Metal lathe

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Center lathe with digital read out and chuck guard. Size is 460 mm swing x 1000 mm between
centers
A metal lathe or metalworking lathe is a large class of lathes designed for precisely
machining relatively hard materials. They were originally designed to machine metals;
however, with the advent of plastics and other materials, and with their inherent versatility,
they are used in a wide range of applications, and a broad range of materials. In machining
jargon, where the larger context is already understood, they are usually simply called lathes,
or else referred to by more-specific subtype names (toolroom lathe, turret lathe, etc.). These
rigid machine tools remove material from a rotating workpiece via the (typically linear)
movements of various cutting tools, such as tool bits and drill bits.

Contents
1 Construction
o 1.1 Headstock
o 1.2 Beds
o 1.3 Feed and lead screws
o 1.4 Carriage
1.4.1 Cross-slide
1.4.2 Compound rest
1.4.3 Toolpost
o 1.5 Tailstock
o 1.6 Steady, follower and other rests
2 Types of metal lathes
o 2.1 Center lathe / engine lathe / bench lathe
o 2.2 Toolroom lathe
o 2.3 Turret lathe and capstan lathe
o 2.4 Gang-tool lathe

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2.5 Multispindle lathe

2.6 CNC lathe / CNC turning center
2.7 Swiss-style lathe / Swiss turning center
2.8 Combination lathe / 3-in-1 machine
2.9 Mini-lathe and micro-lathe
2.10 Wheel lathe
2.11 Brake lathe
2.12 Oil country lathe
3 Feed mechanisms
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links

Construction
The design of lathes can vary greatly depending on the intended application; however, basic
features are common to most types. These machines consist of (at the least) a headstock, bed,
carriage, and tailstock. Better machines are solidly constructed with broad bearing surfaces
(slide-ways) for stability, and manufactured with great precision. This helps ensure the
components manufactured on the machines can meet the required tolerances and repeatability.

Headstock

Headstock with legend, numbers and text within the description refer to those in the image
The headstock (H1) houses the main spindle (H4), speed change mechanism (H2,H3), and
change gears (H10). The headstock is required to be made as robust as possible due to the
cutting forces involved, which can distort a lightly built housing, and induce harmonic
vibrations that will transfer through to the workpiece, reducing the quality of the finished
workpiece.
The main spindle is generally hollow to allow long bars to extend through to the work area.
This reduces preparation and waste of material. The spindle runs in precision bearings and is
fitted with some means of attaching workholding devices such as chucks or faceplates. This
end of the spindle usually also has an included taper, frequently a Morse taper, to allow the
insertion of hollow tubular (Morse standard) tapers to reduce the size of the tapered hole, and
permit use of centers. On older machines ('50s) the spindle was directly driven by a flat belt
pulley with lower speeds available by manipulating the bull gear. Later machines use a gear

box driven by a dedicated electric motor. A fully 'geared head' allows the operator to select
suitable speeds entirely through the gearbox.

Beds
The bed is a robust base that connects to the headstock and permits the carriage and tailstock
to be moved parallel with the axis of the spindle. This is facilitated by hardened and ground
bedways which restrain the carriage and tailstock in a set track. The carriage travels by means
of a rack and pinion system. The leadscrew of accurate pitch, drives the carriage holding the
cutting tool via a gearbox driven from the headstock.
Types of beds include inverted "V" beds, flat beds, and combination "V" and flat beds. "V"
and combination beds are used for precision and light duty work, while flat beds are used for
heavy duty work.[citation needed]
When a lathe is installed, the first step is to level it, which refers to making sure the bed is not
twisted or bowed. There is no need to make the machine exactly horizontal, but it must be
entirely untwisted to achieve accurate cutting geometry. A precision level is a useful tool for
identifying and removing any twist. It is advisable also to use such a level along the bed to
detect bending, in the case of a lathe with more than four mounting points. In both instances
the level is used as a comparator rather than an absolute reference.

Feed and lead screws

The feedscrew (H8) is a long driveshaft that allows a series of gears to drive the carriage
mechanisms. These gears are located in the apron of the carriage. Both the feedscrew and
leadscrew (H7) are driven by either the change gears (on the quadrant) or an intermediate
gearbox known as a quick change gearbox (H6) or Norton gearbox. These intermediate
gears allow the correct ratio and direction to be set for cutting threads or worm gears. Tumbler
gears (operated by H5) are provided between the spindle and gear train along with a
quadrant plate that enables a gear train of the correct ratio and direction to be introduced.
This provides a constant relationship between the number of turns the spindle makes, to the
number of turns the leadscrew makes. This ratio allows screwthreads to be cut on the
workpiece without the aid of a die.
Some lathes have only one leadscrew that serves all carriage-moving purposes. For screw
cutting, a half nut is engaged to be driven by the leadscrew's thread; and for general power
feed, a key engages with a keyway cut into the leadscrew to drive a pinion along a rack that is
mounted along the lathe bed.
The leadscrew will be manufactured to either imperial or metric standards and will require a
conversion ratio to be introduced to create thread forms from a different family. To accurately
convert from one thread form to the other requires a 127-tooth gear, or on lathes not large
enough to mount one, an approximation may be used. Multiples of 3 and 7 giving a ratio of
63:1 can be used to cut fairly loose threads. This conversion ratio is often built into the quick
change gearboxes.
The precise ratio required to convert a lathe with an Imperial (inch) leadscrew to metric
(millimeter) threading is 100 / 127 = 0.7874... . The best approximation with the fewest total
teeth is very often 37 / 47 = 0.7872... . This transposition gives a constant -0.020 percent error

over all customary and model-maker's metric pitches (0.25, 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, 0.50, 0.60,
0.70, 0.75, 0.80, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00, 3.50, 4.00, 4.50, 5.00, 5.50 and
6.00 mm).

