Lathe
Machine
1
History
• Lathe forerunner of all machine tools
• First application was potter's wheel
• Rotated clay and enabled it to be formed
into cylindrical shape
• Very versatile
• Used for turning, tapering, form turning,
screw cutting, facing, drilling, boring,
spinning, grinding and polishing
operations
2
Types of Lathes
• Engine lathe
• Not production lathe, found in school
shops, toolrooms, and job shops
• Primarily for single piece or short runs
• Manually operated
3
Engine Lathe
4
Special Types of Lathes
Turret lathe
• Used when many duplicate parts
required
• Equipped with multisided toolpost (turret)
to which several different cutting tools
mounted
• Employed in given sequence
5
Turret Lathe
6
Special Types of Lathes
• Single- and multiple-spindle automatic
lathes
• Six or eight different operations may be
performed on many parts at the same time
• Will produce parts for as long as required
• Tracer lathes
• Used where a few duplicate parts required
• Hydraulically operated cross-slide controlled
by stylus bearing against round or flat
template
7
Special Types of Lathes
• Conventional/programmable lathe
• Operated as standard lathe or
programmable lathe to automatically repeat
machining operations
• 2-axis (DRO) so can see exact location of
cutting tool and workpiece in X and Z axes
• Computerized numerically controlled
lathes
• Cutting-tool movements controlled by
computer-controlled program to perform
sequence of operations automatically
8
CNC Lathe
9
Lathe Size and Capacity
• Designated by largest work diameter
that can be swung over lathe ways and
generally the maximum distance
between centers
• Manufactured in wide range of sizes
• Most common: 9- to 30- in. swing with
capacity of 16 in. to 12 feet between
centers
• Typical lathe: 13 in. swing, 6 ft long bed,
36 in.
• Average metric lathe: 230-330 mm swing
and bed length of 500 – 3000 mm
10
Lathe Size
11
Lathe Size
12
Lathe Size
13
Lathe Size
14
Parts of the Lathe
Headstock
Tailstock
Quick Bed
Change
Gearbox
Carriage
15
Lathe Bed
• Heavy, rugged casting
• Made to support working parts of lathe
• On top section are machined ways
• Guide and align major parts of lathe
16
Lathe Bed
17
Headstock
• Clamped on left-hand end of bed
• Headstock spindle
• Hollow cylindrical shaft supported by
bearings
• Provides drive through gears to work-holding
devices
• Live center, faceplate, or chuck fitted to
spindle nose to hold and drive work
• Driven by stepped pulley or transmission
gears
• Feed reverse lever
• Reverses rotation of feed rod and lead
screw
18
Headstock
19
Quick-Change Gearbox
• Contains number of different-size
gears
• Provides feed rod and lead-screw with
various speeds for turning and thread-
cutting operations
• Feed rod advances carriage when
automatic feed lever engaged
• Lead screw advances the carriage for
thread-cutting operations when split-nut
lever engaged
20
Quick-Change Gearbox
Top View 21
Carriage
• Used to move cutting tool along lathe
bed
• Consists of three main parts
• Saddle
• H-shaped casting mounted on top of lathe
ways, provides means of mounting cross-slide
and apron
• Cross-slide
• Apron
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Carriage
23
Carriage
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Cross-slide
• Mounted on top of saddle
• Provides manual or automatic cross
movement for cutting tool
• Compound rest (fitted on top of cross-
slide)
• Used to support cutting tool
• Swiveled to any angle for taper-turning
• Has graduated collar that ensure
accurate cutting-tool settings (.001 in.)
(also cross-slide)
25
Cross-slide
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Apron
• Fastened to saddle
• Houses gears and mechanism
required to move carriage or cross-
slide automatically
• Locking-off lever inside apron
prevents engaging split-nut lever and
automatic feed lever at same time
• Apron handwheel turned manually to
move carriage along lathe bed
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Apron
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Automatic Feed Lever
• Engages clutch that provides
automatic feed to carriage
• Feed-change lever can be set for
longitudinal feed or for crossfeed
• In neutral position, permits split-nut lever
to be engaged for thread cutting
• Carriage moved automatically when split-
nut lever engaged
29
Tailstock
• Upper and lower tailstock castings
• Adjusted for taper or parallel turning by
two screws set in base
• Tailstock clamp locks tailstock in any
position along bed of lathe
• Tailstock spindle has internal taper to
receive dead center
• Provides support for right-hand end of work
30
Tailstock
31
Setting Speeds on a Lathe
• Speeds measured in revolutions per
minute
• Changed by stepped pulleys or gear
levers
• Belt-driven lathe
• Various speeds obtained by changing flat
belt and back gear drive
• Geared-head lathe
• Speeds changed by moving speed levers
into proper positions according to r/min
chart fastened to headstock
32
Feed of an Engine Lathe
• Distance carriage will travel in one
revolution of spindle
• Depends on speed of feed rod or lead
screw
• Controlled by change gears in quick-
change gearbox
• Obtains drive from headstock spindle through
end gear train
• Chart mounted on front of quick-change
gearbox indicates various feeds
33
Shear Pins and Slip Clutches
• Prevents damage to feed mechanism
from overload or sudden torque
• Shear pins
• Made of brass
• Found on feed rod, lead screw, and end
gear train
• Spring-loaded slip clutches
• Found only on feed rods
• When feed mechanism overloaded, shear
pin will break or slip clutch will slip causing
feed to stop 34
Shear pin in end gear
train prevents damage
to the gears in case
of an overload
Spring-ball clutch
will slip when too
much strain is
applied to feed rod
35
Lathe Operations :
Lathe tool, Facing, Turning, Knurling
Grooving and Form turning
Learning Objectives
• After completing this unit you will be able to:
• Use the nomenclature of a cutting-tool point.
