The Common Types and Functions of a Lathe Machine

If you have recently visited a manufacturing industry or a factory that manufactures table legs, you must have noticed sliding head lathes. Basically, lathes are machines with the help of which you can shape a material with a rotating drive that then turns the piece being worked upon against the cutting tools.

CNC lathes are the most popular ones and there are different types of lathe machines that perform in different ways to give you your desired result. Let us take a close look at some of the type of lathes:

·         Woodworking lathes- these are one of the oldest varieties. The other varieties have descended from these types of simple lathes. The positioning of the shaping tools is accommodated in the tool rest which is usually an adjustable horizontal metal rail between the material and the operator. With wood, it is a common practice to slide and press sandpaper against the spinning object. This is done after shaping in order to smooth the surface that is made with the metal shaping tools.

·         Metalworking lathes- with metal working lathes, you can remove the metal from the lathe with the help of a hard cutting tool. This is generally fixed to a solid moveable tool which is either a turret or a tool post. The CNC sliding lathes are then moved against the work piece with the help of hand wheels or with computer controlled motors. You can avail of the cutting tools in a wide range of shapes and sizes depending on their application. Some of the most common shapes and styles are diamond, square, round and triangular.

·         Watchmaker’s lathe- though quite delicate, these are precise metal working lathes. They usually come without the provision of screw cutting but are still used by horologists for various kinds of works like turning the balance shafts. You can use a handheld tool often known as a graver instead of a slide mounted tool. Originally, watchmaker’s turns used to be a simple dead center lathe which had two loose headstocks and a moveable rest. In this traditional watchmaker’s lathe, the work piece used to be rotated by a bow.

·         Glass working lathes- though these lathes have design similar to that of other lathes, they are marked by the way in which they modify a work piece. These lathes slowly rotate a hollow glass vessel on a temperature flame that can be fixed or variable. The source of this flame can either be handheld or mounted on a cross slide that can be moved along a lathe bed. The flame works in softening the glass making it ductile.

·         Ornamental turning lathes- these machines were developed during the nineteenth century when the screw cutting lathe was developed. It was not necessarily used for making practical objects but for decorative work known as ornamental turning. With the help of horizontal and vertical cutting frames, work pieces of extraordinary perfection may be produced.

Therefore, whether controlled with the help of computer programs or handled manually, the sliding head lathes can be operated in a large number of ways and in various applications to produce the perfect result.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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