Carriage

Carriage with legend, numbers and text within the description refer to those in the image
In its simplest form the carriage holds the tool bit and moves it longitudinally (turning) or
perpendicularly (facing) under the control of the operator. The operator moves the carriage
manually via the handwheel (5a) or automatically by engaging the feed shaft with the carriage
feed mechanism (5c). This provides some relief for the operator as the movement of the
carriage becomes power assisted. The handwheels (2a, 3b, 5a) on the carriage and its related
slides are usually calibrated, both for ease of use and to assist in making reproducible cuts.
Calibration marks will measure either the distance from center (radius), or the work piece's
diameter, so for example, on a diameter machine where calibration marks are in thousandths
of an inch, the radial handwheel dial will read .0005 inches of radius per division, or .001
inches of diameter. The carriage typically comprises a top casting, known as the saddle (4),
and a side casting, known as the apron (5).
Cross-slide
The cross-slide (3) rides on the carriage and has a feedscrew that travels at right angles to the
main spindle axis. This permits facing operations to be performed, and the depth of cut to be
adjusted. This feedscrew can be engaged, through a gear train, to the feed shaft (mentioned
previously) to provide automated 'power feed' movement to the cross-slide. On most lathes,
only one direction can be engaged at a time as an interlock mechanism will shut out the
second gear train.
Compound rest
The compound rest (or top slide) (2) is usually where the tool post is mounted. It provides a
smaller amount of movement (less than the cross-slide) along its axis via another feedscrew.
The compound rest axis can be adjusted independently of the carriage or cross-slide. It is used
for turning tapers, to control depth of cut when screwcutting or precision facing, or to obtain
finer feeds (under manual control) than the feed shaft permits. Usually, the compound rest has
a protractor marked in its base (2b), enabling the operator to adjust its axis to precise angles.
The slide rest (as the earliest forms of carriage were known) can be traced to the fifteenth
century. In 1718 the tool-supporting slide rest with a set of gears was introduced by a Russian

inventor Andrey Nartov and had limited usage in the Russian industry.[1] In the eighteenth
century the slide rest was also used on French ornamental turning lathes. The suite of gun
boring mills at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, in the 1780s by the Verbruggan family also had
slide rests. The story has long circulated that Henry Maudslay invented it, but he did not (and
never claimed so). The legend that Maudslay invented the slide rest originated with James
Nasmyth, who wrote ambiguously about it in his Remarks on the Introduction of the Slide
Principle, 1841; later writers misunderstood, and propagated the error. However, Maudslay
did help to disseminate the idea widely. It is highly probable that he saw it when he was
working at the Arsenal as a boy. In 1794, whilst he was working for Joseph Bramah, he made
one, and when he had his own workshop used it extensively in the lathes he made and sold
there. Coupled with the network of engineers he trained, this ensured the slide rest became
widely known and copied by other lathe makers, and so diffused throughout British
engineering workshops. A practical and versatile screw-cutting lathe incorporating the trio of
leadscrew, change gears, and slide rest was Maudslay's most important achievement.
The first fully documented, all-metal slide rest lathe was invented by Jacques de Vaucanson
around 1751. It was described in the Encyclopdie a long time before Maudslay invented and
perfected his version. It is likely that Maudslay was not aware of Vaucanson's work, since his
first versions of the slide rest had many errors that were not present in the Vaucanson lathe.
Toolpost
The tool bit is mounted in the toolpost (1) which may be of the American lantern style,
traditional four-sided square style, or a quick-change style such as the multifix arrangement
pictured. The advantage of a quick change set-up is to allow an unlimited number of tools to
be used (up to the number of holders available) rather than being limited to one tool with the
lantern style, or to four tools with the four-sided type. Interchangeable tool holders allow all
tools to be preset to a center height that does not change, even if the holder is removed from
the machine.

Tailstock

Tailstock with legend, numbers and text within the description refer to those in the image
The tailstock is a tool (drill), and centre mount, opposite the headstock. The spindle (T5)
does not rotate but does travel longitudinally under the action of a leadscrew and handwheel
(T1). The spindle includes a taper to hold drill bits, centers and other tooling. The tailstock
can be positioned along the bed and clamped (T6) in position as dictated by the work piece.
There is also provision to offset the tailstock (T4) from the spindles axis, this is useful for
turning small tapers, and when re-aligning the tailstck to the axis of the bed.

The image shows a reduction gear box (T2) between the handwheel and spindle, where large
drills may necessitate the extra leverage. The tool bit is normally made of HSS, cobalt steel or
carbide.

