LATHE-WORK A PRACTICAL TREATISE on ‘THE TOOLS, APPLIANCES, AND PROCESSES EMPLOYED IN THE ART OF TURNING INCLUDING HAND-TURNING, BORING AND DRILLING, THE USE OF SLIDE- RESTS AND OVERHEAD GEAR, SCREW-CUTTING BY HAND AND SELF-ACTING MOTION, WHEEL-CUTTING, ETC. ETC. BY PAUL N. HASLUCK WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN BY THB AUTHOR Second Edition, Redised and Enlarged, GY Ine LONDON CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND CO. 7, STATIONERS’ HALL COURT, LUDGATE HILL 1883 [40 rights reserved) 166. &. ng. vA NEW SERIES OF HANDBOOKS ON HANDICRAFTS. THE METAL TURNER'S ‘HANDBOOK: 7A on ‘Manual for Workers at the Foot Lathe. By Paut N. ‘With over One Hundred Illustrations, Crown 8vo, Paice 3 1, lon The following are in preparation, uniform with the above, price x/6 each. THE WOOD TURNER'S HANDBOOK: A practical ‘Manual, embracing information on Tools, Materials, Appliances, and Processes employed in Wood Turning. By Pau N. HASLUCK- ‘With about One Hundred Illustrations. THE WATCH $OBBER'S HANDBOOK: A practical ‘Manual, embracing information on Tools, s, Materials, ls, Appliances, and Processes employed in Cleaning, Adjusting, an ‘Watches. By Paut N. Hastuck. ‘Wid shekk “One Illustrations, THE MODEL ENGINEER'S HANDBOOK: A prac- tical Manual embracing information on Tools, Materials, Appli- employed in Constructing Model Engines. By Biot N. Hrastoce. With about Owe Hundeod Iilestrafons, THE CLOCK JOBBER'S § HANDBOOK: | A practical ‘Manual, embracin, ‘aterials, Api ances, and Processes empl tin Ce retin ohijaatiog, and Repairing Clocks, By Pact th about One Hundred Ilus- THE MECHANIC'S WORKSHOP HANDBOOK: A Practical Manual, embracing Reliable Receipts, Useful Notes, and Miscellaneous Memoranda on Mechanical Manipulation. By Faue Ne Hastoce. “ Comprising aboot Two Handred subjects. THE CABINET WORKER'S HANDBOOK: A tical Manual, embracing information on Tools, Materials, Appli- ances, and Processes em loyed in Cabinet Work. By Baun Ne ‘Hastucx. With about One Hundred Ilustrations. THE FRET WORKER'S HANDBOOK: A practical ‘Manual, embracing information on Tools, Materials, Appliances, and Processes employed in Fret Work. By Paut N. CK. ‘With about One dred Illustrations. Lonpon: CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO.PREFACE, Wuen first I occupied myself in mechanical manipulations and lathe-work engrossed my attention, the want of a handy guide-book, treat- ing the subject in a practical manner, was greatly felt. Though much has been done since then towards placing technical education within the reach of all, yet I recently found, in my official capacity as editor of a journal largely devoted to mechanics, that beginners at the lathe still con- tinue to seek such a book, and I have therefore prepared the following pages. In the form of desultory articles, written by me, much of the information has already appeared in various technical papers. The whole has been re-written for publication in book form, and it has been my endeavour to bring within the available space the information most useful to the beginner at lathe-work. Though I make no claim to special literary merit, yet I believe that the instructions are made clear without verbiage; and as I write from per- sonal experience, the book may be accepted asvi PREFACE, trustworthy and practical by those who study its contents. The illustrations have been engraved from my own drawings, and show, at a glance, construc- tive details that could not be explained in letter- press. The drawings are from the objects they represent, and will convey much useful informa- tion, and working drawings of the full size can be made from the woodcuts; the measurements can be filled in from the text. P. N. HasLuck. Lonpon, February, 1881, - NOTE. A SECOND EDITION having been called for, I have taken the opportunity to correct a few small mistakes .such as are apparently unavoidable in the first edition of any book. I have also added a Chapter on the Screw-cutting Lathe—a subject of interest to all who practise lathe-work. P. N. HasLuck. Lonpon, May, 1883.CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE ART OF TURNING. Its importance and. antiquity—Primitive methods of tuming—""” The potter's wheel—Early forms of the lathe—Its develop- ment—Lathes on standards—Fly-wheels—Literature of the art—Modem lathes =. 2 « 6 2© «© «© « Ff CHAPTER II. THE FOOT LATHE DESCRIBED, Its various forms and sizes—Watchmakers’ lathes—Bench lathes —Iron beds of various forms—Back-gearing—Slow motion— Screw-cutting motion—The lathe best suited for general pure poses—The framework, bed, and fly-wheel—Mandrel headstock —Back-centre headstock—The hand-rest and collar-plate— Resting a Dafloa itis ietrt tector ge eae eae eet eee CHAPTER III. HAND TURNING. First principles of the art, commencing to practise—Wood tumn- ing, the gouge and the chisel—The mode of their application to the cylinder and surface—Easily made objects for beginners —Making a plain wooden box—Metal turning, the graver and triangular tool, and their use—Finishing tools, round-nose tool, &Vili CONTENTS. CHAPTER Iv. SCREW-CUTTING BY HAND. Originating a thread—The method of cutting the thread in lathe-chuck minutely described 2 5 6 2 6 CHAPTER V. BORING AND DRILLING. Drills, their correct form and uses—How to grind them—Half- round bits—Pin-drills—Bars with movable cutters—Rose cutters and rose bits—Lubrication necessary in boring » CHAPTER VI. MOUNTING WORK FOR TURNING. ‘Work between centres—Method of centring—Necessity of pro- perly preparing the centres—Chucking objects of various forms—False centres—The collar-plate—Chucking on the face-chuck . . » 2 6 © © © eo «+ CHAPTER VII. FITTING CHUCKS TO THE LATHE-NOSE. ‘Minute details of the process—Various threads used for lathe- noses—Making taps, &c., for fitting chucks—How the thread should be formed—A truly cut thread necessary on the nose CHAPTER VIII. VARIOUS USEFUL CHUCKS DESCRIBED. The point-chuck—The prong-chuck—Different forms of drill- chucks—Taperscrew-chucks—Face-chucks—Cup-chucks with three and four screws—Die-chucks with single pairs and movable dies—The four-jaw face-chuck . . . . PAGE Striking the thread with outside and inside comb-screw tools— 45 SI 70 88CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. SLIDE-RESTS. Their advantages, various forms—Fitting up slide-rests, ornamental and plain—Tool-holders—Self-acting slide-rests—The lead- ing screws and material for nuts—The bearings of the screws —Height of a rest—Adjusting slide-rests—Spherical rests. CHAPTER X. SLIDE-REST TOOLS, Angles suited for various materials—Usefal tools for general pur- ranked tools, knife tools, parting tools, spring tools —Tools for inside turning, correct height and adjustment Ineeamany a eee a eee e Pee atesHHeSeC ieee tt HEE CHAPTER XI. SLIDE-REST CUTTER-BARS. Advantages over solid tools—Some of those of most general appli- cation described—The graver used in the slide-rest—Straight- forward tool, parting tool, internal tool—Saving effected by the use ofcutter-bars . 9. 1 ee ee CHAPTER XII. OVERHEAD GEARING, Fixed and portable—Single bands and compound geari.g—Fixed bars—Swinging bars—Revolving shafting—Screw-cutting by band-gearing—Shape of grooves forthe bands... CHAPTER XIII. DIVIDING APPARATUS. Its object and use—Dividing the lathe pulley—Numbers most use~ fal for dividing purposes—Originating and making a division plate—Drilling the holes—Index pegs of various kinds PAGE 117 128 137 147x CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. THE DRILLING SPINDLE, Its use and how to make—Making the mandrel—Making the collars, grinding the bearings—Lead grinders—Fitting the collars, - grinding the cones—Hardening and tempering—Putting to- gether. 2 6 6 eel le lle 16 CHAPTER XV. VERTICAL CUTTER-FRAME, Its use and construction—Circular cutters for wheel teeth—Cutters for general purposes—Fly-cutters—Making the frame and [+ ? BesteueasSesueee Getees saiaiy suse Waisteaieie sueiter HieeeiCaaieiciel¢ | 3 CHAPTER XVI. SCREW-CUTTING BY SELF-ACTING MOTION. ‘Theoretical principles—Wheels usually supplied—Preparing a table of rates that can be cut—Screw-threads, how described —Rules for calculating change-wheels—Examples proving the calculation—Multiple threads =... w. I8T CHAPTER XVII. THE SCREW-CUTTING LATHE, Self-acting sliding motion—Leading screws—How driven—Clasp- nuts—Forms of threads for leading screws—Right and left handed leading screws—Whitworth’s arrangement of clasp- nut—Self-acting surfacing motion—Suggestions for convert- ing ordinary lathes for screw-cutting—A clasp-nut arrange- ment easily fitted—How to start the slide-rest correctly for uneven pitches . 2. «© 2 6 «© «© «© « IQFLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 20. —_—— + Section of Back-gear Headstock Drill for Boring Metal : : » Pin-Drill . . . . . . Counter-sunk Centre. . . Centring Metal Rods seta! }. Poppit Centre Point . . . . Making a D-bit Peseta . Tap for Screwing Chucks . . . Point-Chuck . . . . . Section of Point-Chuck . . . Prong-Chuck . . . . . Drill-Chuck with Clamp-Screw . Drill-Chuck with Taper Nozzle . Taper Screw-Chuck . . . . Four-Screw Cup-Chuck . . . Section of Cup-Chuck . . . Section of Die-Chuck . . . Front View of Die-Chuck . . . Various Dies for Die-Chuck . Four-Jaw Face-Chuck . Section of Jaw . . Diagram showing Angles of Tools . Cranked Slide-Rest Tool . PAGE 14 53 57 63 65 66 73 17 89 go gr g2 g2 93 96 96 97 97 100 101 11g iarxii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. no. rage 24. Round-Nosed Slide-Rest Tool . . . . 20 25. Side Cranked Slide-Rest Tool . HHH eet a ER og: 26. Knife-Edge Slide-Rest Tool . aittite Het Reg: 27. Parting Tool for Slide-Rest . . : = 123 28. Spring Tool for Slide-Rest. . . . « 125 29. Inside Turning Slide-Rest Tool. . . «. 125 30. Cutter-Bar for holding Gravers . . . « 130 31. Straightforward Cutter-Bar Fi cate . 131 32. Cutter-Bar for Parting Tools . . . + 132 33. Cutter-Bar for Inside Turning . . . + 134 34. Swing-Bar Overhead Gear . . 7 : « 140 35- Revolving Shafting Overhead Gear . . «143, 36. Template for dividing Band . . «+ 154 37. Temporary Division Peg . HoH tie - 156 38. Enlarged View of Division Peg . . . + 158 39. Knob for Division Peg. . . - 158 40. Section of Adjustable Division Peg . . - 159 41. Drilling-Spindle : . . . . . r6r 42. Top of Vertical Cutter-Frame . . . . 