3

THE LATHE

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The lathe is one of the oldest machine tools and came into existence from
the early tree lathe which was then a novel device for rotating and
machining a piece of work held between two adjacent trees. A rope wound
round the work with its onè end attached to a flexible branch of a tree and
the other end being pulled by a man caused the job to rotate intermittently.
Hand tools were then used: With its further development a strip of wood
called "lath" was used to support the rope and that is how the machine
came to be known as "lathe". This device continued to develop through
centuries and in the year 1797 Henry Maudslay, an Englishman, designed
the first screw cutting lathe: which is the forerunner of the present day high
speed, heavy duty produciion lathe, a machíne tool which has practically
given shape to our present day civilization by building machines and
industries.

3.2 FUNCTION OF THE LATHIE

The main function of a lathe is to remove metal from a picce of work to
give it the required shape and size. This is accomplishcd by holding the
work securely and rigidly on the machine and then
tool will remove metal
turning
it against cutting
which from the work in the form of
material properly the tool should be harder than the chips. 1o cut
material tne
of thc
workpiece, should be rigidly held on the machine and should be fed or
progressed in a definite way selative to the work.

33 TYPES OF LATHE

Lathes of various designs and constructions have been devcloped to suit thhe
various conditions of metal machining. But all of them employ tne Same
Tundamental principle of operation and perfom the same function.
 THE LATHE 87

86 ELEMENTS OF WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY

The missile lathe, which has a very large swing for accommodating long
modern and latest in
missile component of very large diameter, is the most
lathe design.

Automatic lathe : These are high speed, heavy duty, mass production
the
lathes with complete automatic control. Once the tools are set and
machine is started it performs automatically all the operations to finish the
job. The changing of tools, speeds, and feeds are also done automatically.
After the job is complete, the machine will continue to repeat the cycles
producing identical.parts even without the attention of an operator. An
operator who has to look after five or six automatic lathes at a time will
simpiy iook afterthe generai mainienance of the and
machine ioo,
cuiiing
load up a bar stock and remove finished products from time to time.

3.4 THE SIZE OF A LATHE

The size of a lathe is expressed or specified by the following items and

illustratedin Fig.3.1
1. The height of the centres
measured from the lathe
bed.
The swing diameter over
bed. This is the largest
diameter of work that will
revolve without touching
the bed and is twice the
height of the centre
measured from the bed of
(a) the lathe.

(b
Figure 3.1 Lathe siz2
(a) D. Swing diameter over bcd, D,. Swing diameter over
(b) L. Length betwecn centres carriage.
 38 ELEMENTS OF WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY
THE LATHE
3. The length between centres. This is the maximum length of work 9
that can be mounted between the lathe centres. 3. It must resist the twisting stress set up
4. The swing diameter over carriage. This is the largest diameter of
due to the resultant of two forces- the
work that will revolve over the lathe saddle, and is always less
downward cutting force on the tool
than the swing diameter over bed.
5. The maximum bar diameter. This is the maximum diameter of and the force tending to move the
tool away from the work in a zum
through hole of the headstock spindle.
bar stock that will pass
horizontal direction. This is best done
6. The length of bed. This indicates the approximate floor space
by diagonal ribbing or making box
occupied by the lathe.
section casting shown in Fig33 and
In ordering a lathe it is necessary to ask for certain other important Fig.3.4.
particulas to specify the lathe correctly. These are : wídth of the bed, depth 4. The bed should be seasoned naturally
to avoid distortion or warp that may
Figure 33 Box
of the bed, depth and width of gap if it is-a-gap bed lathe,swing over gap, section lathe bed
spindle nose diameter, centre taper Morae number and range of spindle develop when it is cooled after the
bed is cast. On the top of the bed there are two sets of slides or
speeds, number of feeds, number and range of metric and English threads
that may be cut, pitch valuc of leadsérew, powet input and floor are guideways- outerways and innerways. The outer guideways
required. provide bearing and sliding sufaces for the carriage, and the
innerways for the tailstock. The guiding surfaces are accurately
35 DESCRIPTIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF LATHE PARTSs machined to make them parallel to the lathe axis, absolutely
horizontal, and sufficiently plain. The guiding surface should
illustrates the basic parts of geared hcad lathe. Following the also be resistant to wear. Chilled castings are sometimes used to
Fig.3.2 a are

principal parts: improve wear resisting qualities.