Steady, follower and other rests

A steady rest
Long workpieces often need to be supported in the middle, as cutting tools can push (bend)
the work piece away from where the centers can support them, because cutting metal
produces tremendous forces that tend to vibrate or even bend the workpiece. This extra
support can be provided by a steady rest (also called a steady, a fixed steady, a center rest,
or sometimes, confusingly, a center). It stands stationary from a rigid mounting on the bed,
and it supports the workpiece at the rest's center, typically with three contact points 120
apart. A follower rest (also called a follower or a travelling steady) is similar, but it is
mounted to the carriage rather than the bed, which means that as the tool bit moves, the
follower rest "follows along" (because they are both rigidly connected to the same moving
carriage).[2] [3] Follower rests can provide support that directly counteracts the springing force
of the tool bit, right at the region of the workpiece being cut at any moment. In this respect
they are analogous to a box tool.
Any rest transfers some workpiece geometry errors from base (bearing surface) to processing
surface. It depends on the rest design. For minimum transfer rate correcting rests are used.
Rest rollers typically causes some additional geometry errors on processing surface.

A follower rest

Correcting rest for precision grinding or turning

Correcting rest work video

Types of metal lathes

There are many variants of lathes within the metalworking field. Some variations are not all
that obvious, and others are more a niche area. For example, a centering lathe is a dual head
machine where the work remains fixed and the heads move towards the workpiece and
machine a center drill hole into each end. The resulting workpiece may then be used "between
centers" in another operation. The usage of the term metal lathe may also be considered
somewhat outdated these days, plastics and other composite materials are in wide use and
with appropriate modifications, the same principles and techniques may be applied to their
machining as that used for metal.

Center lathe / engine lathe / bench lathe

Two-speed back gears in a cone-head lathe

A typical center lathe

The terms center lathe, engine lathe, and bench lathe all refer to a basic type of lathe that
may be considered the archetypical class of metalworking lathe most often used by the
general machinist or machining hobbyist. The name bench lathe implies a version of this class
small enough to be mounted on a workbench (but still full-featured, and larger than minilathes or micro-lathes). The construction of a center lathe is detailed above, but depending on
the year of manufacture, size, price range or desired features, even these lathes can vary
widely between models.
Engine lathe is the name applied to a traditional late-19th-century or 20th-century lathe with
automatic feed to the cutting tool, as opposed to early lathes which were used with hand-held
tools, or lathes with manual feed only. The usage of "engine" here is in the mechanical-device
sense, not the prime-mover sense, as in the steam engines which were the standard industrial
power source for many years. The works would have one large steam engine which would
provide power to all the machines via a line shaft system of belts. Therefore early engine
lathes were generally 'cone heads', in that the spindle usually had attached to it a multi-step
pulley called a cone pulley designed to accept a flat belt. Different spindle speeds could be
obtained by moving the flat belt to different steps on the cone pulley. Cone-head lathes
usually had a countershaft (layshaft) on the back side of the cone which could be engaged to
provide a lower set of speeds than was obtainable by direct belt drive. These gears were called
back gears. Larger lathes sometimes had two-speed back gears which could be shifted to
provide a still lower set of speeds.
When electric motors started to become common in the early 20th century, many cone-head
lathes were converted to electric power. At the same time the state of the art in gear and
bearing practice was advancing to the point that manufacturers began to make fully geared
headstocks, using gearboxes analogous to automobile transmissions to obtain various spindle
speeds and feed rates while transmitting the higher amounts of power needed to take full
advantage of high speed steel tools. Cutting tools evolved once again, with the introduction of
man made carbides,and became widely introduced to general industry in the 1970s. Early
carbides were attached toolholders by brazing them into a machined 'nest' in the tool holders,
later designs allowed tips to be replaceable, and multi faceted, allowing them to be reused.
Carbides tolerate much higher machining speeds without wearing. This has led to machining
times shortening, and therefore production growing. The demand for faster and more
powerful lathes controlled the direction of lathe development.

The availability of inexpensive electronics has again changed the way speed control may be
applied by allowing continuously variable motor speed from the maximum down to almost
zero RPM. This had been tried in the late 19th century but was not found satisfactory at the
time. Subsequent improvements in electric circuitry have made it viable again.

Toolroom lathe
A toolroom lathe is a lathe optimized for toolroom work. It is essentially just a top-of-the-line
center lathe, with all of the best optional features that may be omitted from less expensive
models, such as a collet closer, taper attachment, and others. There has also been an
implication over the years of selective assembly and extra fitting, with every care taken in the
building of a toolroom model to make it the smoothest-running, most-accurate version of the
machine that can be built. However, within one brand, the quality difference between a
regular model and its corresponding toolroom model depends on the builder and in some
cases has been partly marketing psychology. For name-brand machine tool builders who made
only high-quality tools, there wasn't necessarily any lack of quality in the base-model product
for the "luxury model" to improve upon. In other cases, especially when comparing different
brands, the quality differential between (1) an entry-level center lathe built to compete on
price, and (2) a toolroom lathe meant to compete only on quality and not on price, can be
objectively demonstrated by measuring TIR, vibration, etc. In any case, because of their fully
ticked-off option list and (real or implied) higher quality, toolroom lathes are more expensive
than entry-level center lathes.

Turret lathe and capstan lathe

Main article: Turret lathe
Turret lathes and capstan lathes are members of a class of lathes that are used for repetitive
production of duplicate parts (which by the nature of their cutting process are usually
interchangeable). It evolved from earlier lathes with the addition of the turret, which is an
indexable toolholder that allows multiple cutting operations to be performed, each with a
different cutting tool, in easy, rapid succession, with no need for the operator to perform setup
tasks in between (such as installing or uninstalling tools) nor to control the toolpath. (The
latter is due to the toolpath's being controlled by the machine, either in jig-like fashion [via
the mechanical limits placed on it by the turret's slide and stops] or via IT-directed
servomechanisms [on computer numerical controlled (CNC) lathes].)
There is a tremendous variety of turret lathe and capstan lathe designs, reflecting the variety
of work that they do.