175 43. Front of Vertical Cutter-Frame . . . «© 176 44. Locking-Nut for Cutter-Spindle . oe ew 378 45- Hooked Tommy . . oe . 178 46. Screw-Collar for Cutter-Spindle . i: : - 179 47. Whitworth’s Clasp-Nut Arrangement . . + 197 48. Side View of Clasp-Nut . .« . . - 202 49. Front View of Clasp-Nut Plate . atti. - 202 50. Top of Clasp-Nut . . . . . * 203 51. Cam-Plate for Clasp-Nut . oo. © 203 eae eee eeLATHE-WORK. — CHAPTER I. THE ART OF TURNING. Its importance and antiquity— Primitive methods of turning—The potter's wheel—Early forms of the lathe—Its development— Lathes on standards—Fly-wheels—Literature of the art— Modern lathes. OF all the mechanical arts none can claim a more important place than that of turning, and the practice of this branch of mechanical manipulation is capable of developing the highest skill and intelligence of the artificer. The lathe, which has been dubbed the father of mechanism, has claimed the close attention of statesmen and philosophers ; even monarchs have sought recreation in the practice of turning. Skilled artisans, who depend largely on the lathe for the production of their work, enjoy to an extent a superipr position in their sphere of life, whether they be engaged in fashioning the rough wares made on the Ppotter’s wheel, or the highest and most refined specimens gf turnery, which are probably to be found in the B2 LATHE-WORK. finest grades of chronometric art. We disregard those extraordinary productions of skill and taste which come from the hands of the amateur turner, who uses for the production of a fragile gewgaw tools and appliances that only affluence can afford. The date of the origin of turning is lost in anti- quity. Probably long before historians began to write, thelathe—in a primitive form—was known and used, the potter’s wheel being, perhaps, the primogenitor. The savage'’s process of kindling fire by twirling a stick against another piece of wood gives the motion now used for the alternating drill, and for small lathes driven with a drill bow; how this motion developed into the continuous one of the potter's wheel we can but surmise. The sym- metrical cylinder is to be found throughout nature, and art in its desire to reproduce the admirable form has developed the turning lathe. The Bible affords a distinct reference to the potter’s wheel; we read that about five hundred years before the Christian era Jeremiah went down to the potter’s house, “and behold he was doing a work on the wheel, making a vessel of clay with his hands.” ‘The use of the lathe, however, dates long prior to this, and the manufacture of pottery ware is frequently spoken of in sacred history. Amongst the relics of antiquity unearthed from the buried Egyptian cities are numerous specimens bearing unmistakable evidence of having been wrought in the lathe. The lathe used by the Orientals for generationsPRIMITIVE LATHES. 3 consisted of two short posts driven into the ground ; a nail driven through each formed the centres on which the work revolved, actuated by a drill-bow. The work was thus only a few inches from the ground, and the operator in his accustomary posi- tion—squatting on the ground—was able to use his toes in assisting the application of the tools. The Orientals use the toes as deftly as they do the fingers in many of their handicrafts. At the Paris Exhibition of 1867 a group of aborigines were working in this manner with the lathe just de- scribed, displaying considerable skill in using these primitive appliances, and producing work of intricate and elaborate patterns, chiefly ornamental. Lathes of this primitive form it would appear are employed at the present time by the native turners of India. The skill of the Hindoos in the mechani- cal arts and in the delicate fashioning of ivory and metal is universally appreciated, and that they should succeed so well with such rude tools is a proof of their natural aptitude. The turner of India carries on his vocation in the style of our itinerant tinker; he carries all his tools, lathe included, about with him, and when he gets a job establishes himself near the door of his employer's house. Assisted by his boy, the turner fixes up his lathe, consisting of two posts driven into the ground, as described previously. The work is mounted between the centres, a rope is passed twice round it, and the boy, by pulling each end of the rope alternately, gives motion to the work, the workman4 LATHE-WORK. guiding the edge of his tool with his toes only, the handle being held by the hands at some distance from the work, both man and boy invariably squatting on the ground, as is the national custom. Many nations in all parts of the globe employ a lathe somewhat resembling, but still an improve- ment on, the one just mentioned. This lathe has a frame so that it is complete in itself, yet it has to be fixed to the ground for use; it consists of two cross pieces held together by a tie-bar on which they slide, and may be wedged as required. The cross pieces have iron spikes fitted to them to form centres, the work is put between these, and they are fixed by wedging on the tie-bar. The lathe is laid on the ground and secured by means of a few spikes, a straight bar of wood is laid across the cross pieces as near as convenient to the work, and forms a rest for the turning tools. This form of lathe is still largely used in Spain, Egypt, and other places; the pattern can be traced back to the Moors, who introduced the lathe to Spain. The Spaniards in migrating took with them the lathe and the art of turning, and thus in those parts of the American continent that Spain has populated the lathe is found made as last de- scribed. The continuous motion of the fly-wheel, which had been employed by the potter from the earliest times, was not used in the lathes of the ancients, who only had the alternating revolutionary motion derived from the bow. When introduced into theEARLY LITERATURE. 5 workshops of the Western nations, the lathe was modified to suit their customs, and whilst the Orientals kept their turning appliances low, to suit their habitual squatting position, Europeans mounted the same contrivance on a framework to bring it to a convenient height to work at when standing. This altered arrangement allowed the bow worked by hand to be replaced by a flexible pole fixed overhead, from which a cord descended, and after passing round the work it joined a treadle, which was worked by the foot; then both hands were at liberty to manipulate the tools. A picture published in a German book in the year 1568 shows a turner working a sphere in a lathe; a quantity of turned objects are lying on the bench and about the workshop. This illustration seems to be the first record of the lathe mounted on standards, and we see by it that the pole lathe was in use at that date. In books of about the same period different kinds of lathes are mentioned, but the cord up to this time appears to have been used round the work itself, which always had to run between centres. It is difficult to decide precisely when the independent mandrel came into use. The first book devoted to the art of the turner was published at Lyons in 1701 ; it was written by Plumier, and probably did much for the art by placing before its votaries a record of the condition that it was thenin. That there was a demand for this ponderous book appears evident from the fact of a second edition having been published in Paris6 LATHE-WORK. forty-eight years afterwards ; in the interim nothing was done to enrich the literature of the turner. Bergeron’s valuable book, consisting of three volumes lavishly illustrated, and containing a vast deal of information, valuable even at the present day, was next published in 1792, nearly a century after Plumier’s first edition. Bergeron himself was a manufacturer of lathes and other tools used by turners, and probably in writing his book he was partially influenced by commercial considerations outside of the book itself. However, some of the information there given is equally applicable to tools now used in some cases in improved forms. The improvements made in many appliances con- nected with turnery since Bergeron’s time, however, place his book at a disadvantage, some of the arrangements admirably sketched by him being now obsolete. Soon after this other Frenchmen wrote books on turning, the most notable being those of MM. Pauline Desormeaux and Dessables. Holtzapffel’s treatise on mechanical manipula- tion, which was intended to be comprised in six volumes, the first of which appeared in 1847, is the most important work on the lathe in the English language, and its valueis universally acknowledged. Three volumes only were published during the life- timeof the author, and it was thought that the remain- ing three would never be issued. The fourth volume has, however, recently appeared as a posthumous work, and the other two may yet see light. The price of this work places it beyond the reach of theMODERN LATHES. 