1. Bed. 4. Carriage.
2. Headstock. 5. Feed mechanism.
3. Tailstock. 6. Screw cutting mechanism.

3.6 THE BEDD

The lathe bed foms the base of the machine. The headstock and the Figure 3.4 Lathe bed diagonal ribs
1. Diagonal rib, 2. Bedways.
tailstock are located at either end of the bed and the carriage rests over the
lathe bed and slides on it. The lathe bed being the main guidingmember of
The guideways of the lathe bed may be flat and inverted -V having
the tool, for accurate machining work, must satisfy the following an included angle of 90°. The wide flat guideways providc a large bearing
conditions: surface with corresponding reduction in wear. Obviously the bearing
and
1. t should be sufficiently rigid to prevent deflection unde Surface requires particular care and attention to keep it always clean
smooth. In this of guideways some adjustment of saddle
tremendous cutting pressure transmitted through the tool-post perfectly type
and carriage to the lathe bed. keep-plates is necessary after wear. The inverted V type guidcways,
and
2. It must be massive with sufficient depth and width to absorb although expensive to machine, provide better guide for carriage
wear. The
vibration. tailstock, ensure accurate alignment, and are unaffected by any
it has a
shape of the V is such that the chips automatically fall through. But
the
Small bearing surface which results increase in wear. This also weakens
saddle. Both V and for each of guideways are more commonly
flatways set
 92
THE LATHE 91
lathe sp

the bore. The front end of the hole is appeared for holding
ELEMENTS OF WORKSHoP TECHNOLoGY passed through
90 standard Morse taper shánk. A taper sleeve
centres and other tools having a
of both the types. Fig.3.S
illustratees
fits into the taper hole, and a live centre which supports the work and
used to combine the advantages in the that acts as a bush. There are two
different types of lathe bedways. Many
lathes are made with a gap revolves with the work fits into the sleeve
noses : the threaded design which carries the
extra large diameter pieces. common types of spindle
bed. This gap is uscd to swing
chuck, driving plate and face plate,
and the flanged which enable them
nose
to be directly
attached. The lathe most commonly used has a threaded
spindle nose.

spindle revolves on two large bearings housed on the headstoc

The
The clearance between the spindle and the bearing should be
casting.
minimum to prevent vibration. The bearing may be either bush, ball or
roller type depending on whether it is a high speed, heavyduty or precision
machine. Thrustbearings are provided to take up the endtoatowing io ihe
feeding action of the tool. Provision is made for expansion of the spindle
when it gets heated under high speed metal machining.

Figure 3.5 Types of lathe bedways Speed changing: In a lathe it is necessary to vary the speed of the work to
1. Inverted-V bedway, 2. Flat bedways, 3. Rack,
4. Box section, 5. Flat bedways suit to different machining conditions. These conditions are
for saddle.
should be
The bed material should have high compressive strength,
and
1. The type of material to be cut. Hard and tough materials like cast

wear resistant and absorb

vibration. Cast iron alloyed with nickel iron will require slower speed brass or
than soft materials like
chromium forms a material suitable for lathe bed.
good aluminium.
may be
2. The type of cutting tool material used. The spindle speed
THE HEADSTOCK hard material like tungsten carbide.
3.7 increased while using
desired. The finishing cut requires small depth
at the left hand end
3. The type of finish
The headstock is secured pemanently on the innerways of cut and the work is rotated at a high speed While rough
of the lathe bed, and it provides mechanical means rotating the work at
of is heavy and the work is rotated
hollow spindle and mechanism
tuming the depth of cut
multiple speeds. It comprises essentially a comparatively at a slower speed.
and altering the spindle speed. All parts are housed within
the selection of coolant and
for driving 4. The tpe of cutting fluid used. Proper
the headstock casting lubricant permits high spindle speeds.
2 and condition of the machine. A new and rigid
3 5. The idity
The spindle old and out
machine can work at a speed higher than an wom