Gang-tool lathe
A gang-tool lathe is one that has a row of tools set up on its cross-slide, which is long and flat
and is similar to a milling machine table. The idea is essentially the same as with turret lathes:
to set up multiple tools and then easily index between them for each part-cutting cycle.
Instead of being rotary like a turret, the indexable tool group is linear.

Multispindle lathe
See also: Screw machine (automatic lathe)

Multispindle lathes have more than one spindle and automated control (whether via cams or
CNC). They are production machines specializing in high-volume production. The smaller
types are usually called screw machines, while the larger variants are usually called
automatic chucking machines, automatic chuckers, or simply chuckers. Screw machines
usually work from bar stock, while chuckers automatically chuck up individual blanks from a
magazine. Typical minimum profitable production lot size on a screw machine is in the
thousands of parts due to the large setup time. Once set up, a screw machine can rapidly and
efficiently produce thousands of parts on a continuous basis with high accuracy, low cycle
time, and very little human intervention. (The latter two points drive down the unit cost per
interchangeable part much lower than could be achieved without these machines.)

CNC lathe / CNC turning center

CNC lathe with milling capabilities

An example turned vase and view of the tool turret

Computer numerical controlled (CNC) lathes are rapidly replacing the older production lathes
(multispindle, etc.) due to their ease of setting, operation, repeatability and accuracy. They are
designed to use modern carbide tooling and fully use modern processes. The part may be
designed and the tool paths programmed by the CAD/CAM process or manually by the
programmer, and the resulting file uploaded to the machine, and once set and trialled the
machine will continue to turn out parts under the occasional supervision of an operator.
The machine is controlled electronically via a computer menu style interface, the program
may be modified and displayed at the machine, along with a simulated view of the process.
The setter/operator needs a high level of skill to perform the process, however the knowledge
base is broader compared to the older production machines where intimate knowledge of each
machine was considered essential. These machines are often set and operated by the same
person, where the operator will supervise a small number of machines (cell).

The design of a CNC lathe varies with different manufacturers, but they all have some
common elements. The turret holds the tool holders and indexes them as needed, the spindle
holds the workpiece and there are slides that let the turret move in multiple axis
simultaneously. The machines are often totally enclosed, due in large part to occupational
health and safety (OH&S) issues.
With rapid growth in this industry, different CNC lathe manufacturers use different user
interfaces which sometimes makes it difficult for operators as they have to be acquainted with
them. With the advent of cheap computers, free operating systems such as Linux, and open
source CNC software, the entry price of CNC machines has plummeted.[citation needed]

Swiss-style lathe / Swiss turning center

A view inside the enclosure of a CNC Swiss-style lathe/screw machine

A Swiss-style lathe is a specific design of lathe providing extreme accuracy (sometimes
holding tolerances as small as a few tenths of a thousandth of an incha few micrometers). A
Swiss-style lathe holds the workpiece with both a collet and a guide bushing. The collet sits
behind the guide bushing, and the tools sit in front of the guide bushing, holding stationary on
the Z axis. To cut lengthwise along the part, the tools will move in and the material itself will
move back and forth along the Z axis. This allows all the work to be done on the material near
the guide bushing where it is more rigid, making them ideal for working on slender
workpieces as the part is held firmly with little chance of deflection or vibration occurring.
This style of lathe is commonly used under CNC control.
Most CNC Swiss-style lathes today use one or two main spindles plus one or two back
spindles (secondary spindles). The main spindle is used with the guide bushing for the main
machining operations. The secondary spindle is located behind the part, aligned on the Z axis.
In simple operation it picks up the part as it is cut off, and accepts it for second operations,
then ejects it into a bin, eliminating the need to have an operator manually change each part,
as is often the case with standard CNC turning centers. This makes them very efficient, as
these machines are capable of fast cycle times, producing simple parts in one cycle (i.e., no
need for a second machine to finish the part with second operations), in as little as 1015
seconds. This makes them ideal for large production runs of small-diameter parts.
Additionally, as many Swiss lathes incorporate a secondary spindle, or 'sub-spindle', they also
incorporate 'live tooling'. Live tools are rotary cutting tools that are powered by a small motor
independently of the spindle motor(s). Live tools increase the intricacy of components that
can be manufactured by the Swiss lathe. For instance, automatically producing a part with a
hole drilled perpendicular to the main axis (the axis of rotation of the spindles) is very

economical with live tooling, and similarly uneconomical if done as a secondary operation
after machining by the Swiss lathe is complete. A 'secondary operation' is a machining
operation requiring a partially completed part to be secured in a second machine to complete
the manufacturing process. Generally, advanced CAD/CAM software uses live tools in
addition to the main spindles so that most parts that can be drawn by a CAD system can
actually be manufactured by the machines that the CAD/CAM software support.