• Describe the cutting action of different types of
machines.
• Identify the applications of cutting tools in
different operations such as Facing, turning,
Knurling, Grooving etc.
Z
Y
Y
Facing
30
• Workpieces to be machined are generally cut a
little longer than required and then end-faced to
the proper length.
• Facing is an operation of machining the ends of a
workpiece square with its axis.
• Work is often held in a chuck, faced to length.
• The purposes of facing are:
• To provide a true, flat surface, square with the axis
of the work
• To provide an accurate surface from which to take
measurements
• To cut the work to the required length
• Note:
• For facing the tools post is given an angle (30 deg)
with the axis vertical to the axis of WP rotation.
• When facing, finishing cuts should begin at the
center of the workpiece and feed toward the
outside.
Parallel Turning
• Work is generally machined on a lathe for
two reasons:
• to cut it to size and
• to produce a true diameter.
• Many factors determine the amount of
material that can be removed on a lathe at
one time.
• Whenever possible, a diameter should be
cut to size in two cuts: a roughing cut and a
finishing cut
• Note: To remove metal from a cylindrical
piece of work and have the same diameter
at each end, the lathe centers must be in
line. (See Unit 49 for the methods of
aligning centers.) Before either the rough or
finish cutis taken, the cutting tool must be
set accurately for the depth of cut desired.
Filing in a Lathe
• Work should be filed in a lathe only to
• remove a small amount of stock,
• remove burrs, or
• round off sharp corners.
• When larger amounts must be removed, the work
should be machined because excessive filing will
produce work that is out of round and not parallel.
• Filing with the left hand is recommends, so that
the arms and hands can be kept clear of the
revolving chuck or driveplate.
• Always remove the toolbit from the tool-holder
before filing, unless the machining operation
doesnot permit it. In this case, move the carriage
so that the toolbit is as far as possible from the
area being filed.
• Note: Before attempting to file or polish in a lathe,
cover the lathe bed with a piece of paper to
prevent filings from getting into the slides and
causing excessive wear and damage to the lathe.
Cloth is not suitable for this purpose because it
tends to get caught in the revolving work or the
lathe.
Polishing in a Lathe
• After the work surface has
been filed, the finish may
be improved by polishing
with abrasive cloth.
Turning to a Shoulder
• When turning more than one diameter on a piece of
work, the change in diameters, or step, is known as
a shoulder. Three common types of shoulders are
illustrated in Fig above.
Knurling
• Knurling is a process of impressing a diamond-shaped
or straight-line pattern into the surface of the workpiece
• to improve its appearance or
• to provide a better gripping surface.
• Straight knurling is often used to increase the
workpiece diameter when a press fit is required.
• Diamond- and straight-pattern rolls are available in
three styles: fine, medium, and coarse
• The knurling tool is a tool- post-type toolholder on
which a pair of hardened-steel rolls are mounted.
• These rolls may be obtained in diamond and straight-
line patterns and in coarse, medium, and fine pitches.
Some knurling tools are made with the three various
pitched rollers on one holder
• The universal knurling tool
system consists of a dovetailed
shank and as many as seven
interchangeable knurling heads
that can produce a wide range
of knurling patterns. This
tooling system combines
versatility, rigidity, ease of
handling, and simplicity in one
tool
Grooving
• Grooving, commonly called
recessing, undercutting, or
necking, is often done at the end of
a thread to permit full travel of the
nut up to a shoulder or at the edge
of a shoulder to ensure a proper fit
of mating parts.
• Grooves are generally
• square,
• round, or
• V-shaped
• Rounded grooves are usually used
where there is a strain on the part
and where a square corner would
lead to fracturing of the metal at
this point.
Form Turning on a Lathe
• It is often necessary to form
irregular shapes or contours on
a workpiece. Form turning may
be done on a lathe by four
methods:
• Freehand
• Form-turning tool
• Spherical tool
• Hydraulic tracer attachment
Hydraulic Tracer Attachment
Summary
• This unit helps in understanding different cutting
operations which are performed in shaping and
designing any work piece.
• Set up and use knurling tools to produce
diamond shaped or straight patterns on
diameters.
• Machine convex or concave forms on diameters
free hand.
• Use of hydraulic tracer attachment
Questions and Answers?