7 majority of mechanics, a circumstance much to be regretted. The modern lathe in its various forms, from the tiny tool used by the watchmaker, worked with a slip of whalebone for a bow and a horsehair for a “cord, on which he fashions with a graver pivots of correct proportion and precise form on axes that are themselves sometimes less than one-hundredth of an inch in diameter and weigh but a grain, to the leviathan machine, itself weighing sometimes up- wards of 60 tons, and large enough to take in work of 20 to 30 feet in diameter, and double that length, is, therefore, the result of continuous im- provements, from at least the time of Jeremiah, nearly 2,500 years ago. The employment of cast. iron as a constructive material for lathes at once gave a great impetus to machinery of all kinds. The planing machine used for iron, itself an outgrowth of the lathe, did for flat surfaces what had already been done on cylindrical work, and it is to the judicious use of the lathe and the application of its modified func- tions that the present degree of accuracy has been attained in the manufacture of every grade of machineryCHAPTER II. THE FOOT LATHE DESCRIBED. Its various forms and sizes—Watchmaker’s lathes—Bench fathes— Tron beds of various forms—Back-gearing—Slow motion—Screw- cutting motion—The lathe best suited for general purposes—The framework, bed, and fiy-wheel—Mandrel headstock—Back-centre headstock—The hana-rest and collar-plate—Testing a lathe. THE foot lathe is the tool to which we confine our- selves throughout this treatise, as it is by far the most generally adopted, though in factories where heavy work is done and steam power available the foot lathe generally is superseded by a similar tool driven by steam. The ordinary form of foot lathe is too well known to need minute description. Speaking roughly, it may be said to consist of a bed, supported at a convenient distance from the ground, carrying the headstocks. Beneath the bed a fly-wheel is fixed to revolve freely, and to the cranked axis of this wheel a treadle is attached. The motive power consists of the muscular force of the leg applied to the treadle each time that this falls on the revolution ot the fly-wheel, the weight of this wheel being sufficient to cause it to revolve by its own momentum during the time when power cannot be applied through the treadle. ASIZES OF LATHES. 9 band from the fiy-wheel to the mandrel conveys the motion, and in this simple contrivance are the elements of a foot lathe. The size of a lathe is described by the height of its centres—that is, the distance from the centre of the mandrel to the top of the bed. In other words, the height of centre is just half the diameter of the largest circle that will revolve in the lathe, thus the face-plate is usually a safe guide to the size of alathe. The length of bed has much to do with the bulk, and to a certain extent with the capa- bilities of a lathe; for, though increasing the length of bed does not increase the capacity of a given lathe so far as diameter is concerned, yet the length of work which may be wrought on it is increased usually by about the amount of the added length. The length of bed decides the length of material that.can be turned, whilst the height of centre governs the diameter; thus, a lathe on which discs of 40 inches diameter can be turned with ease is often incapable of receiving a cylinder of even 6 inches in length, and the lathes used for turning shafting, perhaps 40 feet long, are commonly not more than 6 inch centre. Lathes over 6 inch centre are seldom driven by foot power, the exertion being too great for one man who has also to manipulate the tools. From a commercial point of view it is found to be more economical to employ steam power rather than an assistant to help tread the lathe. This latter expedient is a common practice in small10 LATHE-WORK. workshops where mechanical power is not avail- able. The heavier lathes of 6 inch centre are also generally driven by steam, but some very light ones used by wood turners are driven by the foot, even though they are 7 or 8 inch centre. The hand-driven fly-wheel is generally used as the source of motion by those wood turners who do not employ steam power. The smallest lathé is that used by watchmakers ; motion is given to the work by means of a bow, the lathe is held in the jaws of the bench vice when in use. The clockmakers’ throw ts rather larger; it is driven by a hand-wheel, and has always dead centres; a small pulley on the left headstock, having a projecting pin to catch the tail of a carrier, being used to drive the work. The smallest of foot lathes has generally a bar-bed, of triangular sec- tion, and may be from 2 to 3 inch centre, and is in general arrangement similar to the throw, except that it has a revolving mandrel driven by a foot- wheel, and consequently some modifications are essential. Bench lathe, or table lathe, is the name given to all those which, complete in themselves, fix on any bench that may be convenient. Lathes upto 4 inch centre having beds up to 3 feet in length are usually mounted on small standards about 3 or 4 inches high, and by these they may be screwed down to any bench. The fly-wheel for driving these lathes will have to be fixed beneath quite inde- pendently of the lathe bed and headstocks. BedsLATHE BEDS. Ir of any sectional shape may be used for bench lathes, but the triangular bar is most in favour for small ones and is a most suitable form of bed. The triangle is placed with one angle upper- most, the two upper sides are wrought quite true and straight, the whole of the headstocks and fittings are adjusted to these sides, the lower face being that on which all the clamping screws take their bearings. Small screw-cutting lathes have sometimes a triangular bed cast with a groove “ along the lower surface, in which the leading screw lies protected from any falling dust and shavings made in turning. A peculiarity about triangular bar lathes is that the mandrel headstock is invari- ably made of two distinct pieces, one taking the tail-pin and the other the collar, each fixed inde- pendently on the bed. Though able to withstand considerable downward pressure, the triangular bar cannot resist torsion so well as the usual form of bed. : Lathes of 4 inch centre and upwards have gene- rally a cast-iron bed, the top surface of which is planed to take the headstocks, &c. The most usual forms of fitting are the Y and flat and the double flat. _ In the former the \-shaped bearer is the surface which guides the movable fittings when shifted along the bed, and in the latter the con- tinuity of the line of centres is insured by having parallel tenons on the bottom of each piece, fitting without shake along the inner edges of the bed. Occasionally the outer edges are planed true; the12 LATHE-WORK. side shake of the headstocks, &c., is prevented by strips screwed to their base and fitting the outer edges of the bed. This latter plan may offer some advantage in being easier to fit, but is not nearly so accurate as that of fitting the tenon to the inner sides. Some beds have a break or gap near the fast headstock, allowing large discs to be turned, but this is not desirable for ordinary use. The beds of lathes of this size are usually bolted to iron standards which carry the centre points on which the crank revolves, and also those on which the treadle oscillates. To prevent spreading at the base a stretcher-bar connects the standards at the back, and in some cases the front feet are similarly braced by means of a flat bar of iron lying close to the ground so as to be out of the way of the feet and the foot-board of the treadle. Back gear is an arrangement of wheel-work by which a very slow motion is imparted to the man- drel; it usually consists of a wheel and pinion on the mandrel and a wheel and pinion on a shaft revolving parallel with the mandrel. Instead of fixing the pulley on the mandrel it is allowed to run loose with its front edge close to a toothed wheel which is keyed to the mandrel; a nut pre- vents the pulley getting away from this wheel. A pinion is fixed to the small end of the pulley on the mandrel, gearing into a wheel fixed to an axis, which also carries a pinion gearing into the wheel fixed to the mandrel. Thus on turning the pulley motion is conveyed to the mandrel through theBACK-GEARED HEADSTOCKS. 13 wheel-work, and by this means the speed is usually reduced to one-ninth; nine revolutions of the pulley produce but one turn of the mandrel. For ordinary purposes the back shaft is thrown out of gear; the pulley is then attached to the wheel, keyed to the mandrel, by means of a sliding bolt. The illustration, Fig. 1, shows a horizontal sec- tion of 2 back-geared headstock. The mandrel runs in double bearings, and its tail-end is pro- longed to form a stud, on which change-wheels for screw-cutting purposes are placed. Referring to the mandrel, and commencing at the right-hand end, first comes the nose, on which chucks are screwed, immediately behind it the shoulder, and then a conical part, forming the front bearing. Against a shoulder the wheel keyed to the man- drel is shown; the pulley and pinion solid with it revolving loose, except when attached to the wheel by the bolt arrangement. Behind the pulley is a nut, shown in section, and a washer, made of hard steel, fitted tightly to the mandrel. This washer, bearing against the collar in the casting, takes the back thrust in boring and such operations. That part of the mandrel passing through the collar is coned to form the back bearing; a washer comes next this, being secured by a nut, as shown. The end-shake of the mandrel is regulated by the adjustment of the nuts on each side of the back collar. The stud forming the tail-end has a key fixed to it, shown white in the illustration. The back spindle is a plain steel arbor carrying14 LATHE-WORK. a wheel and pinion securely fixed together, and tight on the spindle. In the position shown in Fig. 1 the wheel and pinion are out of gear with those on the mandrel. A peg put into the hole in the casting (see left-hand end) prevents the back Fig. 1.