Combination lathe / 3-in-1 machine

A combination lathe, often known as a 3-in-1 machine, introduces drilling or milling
operations into the design of the lathe. These machines have a milling column rising up above
the lathe bed, and they utilize the carriage and topslide as the X and Y axes for the milling
column. The 3-in-1 name comes from the idea of having a lathe, milling machine, and drill
press all in one affordable machine tool. These are exclusive to the hobbyist and MRO
markets, as they inevitably involve compromises in size, features, rigidity, and precision in
order to remain affordable. Nevertheless, they meet the demand of their niche quite well, and
are capable of high accuracy given enough time and skill. They may be found in smaller, nonmachine-oriented businesses where the occasional small part must be machined, especially
where the exacting tolerances of expensive toolroom machines, besides being unaffordable,
would be overkill for the application from an engineering perspective.

Mini-lathe and micro-lathe

Mini-lathes and micro-lathes are miniature versions of a general-purpose center lathe (engine
lathe). They typically have swings in the range of 3 to 7 in (76 to 178 mm) diameter (in other
words, 1.5 to 3.5 in (38 to 89 mm) radius). They are small and affordable lathes for the home
workshop or MRO shop. The same advantages and disadvantages apply to these machines as
explained earlier regarding 3-in-1 machines.
As found elsewhere in English-language orthography, there is variation in the styling of the
prefixes in these machines' names. They are alternately styled as mini lathe, minilathe, and
mini-lathe and as micro lathe, microlathe, and micro-lathe.

Wheel lathe
A lathe for turning the wheels of railway locomotives and rolling stock [4]

Brake lathe
A lathe specialized for the task of resurfacing brake drums and discs in automotive or truck
garages.

Oil country lathe

Specialised lathes for machining long workpieces such as segments of drill strings. Oil
country lathes are equipped with large-bore hollow spindles, a second chuck on the opposite
side of the headstock, and frequently outboard steadies for supporting long workpieces.

Feed mechanisms

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed. (May 2011)
Various feed mechanisms exist to feed material into a lathe at a defined rate.
Bar feeder
A bar feeder feeds a single piece of bar stock into the cutting machine. As each part is
machined, the cutting tool creates a final cut to separate the part from the bar stock, and the
feeder continues to feed the bar for the next part, allowing for continual operation of the
machine.
Bar loader
A bar loader is a variation on the bar feeder concept in that multiple pieces of bar stock may
be fed into a hopper, and the loader feeds each piece as necessary.

References

Lathe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it
has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing
more precise citations. (April 2014)
Not to be confused with Lath, a thin piece of wood.
For other uses, see Lathe (disambiguation).

A metalworking lathe from 1911 showing component parts.

a = bed
b = carriage (with cross-slide and toolpost)
c = headstock
d = back gear (other geartrain nearby drives leadscrew)
e = cone pulley for a belt drive from an external power source
f = faceplate mounted on spindle
g = tailstock
h = leadscrew

A watchmaker using a lathe to prepare a component cut from copper.

A lathe / le/ is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various
operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation, facing, turning, with
tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis
of rotation.
Lathes are used in woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, thermal spraying, parts
reclamation, and glass-working. Lathes can be used to shape pottery, the best-known design
being the potter's wheel. Most suitably equipped metalworking lathes can also be used to
produce most solids of revolution, plane surfaces and screw threads or helices. Ornamental
lathes can produce three-dimensional solids of incredible complexity. The workpiece is
usually held in place by either one or two centers, at least one of which can typically be
moved horizontally to accommodate varying workpiece lengths. Other work-holding methods
include clamping the work about the axis of rotation using a chuck or collet, or to a faceplate,
using clamps or dogs.
Examples of objects that can be produced on a lathe include candlestick holders, gun barrels,
cue sticks, table legs, bowls, baseball bats, musical instruments (especially woodwind
instruments), crankshafts, and camshafts.

Contents
1 History
2 Description
o 2.1 Parts
o 2.2 Accessories
o 2.3 Modes of use
o 2.4 Varieties
3 Major categories
o 3.1 Woodworking lathes
o 3.2 Metalworking lathes
o 3.3 Cue lathes
o 3.4 Glass-working lathes
o 3.5 Metal spinning lathes
o 3.6 Ornamental turning lathes
o 3.7 Reducing lathe
o 3.8 Rotary lathes
o 3.9 Watchmaker's lathes
o 3.10 Transcription or Recording lathes

4 Gallery
o 4.1 Examples of lathes
o 4.2 Examples of work produced from a lathe
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

History
The lathe is an ancient tool, dating at least to ancient Egypt and known to be used in Assyria
and ancient Greece. The lathe was very important to the Industrial Revolution.
The origin of turning dates to around 1300 BCE when the Ancient Egyptians first developed a
two-person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other
used a sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. Ancient Rome improved the Egyptian design with
the addition of a turning bow. In the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning,
freeing both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. The pedal was usually
connected to a pole, often a straight-grained sapling. The system today is called the "spring
pole" lathe. Spring pole lathes were in common use into the early 20th century.
One of the first lathes in the UK was the horizontal boring machine that was installed by Jan
Verbruggen (article in Dutch Wikipedia) in 1772 in the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. It was
horse-powered and allowed for the production of much more accurate and stronger cannon
used with success in the American Revolutionary War in the late 18th century. One of the key
characteristics of this machine was that the workpiece was turning as opposed to the tool,
making it technically a lathe (see attached drawing). Henry Maudslay who later developed
many improvements to the lathe worked at the Royal Arsenal from 1783 being exposed to this
machine in the Verbruggen workshop.[1]

Exact drawing made with camera obscura of horizontal boring machine by Jan Verbruggen in
Woolwich Royal Brass Foundry approx 1778 (drawing 47 out of set of 50 drawings)
During the Industrial Revolution, mechanized power generated by water wheels or steam
engines was transmitted to the lathe via line shafting, allowing faster and easier work.
Metalworking lathes evolved into heavier machines with thicker, more rigid parts. Between
the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, individual electric motors at each lathe replaced line
shafting as the power source. Beginning in the 1950s, servomechanisms were applied to the
control of lathes and other machine tools via numerical control, which often was coupled with

computers to yield computerized numerical control (CNC). Today manually controlled and
CNC lathes coexist in the manufacturing industries.

