THE CENTRE LATHE

The Centre Lathe is used to manufacture cylindrical shapes from a range  of materials including; steels and plastics. Many of the components that  go together to make an engine work have been manufactured using lathes.  These may be lathes operated directly by people (manual lathes) or  computer controlled lathes (CNC machines) that have been programmed  to carry out a particular task. A basic manual centre lathe is shown below.  This type of lathe is controlled by a person turning the various handles  on the top slide and cross slide in order to make a product / part. The headstock of a centre lathe can be opened, revealing an arrangement of  gears. These gears are sometimes replaced to alter the speed of rotation of  the chuck. The lathe must be switched off before opening,  although the motor should automatically cut off if the door is opened while  the machine is running (a safety feature). The speed of rotation of the chuck is usually set by using the gear levers.  These are usually on top of the headstock or along the front and allow for a  wide range of speeds. However, sometimes the only way to set the lathe to a particular speed is  to change the gear arrangement inside the headstock.  Most machines will have a number of alterative gear wheels for this purpose. GEAR LEVELS,  HEADSTOCK,  CHUCK COOLANT SUPPLY,  TOOL POST,  TOP SLIDE,  LEADSCREW, TAIL STOCK,   MOTOR LEVER, SADDLE,  CROSS SLIDE, FEED SHAFT,  SADDLE HANDLE,  LATHE BED,   EMERGENCY STOP.