—Plan Section of Back-gear, Double Bearing, Screw-cutting Mandrel Headstock. spindle shifting and getting into gear. When it is desired to put the wheels in gear the peg is withdrawn, the spindle moved towards the left till the right side groove is under the hole. The peg is then replaced to keep the spindle in its new position. The mandrel-wheel and pulley are atOBJECTS OF BACK-GEAR. 15 the same time disconnected to allow the gearing to act. Though back-gearing is undoubtedly a very valuable auxiliary to a lathe on which much heavy metal turning is done, yet for most purposes an arrangement of slow-motion bands will suffice. By this means the constant noise and jarring accompanying the use of wheel-gearing is done away with. Much smoother work is produced by having a strong gut band from a small pulley on the crank shaft to a large one on the mandrel. When these two pulleys are of equal size it is possible to turn up a cast-iron face-plate of the full diameter that the lathe will take, and by putting a pulley of half the diameter on the crank- shaft such a job could be accomplished with toler- able ease. Such heavy work is, however, usually done by steam-power, and all the power that can be judiciously got out of a foot lathe is usually obtainable with simple slow-motion bands. The slide-rest is an attachment of so much im- portance that an entire chapter is devoted to the description of its varieties and merits. The chief object of this—all that need here be mentioned— is to form a perfectly rigid tool-holder, which, hold- ing the tool mechanically, does not allow the ine- qualities of the work to exert so much influence as is unavoidable in hand turning; moreover, guid- ing the tool mechanically, it does so with a precision unattainable in hand-work. Screw-cutting lathes are those which, by an16 LATHE-WORK. arrangement of wheels receiving motion from the mandrel and conveying it to the leading screw, move the slide-rest along the lathe bed at a uniform rate, so that a tool fixed in the rest will cut a regular spiral on the surface of a cylinder revolving between the centres. By arranging the wheels which transmit the motion from the man- drel to the screw in relative proportions, the rate or pitch of the thread cut on the work may be coarse or fine to any degree within the com- pass of the wheels available; these are called change-wheels, twenty-two usually constituting the set. The leading screw itself revolves, in bearings attached to the bed, sometimes inside but gene- rally on the near side of the bed; the end to- wards the mandrel projects and is made to take the change-wheels. A slotted arm called the wheel- plate, swinging round the screw, carries one or more studs on which the change-wheels also fit, the piece of mandrel projecting at the tail-end being similarly shaped; and thus a wheel on the leading screw, another on the stud, and another on the mandrel make a combination producing an effect proportionate to their relative diameters. The slide-rest is fitted with a clutch gearing into the leading screw and forming a nut, which may be detached instantly. A screw-cutting lathe not only enables one to cut threads of any rate and diameter perfectly true, but it is also available for working as a self-acting machine when turning cylinders,FIVE-INCH CENTRE LATHE. 17 the rate of screw then being cut amounting to nothing more than a regular feed. It is unnecessary, in this treatise, to speak of the more uncommon modifications of lathes, which fit them for special purposes and are not of general interest. The next consideration will be, What is a suitable lathe for general use? Probably the requirements of each individual reader will have certain peculiarities which it is quite impossible to take into consideration when treating of the subject in a general manner. For small work in metal a heavy 4-inch centre lathe will be useful, whilst for working in wood a light 6-inch would be more appropriate. Brass work requires quick speeds, which are best maintained with a light lathe; but heavy iron and steel work is wrought at a slow speed on a heavy substantial tool. The exertion required to drive a 6-inch lathe will be much more than that necessary for a smaller lathe of similar calibre, and thus it is but a waste of energy to employ a lathe unnecessarily large. For general purposes a 5-inch centre lathe will be found most handy, the height of centre allowing a wide range in diameter. Then, if the mandrel is moderately light, without back-gear it will be strong enough to take the heaviest work that can be done on a 4-inch lathe, with the advantage of offering facilities for turning wood and light material of much larger size. The bed may be 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet long, allowing lengths of 2 feet to 2 feet c18 LATHE-WORK. 6 inches between the centre points. The con- venience of the longer bed consists principally in having the poppit headstock or slide-rest out of the way when either of these is pushed to the end. With short beds it is sometimes necessary to remove the slide-rest or poppit in order to get at the work conveniently, and this is some trouble. A heavy bed, bolted to substantial standards, is most desirable ; the bed fora 5-inch should measure about 4 inches in width and depth; if a double flat the central space may be about 1} inch wide, leaving each flat a trifle wider. A 4-feet bed should weigh at least one cwt. The fly-wheel of such a lathe should have series of grooves in steps correspond- ing with those of the mandrel pulley, so that the band may be shifted to any grooves on a series, and fit taut without any readjustment of length; there - should be two series of grooves, for each a special length of band being necessary. The extreme diameter of the wheel may be 24 to 26 inches, with a series of three or four grooves graduated from the largest possible size. The second series would be about half that diameter, and have but two grooves ; in cases where the suggestion before made of having a small pulley for slow motion is adopted this may be from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Fly- wheels are generally too light; } of a cwt. is not any too heavy for one 24 inches in diameter. The crank shaft should be 1} inch diameter, and if 4 feet long, two cranks are advisable, as they sup- port a long treadle better than a single crank,MANDREL HEADSTOCKS. 19 which is, however, quite enough forone 3 feet 6 inches long. The ends should always be plugged with hardened steel, and drilled up properly before being countersunk ; the end should then be turned down conically to meet the edge of the countersink, so that when in position and running the oil applied to lubricate will not be thrown away from the centres by centrifugal force. This is an important point, though constantly neglected by lathe-makers. By observing a crank-shaft with flat ends it will be seen that the oil, applied to the centre, quickly spreads over the face and runs away from the bear- ing—when the crank is still, by gravity, and when revolving, by centrifugal force. The wheel is usually fixed to the shaft by keying, though sometimes it is secured against a shoulder on the shaft by means of a nut. The points on which the axis revolves should be so adjusted that though the bearing is quite free there is no shake whatever, and the position of these points must be such that the crank shaft runs parallel with the lathe bed. The wheel itself must be fixed perfectly true, and in a vertical line under the mandrel pulley. The headstock of a plain lathe, in which the man- drel runs—called the mandrel headstock, or fast headstock, to distinguish it from the movable or poppit headstock, which takes the back centre— should have a deep tenon cast on the bottom, to make the casting rigid; the upper side should be hollowed out to allow freedom fora large pulley, which for a 5-inch lathe may be 8} inches in dia-20 LATHE-WORK. meter. The length of the mandrel adds much to the steadiness in turning, provided always that only the smallest possible amount projects from the collar at the nose end. A mandrel, 8 inches long, is a good proportion, and would be spaced thus: the thread of the nose, $ inch long, cut with a £ inch Whitworth thread ; cone for front bearing, 1 inch long, the diameter being about 14 inch, tapering about 1°; plain part, 1} inch long, 13 dia- meter ; pulley, 2} inch ; washer, nut, and plain part behind pulley 2 inches, with a small part 2 inch long, terminating in acone point. The headstock for such * amandrel would be 10 inches long at the base, with a portion of the boss which holds the tail-pin projecting about } inch to the rear, the total length of the hole in which the tail-pin fits being fully 2 inches; the tail-pin should be cylindrical, per- fectly true, and fit the hole tightly, being held by a nut on each end. Tail-pins, which are themselves screwed through the casting and fixed with a lock nut should be invariably avoided, as with such the countersunk hole, bored in the centre, is sure to be eccentric when turned in the thread, and thus the axial line of the mandrel would be continually altered. That the headstock casting fits the bed properly is most essential; in many cases it will be found that the casting gets bent on the holding- down bolt being screwed tight, thus throwing the boring of the collar-hole and the tail-pin hole out of continuity. A direct pull by one bolt, near the centre, so often bends the casting that it isFOPPIT HEADSTOCKS. 21 advisable to hold it down by two bolts, one near each end. The back centre headstock should alwaysbe bored out quite parallel and in a direct line with the axis of the mandrel, the barrel being cylindrical, with a groove along it in which a T-headed cylindrical pin dropped into a hole in the casting, fits and prevents the barrel rotating. The screw which actuates the barrel is usually made with a left-handed thread, for convenience in turning, but whether left or right handed is perfectly immaterial, except for the con- venience. For turning the screw a hand wheel or a winch handle is used; the former is more con- venient for boring with, and the latter offers the advantage of not being so much in the way. An arrangement for clamping the barrel at any desired place always forms part of the poppit head, and ifa screw acting direct on to the cylinder is used, a disc of brass or other soft metal should be interposed to save the barrel from being dented. The point of the poppit cylinder is always removable; sometimes it is fitted by screwing into the barrel; but another and far better plan is to fit it in conically. The cone fitting is as tight as any—in fact some lathes have conical noses, on which the chucks fit by simply pressing on, and they then jamb. A cone fitting to the back centre offers great facility for shifting the point, an operation which sometimes has to be done constantly. The screw inside the poppit barrel should be sufficiently long to allow the tail end of the point to be made long enough to touch when the22 LATHE-WORK. barrel is drawn back, and thus the point is forced out by simply winding back the cylinder. Several points should be fitted to the back centre, and some pieces with flat ends for boring against ; these are, however, spoken of in another chapter. The dia- meter of the barrel may be an inch, the cylindrical part of the casting into which it fits being about 13 inch in diameter. The barrel is bored out from the front end large enough to clear the thread of the screw by which it is moved, to within half an inch or so of the back end; this part is tapped to fit the screw. The lateral motion of the screw is confined by having a collar on it, which on one side bears against a loose washer resting against the end of the casting, and on the other against the cap screwed on to the casting. The handle on the end of the screw should not confine its lateral motion, and it is often merely pushed on a square or hexa- gonal fitting, though sometimes secured by a key or a nut. The hand or T-rest needs but little comment; the socket should be bored at right angles to the sole, which should be planed with a dovetailed slot. If the lathe bed is double flat the sole of the hand- rest stands direct on it; if a Y-bed it should have a cast-iron foundation plate, shaped to fit the bed on the under side and flat on the top. The screw which clamps the T should have a handle like that of a bench vice fitted to it, as it so often requires to be shifted to suit the work in hand. A “per- manent tommy” is also desirable in the screwHAND-RESTS. 