Description
Parts
A lathe may or may not have legs which sit on the floor and elevate the lathe bed to a working
height. A lathe may be small and sit on a workbench or table, and not require a stand.
Almost all lathes have a bed, which is (almost always) a horizontal beam (although CNC
lathes commonly have an inclined or vertical beam for a bed to ensure that swarf, or chips,
falls free of the bed). Woodturning lathes specialized for turning large bowls often have no
bed or tail stock, merely a free-standing headstock and a cantilevered tool rest.
At one end of the bed (almost always the left, as the operator faces the lathe) is a headstock.
The headstock contains high-precision 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 work-holding accessories 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 hand-wheel or other accessory mechanism
on their outboard end. Spindles are powered, and impart motion to the workpiece.
The spindle is driven either by foot power from a treadle and flywheel or by a belt or gear
drive to a power source. In most modern lathes this power source is an integral electric motor,
often either in the headstock, to the left of the headstock, or beneath the headstock, concealed
in the stand.
In addition to the spindle and its bearings, the headstock often contains parts to convert the
motor speed into various spindle speeds. Various types of speed-changing mechanism achieve
this, from a cone pulley or step pulley, to a cone pulley with back gear (which is essentially a
low range, similar in net effect to the two-speed rear of a truck), to an entire gear train similar
to that of a manual-shift auto transmission. Some motors have electronic rheostat-type speed
controls, which obviates cone pulleys or gears.
The counterpoint to the headstock is the tailstock, sometimes referred to as the loose head, as
it can be positioned at any convenient point on the bed by undoing a locking nut, sliding it to
the required area, and then re-locking it. The tail-stock contains a barrel which does not rotate,
but can slide in and out parallel to the axis of the bed, and directly in line with the headstock
spindle. The barrel is hollow, and usually contains a taper to facilitate the gripping of various
type of tooling. Its most common uses are to hold a hardened steel center, which is used to
support long thin shafts while turning, or to hold drill bits for drilling axial holes in the work
piece. Many other uses are possible.[2]
Metalworking lathes have a carriage (comprising a saddle and apron) topped with a crossslide, 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 usually another slide called a compound rest, which
provides 2 additional axes of motion, rotary and linear. Atop that sits 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 rather 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 tool-post, at the top of
which is a horizontal toolrest. 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

A steady rest
See also: Lathe center
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
conditions which rarely exist), 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. In the alternative, faceplate dogs may be used to secure the work to the faceplate.
A workpiece may be mounted on a mandrel, or circular work clamped in a three- or four-jaw
chuck. For irregular shaped workpieces it is usual to use a four jaw (independent moving
jaws) chuck. These holding devices mount directly to the Lathe headstock spindle.
In precision work, and in some classes of repetition work, cylindrical workpieces are usually
held in a collet inserted into the spindle and secured either by a draw-bar, or by a collet
closing cap on the spindle. Suitable collets may also be used to mount square or hexagonal
workpieces. In precision toolmaking work such collets are usually of the draw-in variety,
where, as the collet is tightened, the workpiece moves slightly back into the headstock,
whereas for most repetition work the dead length variety is preferred, as this ensures that the
position of the workpiece does not move as the collet is tightened.

A soft workpiece (e.g., wood) may be pinched between centers by using a spur drive at the
headstock, which bites into the wood and imparts torque to it.

Live center (top); dead center (bottom)

A soft dead center is used in the headstock spindle as the work rotates with the centre.
Because the centre is soft it can be trued in place before use. The included angle is 60.
Traditionally, a hard dead center is used together with suitable lubricant in the tailstock to
support the workpiece. In modern practice the dead center is frequently replaced by a live
center, as it turns freely with the workpiece usually on ball bearings reducing the
frictional heat, especially important at high speeds. When clear facing a long length of
material it must be supported at both ends. This can be achieved by the use of a traveling or
fixed steady. If a steady is not available, the end face being worked on may be supported by a
dead (stationary) half center. A half center has a flat surface machined across a broad section
of half of its diameter at the pointed end. A small section of the tip of the dead center is
retained to ensure concentricity. Lubrication must be applied at this point of contact and tail
stock pressure reduced. A lathe carrier or lathe dog may also be employed when turning
between two centers.[3]
In woodturning, one variation of a live center is a cup center, which is a cone of metal
surrounded by an annular ring of metal that decreases the chances of the workpiece splitting.
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 to a precise angle, then lock it in
place, facilitating repeated auxiliary operations done to the workpiece.
Other accessories, including items such as taper turning attachments, knurling tools, vertical
slides, fixed and traveling steadies, etc., increase the versatility of a lathe and the range of
work it may perform.

