What is Lathe Machine?

A lathe machine is a type of machine which is used for shaping and machining of various types of
workpiece. There are different types of lathe machine in use according to the material and size of
workpiece. Traditionally it was only used for metal machining but with the advancement of technology it
is also used for machining of various types of material.The main function of the lathe is to remove the
unwanted material from the workpiece to make it a value added product.The lathes are capable of
producing a lot of shapes and forms with great accuracy in very less time. More importantly, these shapes
come in various sizes and specifications. Here we will discuss the types of lathe Machines that we are
using now.

1. SPEED LATHE/WOOD LATHE

Remember the Baseball bat, wooden bowl?

These are some of the products which can be easily made on wooden lathes or speed lathes. As name
suggest,there is a high speed spindle which can be operate in 3 to 4 varying speeds ,near 1000 to 2100
rpm,by shifting the position of the drive belts on the pulley system.

Yes it is very simple in design because the components like gearbox ,feed rod, leadscrew, carriage, are
not the part of these lathes which make it more simple and easy to operate in any condition. the major
components of these lathes are headstock, tailstock, tool rest, and bed.

unlike other lathes, there is less precision in these lathes since the cutting tool is operated by hand.
so these lathes require good skill and steady hands to provide spick and span contours and smooth curves
accurately on the workpiece.

Operations that can be done on these lathes are wood turning, metal spinning, polishing, centering.

. ENGINE LATHE

Do you want to do operations like turning, drilling, boring, reaming, knurling etc. on a metal? (in
short metal machining)

Then have a glance on this.

It all started during the 19th and 20th century when the Engine lathes were considers as the
‘KING’ of all machines. It was one of the most common machine set up in every blacksmith shop.
The usage of word “engine” is little confusing here. During its early days it was operated on the
steam engines, as steam engines were the major invention and power source during the industrial
revolution, and with the advancement of time it shifted it power source to the motors( concerning
eco-friendly environment).

Due to availability for low and high power operation these are widely used in industries and available in
many sizes which can vary up to 60 feet.

Now come to its major mounting parts like headstock, tailstock, carriage, compound rest, cross slide, lead
screw, feed rod etc. All are mounted on the machine in which headstock and tailstock are mounted in the
longitudinal direction of machine with gear selector, rpm selector, feed selector in the former and barrel in
the later one. More importantly, similar to speed lathe, headstock contain spindle which has a wide range
of speed ratios in the presence of gearbox.
Carriage travels in the longitudinal direction of the bed for the turning operation.

Compound rest and cross slide are mounted on the top of the carriage to provide angular movement and
cross or transverse movement.

Lead screw is used to make threads on the work piece and feed rod is used to give the linear moment to
the carriage in the longitudinal direction of the machine.

3. TOOL–ROOM LATHE:

What if I want make precision tools and products?

Some products like metal die, precision tools, jigs and fixture require more precision and accuracy to
work; in that case tool room lathe machines are used.

Unlike engine lathes, these are much more precise and accurate.

These are also well-known as the standard manufacturing lathes and are used for various operations such
as boring, drilling, turning, reaming, producing screw threads, knurling, taper turning, and sometimes
adapted for the special milling operations with the appropriate fixture.

These have gearbox attached in the headstock which provide wide range of speeds ratios, can vary from a
very low speed to a very high speed, and extended range of thread pitches.

4. CAPSTAN AND TURRET LATHE:

What if someone wants to go for a mass production?

Because mass production produce work piece in large quantities with duplicate products, which by nature
known as interchangeability, reduces error, saves time.
All this can be done by using capstan and turret lathe.

It is essentially a tool for production of work piece in large quantities with duplicate products, which by
nature are usually interchangeable. It is used where sequence of operations are required on the work
piece.

Unlike engine lathe, these machines have hexagonal turret mounted on saddle instead of tailstock on
which multiple tools may be fitted and feed into the work with proper sequence which also reduces the
time to remove work piece from one machine and to hold it on another for various operations such as
turning, drilling, boring, reaming, knurling etc. by manually or automatically alter the tool position which
also reduces the chances of error in alignment and machining process.

For operating these machines not so skilled labors are required. Whatsoever skill is needed of the operator
is the setting of the tools in the turret or capstan head, and after the completion of this task further
operations of these machines are automatic.

The difference between turret and capstan lathe is only that the capstan lathe is somewhat enhanced
version of turret lathe. Unlike turret lathe, hexagonal turret is mounted on the ram and which can move in
the longitudinal direction of the machine. These ram is provided to absorb the vibrations.

5. SPECIAL PURPOSE LATHE:

These lathes are constructed for special product making which cannot be performed on the standard
lathes. As the name suggest, these lathes are used for special purpose such as heavy duty production of
identical parts. Some example of special lathes include Automatic lathes, Crankshaft lathes, Vertical
lathes, Wheel lathes, Multispindle lathes, Production lathes, Bench type jewelers lathes etc.

Wheel lathes
These are very large in size and made for turning solid wheels and tired wheel worn out treads of
locomotive wheels, roadways wheels etc. into a proper required profile by removing spots, shelling,
unwanted shapes.