23 which clamps the back centre barrel, as it is so much more handy to be able to fix these parts without the trouble of finding the “tommy” on each occasion. The T itself for general use may be about 2 inches long on the top and should be flat and level ; in use “it will be continually pitted, and must be filed up smooth again. For turning long cylinders by hand a much longer T is used, measuring as much as § or 6inches. For still longer rods it is customary to use a straight bar as a rest, which is supported near its ends in two T socket-holders; by this plan a rest, reaching the entire length of the bed between the centres, can easily be fitted up. In turning work of short length the T-rest is sometimes found to be in the way, and a “]-rest is used instead; this is made of an angle piece, one leg fitted to the rest socket, and the other filed flat on that surface form- ing the top. The “]-rest is often used with the point towards the work, thus giving a rest of about 2 of an inch in length, very convenient for short work. T and ‘J rests are usually made of cast iron, but wrought iron is sometimes used, and this is the better material, especially for the latter shape. A collar-plate is an arrangement in general use for supporting the ends of rods whilst these are being bored up; it consists of a disc of cast iron having several holes bored near its edge. These holes are very much coned and are graduated in size; in use the largest side is put towards the mandrel, and the bar being turned revolves in the24 LATHE-WORK. conical hole as ina collar. The plate is fixed by its centre by means of a bolt clamping it against a dwarf casting. The work before being put in the collar-plate has its end turned true, and the extreme edge rounded off to prevent its cutting the plate, a drop of oil being applied to lubricate the bearing. The axial continuity of the work is preserved by placing the back centre against it before finally adjusting and fixing the collar-plate, which is screwed tight at such a position that the work turns freely without shake. On removing the poppit head the centre of the end of the bar may be operated upon as required; it may be bored up with a drill and the hole then enlarged and made true with a tool in the slide-rest, or otherwise treated. The chief essential requisites of a good lathe are that the bed should be sufficiently strong to be quite rigid, and that the headstocks fit it properly at all parts of its length; this latter may be tested by trying them. A bed “in winding” is an abomi- nation, though sometimes to be met with, being the result of careless chucking in the planing machine; through bad bolting to the standards a bed is sometimes thrown “in winding.” For this defect test with winding strips, which are perfectly parallel straight edges, by. placing them trans- versely across the bed at various places, and notic- ing that the top edges of both are level. Theentire framework of the under part of the lathe should be strong and firmly braced together standing on four - feet, each touching the floor, so that solidity isAXIAL CONTINUITY. 25 imparted to the whole structure. The treadle should be as low as possible, just to be clear of the floor when at its lowest point, rising to about 9 or 10 inches. A narrow strip of wood nailed to the floor just in front of the foot-board of the treadle will serve as a guard to prevent the toes from getting underneath. That the entire line of centres should be perfectly parallel with the bed is always desirable, and in many cases absolutely essential for producing true work. The two ends of the mandrel should be exactly equidistant from the bed, as should be both ends of the poppit cylinder. The effect of having the axis of rotation of the mandrel at an angle with the bed is not shown when turning between centres, though the carrier and the pin of the driver-chuck will be continually rubbing against each other to an extent proportionate to the error in the line of centres. The mandrel may be differently distanced from the bed at one end than at the other, without affecting the work between centres, though when chucked without any back support the free end of the work will be more or less above, below, or on one side of the back centre point, as work unsupported will naturally take the position of an axial continuity of the mandrel itself. In order to test the truth of the axis of rotation with the lathe bed itself, the positions of the mandrel bearings must be gauged. The paral- lelism of these bearings with the top and inside of26 LATHE-WORK. the bed will be shown by fixing, in a chuck, a bar of metal as long as possible, to allow the back centre to stand on the bed with the point clear. This bar of metal must be centred whilst running in the lathe, and its centre will, if the mandrel is parallel with the bed, coincide with the point ot the poppit; the bar must be strong enough to bear its own weight without drooping at the unsupported end, or the test will show false. Another method of testing the whole of the holes in the headstocks is by putting the mandrel head to the right of the poppit, and reversing the barrel so that it protrudes at its right-hand end ; then if the point of the poppit comes exactly opposite the tail-pin of the mandrel, or its centre if in double bearings, the continuity of the axial line of centres is proved to be in a straight line with the bed. Another good plan, perhaps the better, is to fit a hard wood mandrel in the bearings, leaving at each end, projecting a few inches from the casting, a cylindrical portion of exactly the same diameter. Make a template or gauge of sheet metal to show the distance of these portions from the bed, and gauge carefully at both ends; any error will be at once felt, as the sense of touch is marvellously keen. This is proved by the ease with which minute differences, that cannot be detected by the eye, are discovered by the feel in callipering. Unless a good light is on the object it is difficult to see minute errors. A perfect fit of the mandrel bearings may beLATHE-NOSE. 27 proved by screwing the tail-pin as tight as possible, so that the mandrel may be turned by hand, and if there are no places where the fit is easier than at others you may consider it accurate, providing that there is no side shake whatever. The mandrel must always be kept up to its bearing by the tail- pin, and never allowed torun loose, or the bearings will be worn unequally. The flange of the nose, against which the chucks screw, ought to be quite flat and perfectly true, so should the thread of the nose, though it is rather the exception to find that it is so. Some makers turn a groove in the mandrel at the back of the thread, reducing the diameter to that at the bottom of the thread, though with what reason is not easily conceivable. The effect is to very materially weaken the mandrel at that part which is, under the most favourable circumstances, its weakest place. The bearing of the mandrel should be of steel and very hard, and the face against which the chucks jamb should also be of steel—in fact, a continuation of the bearing, the usual plan being to shrink a steel collar on a mandrel of fagoted iron. If the boring of the poppit headstock is anything but absolutely true with the line of centres, the position of the back centre point, relative to the axial continuity of the mandrel, will be constantly varying as the poppit barrel is wound out. The truth of this boring can be tested to a certain extent by winding out the point as far as possible without allowing the barrel to become loose in the28 LATHE-WORK. hole, and then testing it with a point-chuck. The oppositeness of the points cannot be tested by contact with any degree of accuracy. The best plan is to use a narrow parallel straight edge and adjust the cones to that distance apart which just allows the straight edge to go between them, with its opposite edges resting against the opposite sides of the cones. The straight edge is applied on both sides, above and below, and readily shows the oppositeness of the points. The poppit may be gauged in the same way as described for testing the mandrel bearing with a wooden temporary mandrel; using the barrel, which must fit nicely, projecting at both ends of the casting.CHAPTER III. HAND TURNING. First principles of the art, commencing to practise—Wood tuming, the gouge and the chisel—The mode of their application to the cylinder and surface—Easily made objects for beginners— Making a plain wooden box—Metal turning, the graver and tri- angular tool, and their use—Finishing tools, round nose tools, &c. WHEN commencing to practise the art of turning it is advisable to begin by using simple tools and appliances, and with them to execute work of the most rudimentary kind, so that the learner may become properly acquainted with the elements of lathe-work, and he will then be able to understand the execution of the more complicated work. It sometimes happens that a fine collection of tools comes into the hands of one who has never had any previous practice in their use, but who will nevertheless boldly essay to use the most