Modes of use
When a workpiece is fixed between the headstock and the tail-stock, 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, without 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 camshafts,
various types of chair legs.

Varieties
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The smallest lathes are "jewelers lathes" or "watchmaker lathes", which are small enough that
they may be held in one hand. The workpieces machined on a jeweler's lathe are metal.
Jeweler's lathes can be used with hand-held "graver" tools or with compound rests that attach
to the lathe bed. Graver tools are generally supported by a T-rest, not fixed to a cross slide or
compound rest. The work is usually held in a collet. Common spindle bore sizes are 6 mm,
8 mm and 10 mm. The term W/W refers to the Webster/Whitcomb collet and lathe, invented
by the American Watch Tool Company of Waltham, Massachusetts. Most lathes commonly
referred to as watchmakers lathes are of this design. In 1909, the American Watch Tool
company introduced the Magnus type collet (a 10-mm body size collet) using a lathe of the
same basic design, the Webster/Whitcomb Magnus. (F.W.Derbyshire, Inc. retains the trade
names Webster/Whitcomb and Magnus and still produces these collets.) Two bed patterns are
common: the WW (Webster Whitcomb) bed, a truncated triangular prism (found only on 8
and 10 mm watchmakers' lathes); and the continental D-style bar bed (used on both 6 mm and
8 mm lathes by firms such as Lorch and Star). Other bed designs have been used, such a
triangular prism on some Boley 6.5 mm lathes, and a V-edged bed on IME's 8 mm lathes.
Smaller metalworking lathes that are larger than jewelers' lathes and can sit on a bench or
table, but offer such features as tool holders and a screw-cutting gear train are called hobby
lathes, and larger versions, "bench lathes". Even larger lathes offering similar features for
producing or modifying individual parts are called "engine lathes". Lathes of these types do
not have additional integral features for repetitive production, but rather are used for
individual part production or modification as the primary role.
Lathes of this size that are designed for mass manufacture, but not offering the versatile
screw-cutting capabilities of the engine or bench lathe, are referred to as "second operation"
lathes.
Lathes with a very large spindle bore and a chuck on both ends of the spindle are called "oil
field lathes".
Fully automatic mechanical lathes, employing cams and gear trains for controlled movement,
are called screw machines.
Lathes that are controlled by a computer are CNC lathes.
Lathes with the spindle mounted in a vertical configuration, instead of horizontal
configuration, are called vertical lathes or vertical boring machines. They are used where very
large diameters must be turned, and the workpiece (comparatively) is not very long.

A lathe with a cylindrical tail-stock that can rotate around a vertical axis, so as to present
different tools towards the headstock (and the workpiece) are turret lathes.
A lathe equipped with indexing plates, profile cutters, spiral or helical guides, etc., so as to
enable ornamental turning is an ornamental lathe.
Various combinations are possible: for example, a vertical lathe can have CNC capabilities as
well (such as a CNC VTL).
Lathes can be combined with other machine tools, such as a drill press or vertical milling
machine. These are usually referred to as combination lathes.

Major categories
Woodworking lathes

A modern woodworking lathe.

Woodworking lathes are the oldest variety. All other varieties are descended from these
simple lathes. An adjustable horizontal metal rail - the tool rest - 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 to smooth the surface made with the metal shaping tools.
There are also woodworking lathes for making bowls and plates, which have no horizontal
metal rail, as the bowl or plate needs only to be held by one side from a metal face plate.
Without this rail, there is very little restriction to the width of the piece being turned. Further
detail can be found on the woodturning page.
Most woodworking lathes are designed to be operated at a rate of between 200 and 1,400
revolutions per minute, with a rate slightly over 1,000 rpms being considered optimal for most
such work, and with larger workpieces requiring slower rates.[4]

Metalworking lathes

A CNC metalworking lathe

Main article: Lathe (metal)
In a metalworking lathe, metal is removed from the workpiece using a hardened cutting tool,
which is usually fixed to a solid moveable mounting, either a tool-post or a turret, which is
then moved against the workpiece using handwheels and/or computer controlled motors.
These (cutting) tools come in a wide range of sizes and shapes depending upon their
application. Some common styles are diamond, round, square and triangular.
The tool-post is operated by lead-screws that can accurately position the tool in a variety of
planes. The tool-post 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 Numerical
Control").
Manually controlled metalworking lathes are commonly provided with a variable ratio gear
train to drive the main lead-screw. This enables different thread pitches to be cut. On some
older lathes or more affordable new lathes, the gear trains are changed by swapping gears
with various numbers of teeth onto or off of the shafts, while more modern or expensive
manually controlled lathes have a quick change box to provide commonly used ratios by the
operation of a lever. CNC lathes use computers and servomechanisms to regulate the rates of
movement.
On manually controlled lathes, the thread pitches that can be cut are, in some ways,
determined by the pitch of the lead-screw: A lathe with a metric lead-screw will readily cut
metric threads (including BA), while one with an imperial lead-screw will readily cut imperial
unit based threads such as BSW or UTS (UNF,UNC). This limitation is not insurmountable,
because a 127-tooth gear, called a transposing gear, is used to translate between metric and
inch thread pitches. However, this is optional equipment that many lathe owners do not own.
It is also a larger change-wheel than the others, and on some lathes may be larger than the
change-wheel mounting banjo is capable of mounting.
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.
There are some effects on material properties when using a metalworking lathe. There are few
chemical or physical effects, but there are many mechanical effects, which include residual
stress, micro-cracks, work-hardening, and tempering in hardened materials.

