Trade: Turning (Workshop Practices)
Lathe Machine
Turning
The main function of a lathe is to remove metal from a piece of work to give it the required
shape and size. This is accomplished by holding the work securely and rigidly on the machine
and then turning it against the cutting tool which will remove metal from the work in the form
of chips. The tool should be harder than the material of the work piece, should be rigidly held
on the machine and should be fed or progressed in a definite way to the work.
Functions of Lathe Parts:
Following are the principal parts of lathe
Bed
Headstock
Tailstock
Carriage
Feed mechanism
Screw cutting mechanism
Bed:
The bed forms the base of the machine. The head stock and the tail stock are located at the
either end of the bed and the carriage rests over the lathe bed and slides on it. The lathe bed
is the main guiding member of the tool for accurate machining work. It should be rigid to
prevent deflection under the cutting pressure and should absorb vibrations. On the top of the
bed there are two sets of guideways, outer guideways for the carriage and inner guideways
for the tailstock.
Headstock:
The headstock is secured permanently at the left hand end of the lathe bed, and it provides
mechanical means of rotating the work at multiple speeds. It comprises a hollow spindle and
the mechanism for driving and altering the spindle speed. In a lathe it is necessary to vary the
speed of the work to suit to different machining conditions. The usual methods to vary the
speed of a lathe spindle are
By belt drive on cone pulley fitted on the headstock spindle
Department of Mechanical Engineering PVPIT Budhgaon 416304 1
Trade: Turning (Workshop Practices)
By all gear drive and
By variable speed motor
Tailstock:
The tailstock is located on the right hand end of the bed. The tailstock has two main uses 1) it
supports the other end of the work when it is machined between the centers and 2) it holds
a tool for performing operations such as drilling, reaming, tapping etc. To accommodate
different lengths of work, the body of the tailstock can be adjusted to the desired position
and clamped by bolts and plates. The upper casting of the tailstock can be moved away by an
adjusting screw to offset the tailstock for taper turning.
Carriage:
The carriage of a lathe has several parts that serve to support, move and control the cutting
tool. It consists of the following parts
Saddle
Cross-slide
Compound slide or rest
Tool post and
Apron
Feed Mechanism:
The movement of the tool relative to the work is termed as “feed” (mm/revolution). When
the tool moves parallel to the lathe axis (movement by carriage) it is termed as longitudinal
feed and when it moves at right angle to the lathe axis (movement by cross slide) is termed
as cross feed. The movement of tool at an angle to lathe axis (movement by compound slide)
is termed as angular feed. The feed mechanism has different units through which the motion
from headstock spindle is transmitted to the carriage.
Screw Cutting Mechanism:
The rotation of the lead screw is used to transverse the tool along the work to produce screw
thread. The half-nut mechanism makes the carriage to engage or disengage with the lead
screw. Closing the half nuts causes the carriage to move a fixed distance for each revolution
of the spindle. The split nut is used only for thread cutting and never for any other operation.
Lathe Operations:
In order to perform different machining operations in a lathe the workpiece is supported and
driven by any one of the following methods
Held between centers and driven by carries and catch plates
Held on a mandrel which is supported between centers and driven by carries and catch
plate
Held and driven by chuck with the other end supported on the tailstock center
Held and driven by a chuck or a face plate or an angle plate
The various operations performed on lathe are
Centering Knurling Drilling
Turning Filing Reaming
Taper turning Polishing Boring
Eccentric turning Grooving Tapping
Chamfering Spinning Undercutting
Thread cutting Spring Winding Parting-Off
Facing Forming Milling and Grinding
Department of Mechanical Engineering PVPIT Budhgaon 416304 2