compli- cated machinery before troubling to learn the prin- ciples that govern its application, and which are only to be studied in using the simpler tools. A person unacquainted with the conditions under which a hand-tool acts most favourably, only to be learned by practice, cannot correctly judge the best position in which to fix a tool in the slide-rest; and30 LATHE-WORK. the art of turning, like all others, to be learned properly must be begun at the beginning. The first lesson in turning should, therefore, be at a plain foot lathe with back-centre and T-rest only, all the apparatus and attachments which have been described as adapted for special purposes being removed entirely, for though the slide-rest may be very useful to assist a beginner in roughing-down the work, yet it would be most injudicious to make use of such an apparatus before acquiring a thorough mastership over hand-tools. A plain parallel cylinder is, perhaps, the very best object for a beginner to try his hand at pro- ducing, for its simple form dispenses with all com- plex manipulation of the tools; yet the produc- tion of a true cylinder can only be achieved after much practice, and such work demands more skill than would be at first sight imagined. Any slight slip of the tool causing its point to dig into the work would, of course, spoil a cylinder nearly finished to a definite size; but for practice such a mishap would be of no consequence, only necessi- tating the reduction of the entire cylinder to the size of its smallest diameter. For wood turning the gouge and chisel are the tools most generally used, and they will be sufficient for our work; a similar cylinder of metal would be turned with a graver. Soft wood will do for material, though hard wood is more pleasant to work, and will not require driving at a high speed, which is tiring to the tyro. A chuck will be wanted to carry theTURNING SOFT WOOD. 31 work, and the prong-chuck, described in another chapter, is best suited to the purpose; and we will suppose the rough wood mounted between such a chuck and the back-centre, which is screwed up to take firm bearing and the extreme point oiled. For soft wood turning, place the band on the pair of grooves giving the quickest motion—that is, from the largest on the fly-wheel to the smallest on the mandrel—and in revolving the work it will be scarcely possible to drive it too quick. The hand-rest is then adjusted so that the top edge of the T is on a level with the lathe-centres, and the work revolves just clear of it. The position for standing at the lathe whilst turning a cylinder is with the shoulders fairly parallel with the lathe- bed, the body upright, resting on one foot, the other being on the foot-board of the treadle, the operator using either leg to support him, and occasionally changing from one foot to the other as he becomes tired; the foot on the ground is placed as far towards the lathe as the treadle-board will allow. With a balanced fly-wheel, that is, one weighted so that the crank always stands, when at rest, slightly ‘inclined forward from its highest point, the treadle will be in the position to receive the pres- sure of the foot. Under ordinary circumstances the lathe-band is pulled down from the mandrel or the fly-wheel is revolved by the left hand, so as to bring the crank into the position described, and’ then pressure is exerted on the treadle, and the work revolves. Two or three strokes are given to32 LATHE-WORK. get up the momentum before the tool is applied to the work. The turner’s gouge is used for roughing out wood-work, and a turner should provide himself with several sizes, according to the work he has to execute. For general use a gouge half-an-inch or so wide will be found most serviceable; the tool is sharp- ened differently to the carpenter’s gouge, so as to leave the cutting edge rounded off instead of square with the shaft of the tool, as in the carpenter's gouge. The grinding is all done from the outside of the semicircle, and forms one continuous bevel, leaving an acute angle for the cutting edge. Gouges should be fitted into long handles to enable the operator to have complete control over the tool when in use. A half-inch gouge may be a foot or so long from end to end of tool and handle com- bined; larger sizes are much longer, frequently measuring as much as 2 feet, and sometimes even more. The gouge is grasped firmly near the cutting end by the left hand, the knuckles being uppermost, and is laid on the rest with its curved side downwards; the right hand holds the end of the handle, and usually rests against the side of the body, to afford greater steadiness. Thus held, the edge of the gouge is gradually brought sufficiently near the revolving cylinder to touch it in the posi- tion known as at a tangent to the circle, that is, so that a line drawnin continuation of the ground bevel willtouch but not cut into the cylinder. In this posi- tion the tool will not cut, but on raising the end ofUSING THE GOUGE. 33 the handle with the right hand the edge of the tool is depressed, and becomes in the position of a tangent to a smaller circle, then all the material outside of that diameter will be shaved off by the tool. The pressure on the edge during the process tends to force the tool deeper into the work, and, therefore, the end held in the right hand must be kept down till the work has been reduced all round to the new diameter, when the gouge will again cease to cut. A slight elevation of the handle will again throw the edge into the cylinder, and so on till enough has been removed from the work. Though the elevation of the handle has been described as an intermittant process, yet in practice it is, of course, a continuous one, for it is by rais- ing the handle that the tool is fed into the work, the thickness of the shaving being regulated by the feed thus given. If the theory which governs the cutting of the gouge is properly understood it will be easy to carry out the principle in practice, and thus rapidly acquire proficiency in the use of the tool. By means of the gouge the rough wood is turned to a circular form, all the angles are re- moved, and the work made as straight as possible. A pair of callipers is used to measure or gauge the size from end to end, and those parts found to exceed the general diameter are reduced, so that the surface will be fairly straight. There will, how- ever, yet remain a series of ridges resulting from the use of the circular-pointed gouge, and these are D34 ‘LATHR-WORK. shaved off by the use of a chisel applied in a similar way. The turner’s chisel is a flat tool similar to the carpenter’s paring chisel, but ground very differ- ently. It is bevelled equally from each side, leav- ing the cutting edge in the centre of the thickness, at an oblique angle with the sides of the shaft, instead of square across, as in the carpenter's chisel, the angles being usually about 70° and 110°. The chisel is held in the same manner as the gouge, with the lower corner of the obtuse angle edge placed on the rest. The chisel is tilted up sufficiently to bring the central part of the cutting edge against the work, leaving both corners free, for should the entire width of the cutting edge be brought to bear on the work the tool will dig in. With the edge lying obliquely against the cylinder the chisel may be slid along the rest with the bottom edge leading, and the cut taken from either end, accord- ing to which of the two corners of the tool is laid on the rest. The principles which govern the gouge apply equally to the chisel, and by a proper amount of tilt a shaving of any desired thickness may be removed; the shavings may be so thin as to produce a barely perceptible difference in the diameter of the work. When the ridges left by the gouge have been entirely obliterated the diameter of the cylinder is tested by callipering, and any irregularity can be smoothed off with the chisel. Capital practice for a beginner will be to take a shaving from end to end of a parallel cylinder, stillWORK FOR BEGINNERS. 35 leaving it perfectly parallel after the shaving is removed. This is not difficult when the manipu- lation.of the tool is quite under control; the thick- ness of the shaving will be the best guide, and this may be regulated to the greatest nicety by adjust- ing the height of the tool handle held in the right hand. : The directions here given for using the gouge and chisel on a plain cylinder are equally appli- cable for turning cones, which are similarly formed with these tools. For turning the surface of wood chucked plank- ways the same tools are used, the T-rest being placed round to lie parallel with the face of the work, and the gouge held in a more horizontal position than when applied to the cylinder. The chisel is used with its broad surface resting flat on the top of the T, the whole breadth of the cut- ting edge against the work, but held so that the corner on the side towards which the tool is ad- vanced barely touches ; the action of the chisel being scraping rather than cutting, though shav- ings are produced. It is curious that beginners at turning are often at a loss to find an object on which to practise, so that descriptions of a few that can be easily made will be suggestive of others. Ordinary round rulers, varying from 6 inches to 2 feet in length, and from 4 inch to 1} inch in diameter, are of very simple form. By following the directions just given on the use of the gouge36 LATHE-WORK. and chisel it will be easy to turn rulers, and so gain experience. A roller on which to hang a jack-towel and a rolling-pin are usually to be found in every household, and capital practice will be afforded in turning exact copies of such things. Cricketers’ stumps and bales, tool handles, trenchers, and numerous other common articles are made on the lathe. The production of these will afford variety to the practice and enlarge the range of work without very severely taxing the skill, yet always adding to the capacity of the workman. It is well to remember that an adept at turning such simple objects will find it easy to proceed to the execution of the most complicated work. A plain wooden box affords considerable practice in the use of hand-turning tools, and the