstock, to the left of the headstock, or beneath the headstock, concealed in the stand. (An interesting note: some Amish are known to purchase very high tech lathes, remove the electric motors, and then convert them to run via leather belts from overhead power shafts.) Amish couple in a horse-drawn buggy in rural Holmes County, Ohio, the site of one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the United States The Amish are a denomination of Anabaptists noted for their restrictions on the use of modern devices such as automobiles and electricity. ...
At the other end of the bed (almost always the right, as the operator faces the lathe) may be a tailstock. Not all lathes have tailstocks. A tailstock provides auxiliary support to the workpiece. Tailstocks are not powered.
Metalworking lathes have a "cross slide", which is a flat piece that sits crosswise on the bed, and can be cranked at right angles to the bed. Sitting atop the cross slide is a toolpost, which holds a cutting tool which removes material from the workpiece. There may or may not be a leadscrew, which moves the cross slide along the bed.
Woodturning and metal spinning lathes do not have cross slides, but have "banjos", which are flat pieces that sit crosswise on the bed. The position of a banjo can be adjusted by hand; no gearing is involved. Ascending vertically from the banjo is a toolpost, at the top of which is a horizontal "tool rest". In woodturning, hand tools are braced against the tool rest and levered into the workpiece. In metal spinning, the further pin ascends vertically from the tool rest, and serves as a fulcrum against which tools may be levered into the workpiece.
Accessories Unless a workpiece has a taper machined onto it which perfectly matches the internal taper in the spindle, or has threads which perfectly match the external threads on the spindle (two things which almost never happen), an accessory must be used to mount a workpiece to the spindle.
A workpiece may be bolted or screwed to a faceplate, a large flat disk that mounts to the spindle. A faceplate is the basic workholding accessory for a wood or metal turning lathe. ...
A workpiece may be clamped in a three or four jaw chuck, which mounts directly to the spindle. A Chuck is a specialised type of clamp used to hold rotating tools or materials. ...
A soft workpiece (wooden) may be pinched between centers by using a spur drive at the headstock, which bites into the wood and imparts torque to it. A lathe center (or center) is a tool that has been ground to an included angle of 60 ° and is used to accurately position a workpiece about its axis. ...
 Live center (top) Dead center (bot) If a tailstock is used, a dead center (which is non-rotating) may be used to support the workpiece, alternatively, a live center may be used to better advantage. A lathe carrier may also be employed when turning between centers. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1473x1095, 199 KB) Photograph taken by Glenn McKechnie on the 26th March 2005. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1473x1095, 199 KB) Photograph taken by Glenn McKechnie on the 26th March 2005. ...
A lathe center (or center) is a tool that has been ground to an included angle of 60 ° and is used to accurately position a workpiece about its axis. ...
A lathe center (or center) is a tool that has been ground to an included angle of 60 ° and is used to accurately position a workpiece about its axis. ...
A carrier ( or lathe dog) is a device that clamps around the workpiece and allows the rotary motion of the machines spindle to be transmitted to the workpiece. ...
In woodturning, one subtype of a live center is a cup center, which is a cone of metal surrounded by an anullar ring of metal that decreases the chances of the workpiece splitting. A lathe center (or center) is a tool that has been ground to an included angle of 60 ° and is used to accurately position a workpiece about its axis. ...
A circular metal plate with even spaced holes around the periphery, mounted to the spindle, is called an "index plate". It can be used to rotate the spindle a precise number of degrees, then lock it in place, facilitating repeated auxiliary operations done to the workpiece.
Modes of Use When a workpiece is fixed between the headstock and the tailstock, it is said to be "between centers". When a workpiece is supported at both ends, it is more stable, and more force may be applied to the workpiece, via tools, at a right angle to the axis of rotation, with out fear that the workpiece may break loose.
When a workpiece is fixed only to the spindle at the headstock end, the work is said to be "face work". When a workpiece is supported in this manner, less force may be applied to the workpiece, via tools, at a right angle to the axis of rotation, lest the workpiece rip free. Thus, most work must be done axially, towards the headstock, or at right angles, but gently.
When a workpiece is mounted with a certain axis of rotation, worked, then remounted with a new axis of rotation, this is referred to as "eccentric turning" or "multi axis turning". The result is that various cross sections of the workpiece are rotationally symmetric, but the workpiece as a whole is not rotationally symmetric. This technique is used for cam shafts, various types of chair legs, etc.
Varieties The smallest lathes are "jewelers lathes" or "watchmaker lathes", which are small enough that they may be held in one hand. Although the workpieces machined on a jeweler's lathes are metal, jeweler's lathes differ from all other metal working lathes in that the cutting tools (called "gravers") are hand held, not fixed to a crossslide.
Lathes that sit on a bench or table are called "bench lathes".
Lathes that are controlled by a computer are CNC lathes. A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
Lathes with a vertical axis are—not suprisingly—"vertical lathes".
A lathe with a cylindrical tailstock that can rotate around a vertical axis, so as to present different facets towards the headstock (and the workpiece) are turret lathes. A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
A lathe equipped with indexing plates, profiled cutters, spiral or helical guides, etc. so as to enable ornamental turning is an ornamental lathe.
Various combinations are possible: e.g. one could have a "vertical CNC lathe", etc.
Lathes can be combined with other mechanisms into more complex machines, such as those with an overhead drill or vertical milling unit. These are usually referred to as combination lathes. A metal lathe is a rigid machine tool designed to remove material from a workpiece, through the action of a cutting tool. ...
See also Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...
The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...
Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ...
Artists can use woodworking to create delicate sculptures. ...
Metal Spinning is a process by which circles of metal are shaped over mandrels (also called forms) while mounted on a spinning lathe by the application of levered force with various tools. ...
A Woodturned Chess Set Woodturning is a form of woodworking, that is used to create wooden objects (e. ...
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Important Books Turning Wood With Richard Raffan ISBN 1561584177
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