Cue lathes
Cue lathes function similar to turning and spinning lathes allowing for a perfectly radiallysymmetrical cut for billiard cues. They can also be used to refinish cues that have been worn
over the years.

Glass-working lathes

Glass-working lathes are similar in design to other lathes, but differ markedly in how the
workpiece is modified. Glass-working lathes slowly rotate a hollow glass vessel over a fixed
or variable temperature flame. The source of the flame may be either hand-held, or mounted
to a banjo/cross slide that can 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 becomes ductile, and
subject to forming either by inflation ("glassblowing"), or by deformation with a heat resistant
tool. Such lathes usually have two head-stocks with chucks holding the work, arranged so that
they both rotate together in unison. Air can be introduced through the headstock chuck spindle
for glassblowing. The tools to deform the glass and tubes to blow (inflate) the glass are
usually handheld.
In diamond turning, a computer-controlled lathe with a diamond-tipped tool is used to make
precision optical surfaces in glass or other optical materials. Unlike conventional optical
grinding, complex aspheric surfaces can be machined easily. Instead of the dovetailed ways
used on the tool slide of a metal turning lathe, the ways typically float on air bearings and the
position of the tool is measured by optical interferometry to achieve the necessary standard of
precision for optical work. The finished work piece usually requires a small amount
subsequent polishing by conventional techniques to achieve a finished surface suitably
smooth for use in a lens, but the rough grinding time is significantly reduced for complex
lenses.

Metal spinning lathes

Main article: metal spinning
In metal spinning, a disk of sheet metal is held perpendicularly to the main axis of the lathe,
and tools with polished tips (spoons) or roller tips 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 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 molded (non-symmetric shapes
can be done, but it is a very advanced technique). For example, 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.
Given the advent of high speed, high pressure, industrial die forming, metal spinning is less
common now than it once was, but still a valuable technique for producing one-off prototypes
or small batches where die forming would be uneconomical.

Ornamental turning lathes

Main article: Ornamental turning
The ornamental turning lathe was developed around the same time as the industrial screwcutting lathe in the nineteenth century. It was used not for making practical objects, but for
decorative work - ornamental turning. By using accessories such as the horizontal and

vertical cutting frames, eccentric chuck and elliptical chuck, solids of extraordinary
complexity may be produced by various generative procedures.
A special purpose lathe, the Rose engine lathe is also used for ornamental turning, in
particular for engine turning, typically in precious metals, for example to decorate pocket
watch cases. As well as a wide range of accessories, these lathes usually have complex
dividing arrangements to allow the exact rotation of the mandrel. Cutting is usually carried
out by rotating cutters, rather than directly by the rotation of the work itself. Because of the
difficulty of polishing such work, the materials turned, such as wood or ivory, are usually
quite soft, and the cutter has to be exceptionally sharp. The finest ornamental lathes are
generally considered to be those made by Holtzapffel around the turn of the 19th century.

Reducing lathe
Many types of lathes can be equipped with accessory components to allow them to reproduce
an item: the original item is mounted on one spindle, the blank is mounted on another, and as
both turn in synchronized manner, one end of an arm "reads" the original and the other end of
the arm "carves" the duplicate.
A reduction lathe is a specialized lathe that is designed with this feature, and which
incorporates a mechanism similar to a pantograph, so that when the "reading" end of the arm
reads a detail that measures one inch (for example), the cutting end of the arm creates an
analogous detail that is (for example) one quarter of an inch (a 4:1 reduction, although given
appropriate machinery and appropriate settings, any reduction ratio is possible).
Reducing lathes are used in coin-making, where a plaster original (or an epoxy master made
from the plaster original, or a copper shelled master made from the plaster original, etc.) is
duplicated and reduced on the reducing lathe, generating a master die.

Rotary lathes
A lathe in which softwood, like spruce or pine, or hardwood, like birch, logs are turned
against a very sharp blade and peeled off in one continuous or semi-continuous roll. Invented
by Immanuel Nobel (father of the more famous Alfred Nobel). The first such lathes were set
up in the United States in the mid-19th century. The product is called wood veneer and it is
used for making plywood and as a cosmetic surface veneer on some grades of chipboard.

Watchmaker's lathes
Watchmakers lathes are delicate but precise metalworking lathes, usually without provision
for screwcutting, and are still used by horologists for work such as the turning of balance
shafts. A handheld tool called a graver is often used in preference to a slide mounted tool. The
original watchmaker's turns was a simple dead-center lathe with a moveable rest and two
loose head-stocks. The workpiece would be rotated by a bow, typically of horsehair, wrapped
around it.

Transcription or Recording lathes

Transcription or Recording lathes are used to make grooves on a surface for recording sounds.
These were used in creating sound grooves on wax cylinders and then on flat recording discs.

Originally the cutting lathes were driven by sound vibrations through a horn and then later
driven by electric current when microphones were used in recording. Many of these were
professional models, but there were some used for home recording and were popular before
the advent of home tape recording.

Gallery
Examples of lathes

Small metalworking lathe

Large old lathe

Belt-driven metalworking lathe in the machine shop at Hagley Museum

Examples of work produced from a lathe

Lathe exercise

Turned chess pieces