method of making one is this :—Having decided on the size of the proposed box, select a piece of wood, almost any kind will do, but preferably use that which has a close even grain. See that the ends are cut tolerably square, and mark a circle on each to serve as a guide for’roughing out the circumference as nearly round as possible, first with a hatchet, and afterwards with a rasp. The length of the wood must be :—the height of the box, the height of the rim on which the cover shuts, the height of the cover itself, enough space to allow the parting-tool to be used twice—that is, where the lid is separated from the body of the box, and where the box is cut from the superfluous piece in the chuck—and enough to chuck the wood by. All these measurements addedMAKING A WOODEN BOX. 37 together show the length of wood required to make the box. It is important to measure the rough block to see that there is sufficient material, as it will be a great saving of labour if the complete box, lid, and body are turned from one instead of from several pieces of material. The roughly-shaped cylindrical block has now to be chucked firmly on the lathe, it may be fixed in acup-chuck if one of convenient size is to be found ; or a boxwood chuck may be hollowed out, to a depth of about a quarter of an inch, sufficiently large in diameter to allow the wood to be driven in firmly by a few smart blows of a mallet. That end which is cut most nearly square with the cylin- drical sides should be chosen for driving into the chuck. It should not be made to bottom, that is, the block should be driven into the chuck to touch all the way round. When properly chucked the end of the wood is first operated upon with the gouge and turned true; the tool is held as described in the early part of this chapter, working from the circumference towards the centre. When turned true, the chisel is used to smooth the sur- face and make it flat; the cylindrical surface of the cylinder is turned true in the manner pre- viously described for such work, and the rough block is thus got to a truly cylindrical form, parallel and square at the end. So far the work has been only preparatory. The first operation in making the box itself is to shape the lid. On the circumference of the cylinder38 LATHE-WORK. mark a ring showing the depth of the intended lid— this may be done with the angle of the chisel— then hollow out the front to the required depth, to leave sufficient thickness of material at the top of the lid; a side tool will do this part of the work most easily. The rim of the lid for the box should be slightly undercut in both directions; a very little will suffice, so that it will fit closer on to the box. With a wood-parting tool the lid is cut off from the rest of the wood; the tool should cut only a narrow groove, and the direction of this must be carefully maintained so that the thickness of the lid will be equal and sufficient for due strength. Tolerable truth will suffice, as the top of the lid will be finally finished later on when it is snapped on the body part, and the top will then face the back centre. In parting off the wood the groove must be kept wide enough to allow the tool to be free of the sides. When getting near the centre extra care is necessary to guard against the tool catch- ing in and tearing off the lid, in which case the probable result would be that the breakage would spoil the lid. The wood now left in the chuck is to form the body of the box; it is first hollowed out to form the interior, the same tool and the same general principles as were employed in turning out the inside of the lid being applicable, the precise height having first been marked on the outside. Before removing the entire inside of the box, the neck part on which the lid fixes must be turned to fitMAKING A WOODEN BOX. 39 and the lid snapped on tightly. In turning down the neck, when it nearly approaches the required size, it is advisable to frequently try the lid on it, other- wise too much material may be removed and the job spoilt. With experience, however, it becomes easy to fit without trying the sizes more than once. There should not be the slightest play or shake in the fitting, the rim should be quite true cylin- drically and the shoulder equally true flatways, so that when the lid is put on and gently forced to its place the join should be absolutely imperceptible but for the appearance of the grain of the wood. With the lid fitting tightly it can be turned up true with the chisel, comparatively light cuts will only be necessary as the work has already been made true. The cover may be slightly dome-shaped, and the side of the box should be turned with the chisel to make it and the lid perfectly coincident. With the parting tool the box may be now par- tially cut off from the remaining piece of waste wood, but before being entirely detached the ex- terior ought to be finished. The turning chisel, if properly handled, will leave a surface that will be difficult to improve upon, but if any roughness exists it may be smoothed with fine glass-paper. The inside of the box is also finished before the parting tool finally cuts it off; the sides are made straight and the bottom flat and then the box body is cut off, the parting tool being held at a slight angle to the axis of rotation so as to slightly undercut the bottom which will then stand firmly on its edges,40 LATHE-WORK. and requires no further treatment. If it is desired to turn the bottom face, the piece of waste wood can be hollowed out so as to fit the rim on which the lid fits, and chucked by this the bottom may be operated upon as required, leaving it slightly con- cave. Every time that the box or lid is re-chucked it must run as true as it did in its former position, and to re-chuck work perfectly true is one of the first lessons that a turner should study. There are also the fittings of the lid to the box and the box to the chuck, which will be excellent practice. It may be assumed that when a plain box, in common wood, cam be turned out+of hand in every respect well made, the maker has attained sufficient skill in the use of his tools to warrant his under- taking without fear of failure work of far more complicated design and apparently more difficult toexecute. The plain box just described is scarcely a piece of work likely to attract the attention of those who have an extensive assortment of tools and appliances; still the care and attention which must necessarily be bestowed on the various opera- tions incidental to its production afford an amount of practice in the use of hand tools on wood which is considerable and varied, and should be prized accordingly. Turning metal by means of hand tools is a process in every way similar to that just described, modified to suit the nature of the material. It is generally found that an inexperienced hand suc- ceeds better in turning metal than wood; there is,THE GRAVER. 4t however, no more difficulty in working this latter material, and the circumstance named is due to the more obvious effect produced with wood, making it much easier to see the effect of the tools used, but more difficult to guide them. Wood is turned at a far greater speed than is metal, and the material is much softer, so that whilst the tool more easily penetrates the work and “catches in,” this is more liable to be torn than the more tenacious metal revolving at a less-velocity. The same angle is to be preserved in applying the tool to metal, that is, it should form a tangent to the circle being cut, but consequent on the hardness of the material the angles of the cutting edges must be altered to make them stronger; however, the work- man who, by practice on wood, makes himself familiar with the most favourable conditions under which the tool acts, will be best able to apply tools to metal to the greatest advantage. The graver is the most general tool for metal turning. It is a bar of square steel, usually about one-quarter to five-sixteenths of an inch in size, though smaller and larger are used. All the flats are sometimes, but two are always, ground flat and smooth. The end is ground off diagonally, those edges formed by the sides meeting at the point * being used for turning. The angle made by the diagonal diamond-shaped end with the shank varies to suit the material that it is intended to act upon, from 60° to 70° being about the usual limit. The triangular tool is also much used. It is42 LATHE-WORK. generally made from a worn-out triangular file, of the dimensions named as usual for gravers, and is merely ground on the faces to take out all the marks of the file teeth, leaving sharp edges at the angles, all of which are 60°. The end is ground off obliquely, leaving a point at one angle, but the tool is generally used to cut with its side edges; and in this respect it principally differs from the graver, which is used only at the end. With the two tools named most of the rough turning by hand on metal is done. Tools for metal have short handles. In use the left hand generally grasps the T-rest and the tool, the fingers encir- cling the stem of the rest socket and the thumb clasping the tool to the T. The right hand holds the handle as described in holding wood-turning tools; indeed, sometimes both hands are used as there described, only closer together, a natural consequence on the reduced length of the handle and tool itself. A lubricant is used with these tools on wrought iron and steel; this is necessary to keep the edge cool and lubricate the cutting. Water answers the purpose, but soapy water is better, and perhaps quite as good as oil, though much cheaper. Cast iron, brass, and gun-metal are turned dry. The way in which the graver is applied to the work is this :—the tool is laid with one angle on the ‘T-rest, the point being towards the back centre, and the handle at an angle with the line of centres. The lathe being set in motion and the graverTURNING METAL. 