of the headstock,
machine.
illustrated in Fig. work of large diamcter
4 6. The diameter of work. The tuming a
3.6, is made of
carbon or nickel-
requires slower spindle speed.
7. The type of operation. Operations, like tuming, boring or drilling
chrome steel. This
require higher spindle speeds than that required în thread cutting8
is usually of a large Figure 3.6 Headstock spindle
diameter 1o resist 1.Threaded end, 2.Taper sleeve, 3. Live centre, tapping or reaming operations.
bending and it 4. Threaded nose, 5. Spindle hole.
should be perfectly As the lathe may have to work under all the abáve conditions,ofittheis
aligned with the lathe axis and accurately machined for producing tnue necessary to provide arrangements for obtaining different speeds
work surface. A hole exiends through the spindle so that a long bar may be
 THE LATHE
99

98 ELEMENTS OF WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY

47 57 67
hcadstock spindle by 8
6. The drive may be isolated from the
on another shaft, and
thus vibration
mounting the driving pulley
of the is reduced to a minimunm.
spindle
1514 127 9
The disadvantages are /2
13 - - 0
1. All -geared lathes are costlier than the belt driven lathes owing 10
to more complicated gear and lever and lever mechanism.
2. Some power is lost due to friction of the gears.
3. In case of overloading the machine, for having no arrangement
to prevent damage io
of bet slipping, thcrc is little possibility
the parts.
Figure 3.9 Tailstock
6. threaded
Spindle, 3. Spindle clampP, 4. Barrel, Bush, Square
5.
1. Dead centre, 2.
Lathe bedways,
38 TAILSTOCK OR LOOSE HEADSTOCK screw, 7. Hand wheel,
8. Split lug, 9, Tailstock clamping bolt, 10.
14. Keyway, 15. Key.
11. Clamping plate, 12. Setoverscrew, 13. Body,
The tailstock is located on the innerways at the right hand end of the bed. are graduated
Other features sometimes incorporated on tailstocks
This has two main uses : (1) it supports the other end of the work when it and micrometer dials on the handwheels for accurate length
is being machined between centres, and (2) it holds a tool for perfomming spindles
and spindle.
operations such as drilling, reaming, tapping, etc. A tailstock is illustrated setting, and felt wiper pads on the base
in Fig3.9.
To accommodate different lengths of work, the body of the tailstock 3.9 CARRIAGE
can be adjusted along the ways chiefly by sliding it to the desired position
The cariage of lathe has several parts that serve to support, move and
a
where it can be clamped by bolts and plates. The upper casting of the body
control tool. It consists of the following parts : (1) saddle, (2)
the cutting
can be moved toward or away from the operator by means, of the adjusting
and (5)
screws to offset the tailstock for taper turning and to realign the tailstock cross-slide, (3) compound slide or compound rest, (4) tool post,
A sectional view of the carriage is shown in Fig3.10.
centre for straight tuming. The body is bored to act as the barrel which apron.
camies the tailstock spindle that moves in and out of the barrel by means of
Saddle: The saddle is an H-shaped casting that fits over the bed and slides
a screw when the tailstock handwheel is turned. The front of the
spindle the It carries the cross slide and tool post. Some means are
has a taper hole into which the dead centre or other tools fit. The screw along ways.
thread is left handed, so that clockwise rotation of the handwheel causes generally provided for locking the saddle to prevent any movement when
the spindle to advance, while anticlockwise rotation causes the spindle to surfacing operations are carried out.
be drawn inward and ultimately the end of the screw strikes the back of the
The cross-slide : The cross-slide comprises a casting. machined on the
dead centre or any tool that is fitted into the hole. To remove tools from the
is underside for attachment to the saddle and carries locations on the upper
spindle, it therefore, only necessary to back up on.the handwheel until
the spindle énd is nearly inside the casting. The spindle has a face for the tool post or compound rest. The cross-piece of the saddle is
key way in mechanized. with a dovetail way, at right angles to the centre axis of the
a small key fitted on the barrel to
the
underside which mates with
rotation. After the adjustment is made, the spindle is clamped in
prevent lathe, which serves to guide the cross-slide itself.
position by
tightening the locking bolt on split lug.
 ELEMENTS OF WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY
84
The types generally used are : THE LATHE 85

