What is a lathe machine?

            Lathe is a widely used machine in the workshops. It is primarily used to give a round shape to materials such as wood, metal or plastic. It is also used for cutting screw threads. Do you know how a lathe machine works?

            A modern lathe consists of an electric motor which spins the given material on a horizontal axis. The speed of the motor can be regulated according to the requirements. This motor rotates a chuck. The work piece is mounted on the chuck. When the motor revolves, the chuck also revolves with it. A cutting tool is brought against the spinning material which cuts away the material until the desired shape is formed. The cutting tool is mounted in a special holder and can be moved in several directions — up and down, and from one side to another.

            Lathes also have a sliding tailstock which is used for centering the work piece. By mounting a drill bit with the tailstock it can be used to drill holes into the work piece.

            Lathes are extremely accurate. They can perform shaping and cutting operations, upto an accuracy of .0002 cm. The most widely used type is the centre lathe or engine lathe. Another popular type of lathe is the turret lathe. In the tool holder of this lathe, six cutting tools can be mounted. This makes it possible to bring several different kinds of cutting tools into use without stopping the machine. Moreover, once the cutting tools have been set, the same operations can be done on piece after piece. When thousands of such operations are needed, a multiple spindle bar machine is used. It is a kind of lathe that performs six different operations. A single computer can run many lathes in large automated factories. A person mounts the work pieces in the lathes and removes them when work is over. Until 1800, lathes were crude machines which could perform a few basic operations only. Around 1800, Henry Maud slay of England, invented the first thread cutting machine. In 1873, C.M. Spencer of USA developed the first fully automatic lathe. By the end of 1900s, a form of automation called numerical control was used to run many lathes at the same time.