43 brought as near as possible to the work, it is firmly indented on the rest, and by bringing the handle towards the right the point is made to cut the work; the operation is assisted by turning the graver slightly over towards the left. This action makes a narrow groove on the work, and when the handle is so far to the right that the tool is dis- engaged, the graver is shifted along the rest to recommence the same process. The work turned by this means will consist of a series of grooves, more or less irregular, but the concentric truth will be correct. In the same way the triangular tool may be used to produce a like result. To further finish the cylinder, after it has been made as straight as can be with the graver, a flat tool is used. This somewhat resembles a carpenter’s chisel ground off square at the end so that no bevel exists. This tool is applied, end on, to the cylinder, and cuts away all the ridges reducing the surface to one level., This flat tool may be from about half-an-inch wide and one- eighth thick up to double these dimensions ; it can be used indifferently with either edge to cut. Cylinders with straight surfaces, whether parallel or coned, are generally finally finished by filing whilst in rapid revolution in the lathe, a fine file being used. To produce an extra smooth surface emery paper wrapped round the file is afterwards applied, and by this means a very high finish can be given to the work. Round-nosed tools, which are made of strips of44 . LATHE-WURK, steel of various widths and thicknesses, having the ends ground off to a semicircular shape, are used for hollowing out the exterior of metal work and turning curvilinear grooves. Tools of a similar construction with the ends shaped to various pat- terns are largely used for turning beadings and mouldings of various kinds. Numerous tools ground to particular forms are employed for special purposes, but of these little need be said hereCHAPTER Iv. SCREW-CUTTING BY HAND. Striking the thread with outside and inside comb-screw tools—Originat- ing a thread—The method of cutting the thread in a lathe chuck minutely described. CUTTING screws by means of comb-screw tools guided by hand is a process only to be learnt after considerable practical experience has been attained in the use of hand tools on the ordinary cylindrical work. The tools themselves are made in pairs, one for use on the external the other on the internal thread; they may be bought at all tool shops where turning tools are sold. One pair is of course only applicable to one particular rate of thread, though it may be cut on any diameter. The same screw tool that cuts a thread of, say, fifty turns to the inch on a screw one-eighth of an inch in diameter is also used if the same rate of thread is required, say 2 inches in diameter as in optical instruments. For holes of very small diameter it is very seldom that comb-screw tools are used, and if under certain sizes it is impossible. Taps are gene- rally used for all inside threads that have a -thoroughfare hole excepting in optical work; the46 LATHE-WORK. workmen in that trade always using comb tools to cut the fine threads. Holes which cannot be tapped, through having a bottom, may be cut with a comb tool, and the process is explained in detail, with special reference to chasing the screw inside a chuck, in the latter part of this chapter. The outside screw tool is very much used for cutting the threads in bolts and all kinds of work that can be mounted in the lathe. Frequently the thread is originated by making a spiral line with the die stock, the work is then transferred to the lathe where the screw is cut out with the comb tool, this cutting faster and better than dies, and being comparatively easy to keep in the spiral originated by the dies. If this is not quite true it is not likely to be improved in the chasing by any but a skilled screw-cutter. After the bulk has been removed by the comb tool the dies are used to finish with To acquire the habit of traversing the tool at a uniform rate a beginner should practise on a cylinder which has a thread already cut on it, such as one partially cut by dies. The way in which the screw thread is originated by hand with the chaser will be easily understood. It is simply necessary to move the chaser along the top of the T-rest exactly the same distance that the teeth are apart whilst the work is turned round once. If the tool and work have been moved at a regular speed the thread will be true; if, however, either motion has been jerky the thread will not be regular but bent or wavy. It will be seen thatHAND SCREW-CUTTING. 47 the rate of the screw and the diameter each govern the result, and though the difficulty of striking the true thread may appear very great, yet after care- ful practice and observation of the result it will be a job that can be done with ease and certainty, The thread, whether outside or in, is always first struck on the corner of the work, and this is rounded. off for the purpose before applying the screw tool. The T-rest, which must have a smooth top, is then placed near to this corner, and having set the lathe going with a regular swinging motion, the comb is brought on to the rest. By a circular motion of the handle, the blade of the tool having acentre of motion on the top of the T, one tooth near the centre is made to cut a spiral line, the depth of which is greatest at its middle and dimi- nishes to nothing at the ends. When once the true helix is struck it is comparatively easy to follow it up, making it deeper and extending it further at each application of the tool. The thread is thus struck at the end first, and gradually deepened and lengthened till it has reached the distance required ; so that during the process of chasing it the thread is always cut deeper at the end, and it is made parallel by giving the final cuts nearer to the back end. The first spiral traced forms a guide, and on repeating the cut the point of a tooth must come in the previously-made groove, or the thread will be damaged and pro- bably spoiled. Those who have cut threads with badly fitting dies have probably had occasion to48 LATHE-WORK. notice the effect of another thread being originated between the true one; this is what happens if the comb tool is not always replaced in the groove first made. The use of the comb-screw tool for inside work is best explained by its application to cutting the thread in lathe chucks, after starting with the tap as described in Chapter VII. ‘When the thread has been started in the hole and the tap taken out, clean the dust out of the hole and put the hand-rest, which must be quite smooth, at least at that part where the screw tool will take its bearing, close against the hole, at such a height as may be convenient for allowing the chaser to cut. This will be with its edge slightly above the centre, as the rake of the teeth is, in bought screw tools, the wrong way, and in consequence of the thickness of the tool it would, if placed at the correct height—z.e. on the line of centres—have the lower points of the teeth in contact with the interior of the hole. If these points were to find their bearing in the spiral groove, the upper cutting edge would not cut at the same spiral line, but a trifle behind it. Thus will be understood the importance of getting the tool to the correct height to let the lower edge escape contact. When all the parts are properly adjusted commence cutting the screw. First get a regular swinging motion to the lathe-treadle; the habit must be acquired of keeping the same regular motion with the foot, independent of the occupationHAND SCREW-CUTTING. 49 of the hand. Hold the comb-screw tool with the right hand firmly gripping the handle, and the left steadying the tool by having the fingers round the socket of the T-rest, the thumb grasping the chaser near the rest and pressing it firmly into the thread. At first it is advisable to let the tool run in along the thread a few times without cutting, thereby to get the rate of motion impressed on the senses, so that the rate of progression of the tool can be maintained by muscular action as well as being guided by the spiral made by the tap. Having got the rate of motion, take very light cuts at first, but always be sure to have the teeth in the original grooves, otherwise, there is every proba- bility of getting a multifold thread. When the comb is placed near the mouth of the hole with about three teeth projecting inside, the left thumb is used to draw it towards the side of the hole. As soon as it is felt to be in the screw groove a heavy pressure is maintained to keep the chaser up to a full cut, till it has run in right to the bottom of the hole. The tool should be held in such a position as to insure parallelism of the teeth, so that the thread will be cut of equal depth throughout its length. The inexperienced hand runs great risk of coming to grief over screw- cutting, but practice will make perfect, and it is only after repeated trials that an amateur can expect to be able to run in a true thread with the chaser. Care must be exercised not to let the tool go in far enough for its point or end to come in E50 LATHE-WORK. contact with the bottom of the hole whilst the teeth are cutting the thread, or damage more or Jess serious according to the rigidity with which the tool is held must inevitably follow. The eye and hand will soon become educated to act in unison, so that when the screw tool has gone in to acertain depth, as indicated to the eye, the muscular power of the thumb is relaxed; the teeth of the chaser are gently drawn out of the thread, and when quite clear the tool is drawn outwards, say half an inch or so, and the operation repeated. This is continued till the thread is nearly to size, and it is finally finished with the full tap. There are several points to be considered in cutting the thread. As to its size, if the chaser is too high up it will cut the thread shallower than it should be. If the tool is not run in parallel, the mouth of the hole will not gauge correctly, and consequently it will be impossible to ascertain the exact size of the thread. These points must be studied and acted upon to the best of one’s judgment, any definite rules being impossible. ‘When the thread has been cut out with the chaser to, as near as can be judged, the proper size, the full-sized tap is inserted and screwed home exactly the same way as was the entry tap, using the back centre to keep it square, and working it right in till it “ bottoms” in the hole.