1. Speed lathe. of spindle speeds. A lathe that receives its power from an individual motor
3. Bench lathe.
(a) Wood working. ntegral with the machine is called a motor driven lathe. A geared-head
4. Tool room lathe. lathe
(b) Centering. 5. gets îts power from a constant speed motor, and all speed changes
Capstan and Turret lathe. are obtained by shifting various gears located in the headstock. It has no
(c) Polishing. 6. Special purpose cone pulley.
(d) Spinning. (a) Wheel lathe.
2. Engine lathe.
(b) Gap bed lathe. The bench lathe : This is a small lathe usually mounted on a bench. It has
(a) Belt drive. (c) T-lathe. practically all the parts of an engine lathe or speed lathe and it perfoms
(b) Individual motor drive. almost all the operations, its only difference being in the size. This is used
(d) Duplicating lathe.
(c) Gear head lathe. for small and precision
7. Automatic lathe. work
The Speed Lathe: The speed lathe, in construction and operation, is the The tool room lathe A tool room lathe having features similar to an
:
engine lathe is much more accurately built and hasa wide range ofspindle
simplest of all types of lathe. It consists of a bed, a headstock, a tailstock
speeds ranging froma very low to a quite high speed up to 2500 rp.m. This
and a tool-post mounted on an adjustable slide. There is no feed box,
is equipped, besides other things, with a chuck, taper turning attachment,
leadscrew or conventional type of carriage. The tool is mounted on the draw in collet attachment, thread chasing dial, relieving attachment, steady
adjustable slide and is fed into work purely by hand control. This
and follower rest, pump for coolant, etc. This lathe is mainly used for
characteristic of the lathe enables the designer to give high spindle speeds work where
precision work on tools, dies, gauges and in machining
which usually range from 1200 to 3600 r-p.m. As the tool is controlled by an ngine lathe of the
accuracy is needed. The machine is costlier than
hand, the depth of cut and the thickness of chip is very small. same size.
The headstock construction is very simple and only two or three
spindle speeds are available. Light cus and high speeds necessitate the use The capstan and turret lathe: These lathes are development of the
feature
of this type of machine where cutting force is minimum such as in engine lathe and are used for production work. The distinguishing
of this type of lathe is that the tailstock of an engine lathe is replaced by
a
has
woodworking, spinning, centering, polishing, ete. The "speed lathe" tools may be fitted and fed
been so named because of thc.very high speed of the headstock spindle. hexagonal turret, on the face of which multiple
that several different
into the work in proper sequence. The advantage is
done on a workpiece without re-setting of work
Theengine lathe o r centre lathe : This lathe is the
most important types of operations can be
member of the lathe family and is the most widely used. The tem "engine" or tools, and a number of
identical parts can be produced in the minimum
lathes were driven time.
IS associated with the lathe owing to the fact that early
the engine lathe has got all the
by steam engines. Similar to the speed lathe, name implies, they are used for special
tailstock. But the headstock
of an Specialpurpose lathe : As the
Dasic parts, e.g. bed, headstock, and which cannot be accommodated or conveniently
and it contains additional purposes and for jobs
Cngine lathe is much more robust in construction
machined on a standard lathe. The wheel
lathe is made for finishing the
mechanism for driving the lathe spindle at multiple spceds. Unlike the and the tread on railroad car and locomotive wheels. The
both in cross and joumals tuming
tool headstock is
can feed the cutting in which a section of the bed adjacent to the
Pecd lathe, the engine lathereference to the lathe axis with the help of a gap bed lathe,
extra-large diameter pieçes. The T-lathe, a
Ongitudinal direction with engine
recoverable, is used to swing
additional features is intended for machining of rotors for jet
an
leadscrew. With these new member of the lathe family,
dage, feed rod and machine adapted for every type of lathe lathe bed is at right angles to the axis of the
a versatile engines. The axis of the
n a s proved to be headstock spindle is the fom
of.a T. The duplicating lathe is one for
work. the
to the various designs of the shape of a tlat or round template on: to the workpiece.
lathes classified according duplicating
Engine are
to the machine. A
lathe
that Mechanical, air, and hydraulic
devices are all used.to coordinate the
and methods of transmitting power lathe and is
ck over-head line shaft is a
belt-driven movements of the tool to reproduce accurately the shape of the template.
its power from an wide range
vES or more back gears to get a
p p e d with a speed-cone and one