Bench type jewelers lathes

These are the miniature of standard lathes which are designed for the machining of the small parts with
greater precision. it contain collet type chuck, feed screw, precise manual cross feed etc.. Since the
controls and feeds are calibrated in smaller increment which result in better precision of the work piece.

Automatic lathes

With the advancement of technology there is a transition from manually to semiautomatic to automatic
lathes. These are high speed, heavy duty, mass production lathes in which all the job handling operations
and all the processing operations are done automatically.eg. Single spindle automat, swiss type automatic
lathe, etc.
Crankshaft lathe

It carries all the attachments like taper turning, threading etc. it is used for turning very long parts such as
Turbine, Engine shafts and Crank shafts.

Vertical lathes

These machines are employed for jobs like heavy and dense flywheel, large gear blanks etc.

Vertical lathe machine is similar to the horizontal lathe in which the machine stands up on its ends. Some
industries use this instead of horizontal lathe because sometimes space comes up as a constraint. While
others prefer it for doing turning and boring on large and heavy rotating parts which cannot be otherwise
supported on other lathes.it have a heavy and dense base to the lowermost part which carries a face plate
to grasp the work piece.
6. CNC LATHES:

One of the most prevaliling technology through which and shape and size can be machined into a
desired product.

Computer numeric control (CNC) has been incorporated into variety of new technology and machinery
,in this case known as CNC lathes.It has been quickly replacing some traditional and old lathes since the
advancement in this technology ,which results in top notch accuracy and precision.it can be easily setup
and no skill set is required to operate,though skill is required to programmed the tool path which often
done by CAD or CAM process,then coded files are updated to CNC machine which produce desired path
for which it was programmed to design the product.operator can actually see a visual simulation of how
the machine will works during the production phase.

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Saif Mulla, Engineer (2011-present)

Answered Aug 25, 2019 · Author has 95 answers and 58.1k answer views

Types of Lathe Machine

Following are the Types of Lathe Machine.

1. Speed Lathe Machine

a. Woodworking
b. Polishing
c. Centring
d. Spinning
2. Engine Lathe Machine
a. Belt drive
b. Motor drive
c. Gear heat type
3. Bench Lathe Machine
4. Toolroom Lathe Machine
5. Capstan and Turret Lathe Machine
6. Special purpose lathe
a. T. Lathe
b. Wheel Lathe
7. Automatic Lathe Machine
Speed Lathe

This types of lathe machines are simple in construction. It has a bed, headstock, tailstock and tool post
mounted on the adjustable slide. There is no feed box lead screw or carriage.
The tool is mounted on the adjustable slide and is fed into the work purely by hand control. This
characteristic of the lathe machines has the speed ranges from 1200 to 3600 rpm. The headstock
construction is very simple and has only 2 or 3 spindle speed available.

Engine Lathe

The engine lathe is the most widely using in the lathe machine. These machines are driven by the gear
mechanism or pulley mechanism. The name engine lathe is given because of the earlier lathe were driven
by steam engines.

Engine lathe machine has all the parts similar to that of speed lathe. Such as bed, headstock, and tailstock,
etc. The headstock of an engine lathe is rigid in construction and has got an additional mechanism to get
multiple spindle speeds.

Belt Drive Lathe Machine

A lathe that receives its power from an overhead line shaft is a belt-driven lathe and is equipped with a
speed-cone and one or more back gears to get a wide range of spindle speeds.

Motor-Driven Lathe Machine

A lathe that receives its power from an individual motor integral with the machine is called a motor-
driven lathe.

Geared-head Lathe Machine

A geared-head lathe gets its power from a constant speed motor, and all-speed changes are obtained by
shifting various gears located in the headstock. It has no cone pulley.

Bench lathe

This types of lathe machines are small in size and use for very small precision work. Bench lathe
machines are mounted on the bench. It has all the similar parts of engine lathe and speed lathe. Bench
lathe machine performs almost all the operations of engine lathe and speed lathe its only difference being
in the size.

Toolroom Lathe

Toolroom lathe machine is the same as that of engine lathe but provides a wide range of speed. The
spindle speed range is from very low to a quite high speed up to 2500rpm.
This is equipped beside the other thing, with a chuck, taper turning attachment, draw in collect
attachment, steady and follower rest, pump for coolant, etc. Toolroom Lathe is costlier as compared to the
engine lathe. It is mainly using in grindings, working on the tool, dies gauges and in machining work
where is accuracy is needed.

Capstan Lathe and Turret Lathe

This types of lathe machines are using in production work. These lathe machines are the development of
the engine lathe. These machines provided by hexagonal turret head instead of the tailstock. It also
consists of three tool post.

In these types of lathe machines, multiple tools may be fitted and fed into the work in the proper
sequence. The main advantage is that different operations and parts can produce in very less amount of
time. And also without changing the tool the quantity and quality are high.

Special purpose lathe

As the name implies these types of lathe machines used for the special purpose and for production work.
In this lathe, special operations are performed such as drilling, grinding, reaming, boring, etc.

The special-purpose lathe machines are:

1. Wheel lathe machine

2. Gap bed lathe machine
3. T-lathe machine
4. Duplicating lathe machine
5. Missile lathe machine
read the full article here: Lathe Machine & Types of Lathe Machine [The Complete Guide]