This is a much easier problem to solve than any other mechanical geometry a machine tool might use, and thus why lathes are king. This in turn reduces the precision problem to figuring out how to move the tool back and forth while maintaining a well-controlled distance to the work. Two points form a straight line, and by supporting the work this way, we eliminate all sources of “run out” or imprecision in the drive mechanism. So much so that turning “between centers” is still the go-to technique today when maximum precision is needed. This is a clever way to achieve extremely high precision on one axis.
The earliest lathes held the workpiece between two sharp points. This may seem arbitrary, but it most certainly is not. Remember how I said that machine tools cleverly create parts that have greater precision than they themselves do? The lathe is the primary example of that.įirst and foremost, the machine spins the work while the cutting tool remains stationary. With that bit of pedantry out of the way, let’s talk about why lathes are fundamental. Let’s cut to the modern chase now and help some interested folks get into the world of hobby machining, shall we? As we saw last time, the first machine tools were lathes, and that’s also where you should start. In the previous article we went over the history of machine tools. We’re taking trip through the machining world with this series of articles. Gingery, you know that a lathe is instrumental in building itself while you’re still working on it. In fact, if you’ve read the The Metal Lathe by David J. So no, a lathe can’t make itself really, but a lathe and a skilled craftsperson with a hand-scraper sure can. Before you harbor dreams of self-replication, however, know that most of an early lathe would be made by hand scraping the required flat surfaces. In that sense, the lathe is the most “fundamental” machine tool. It’s more accurate to say that there are parts in all machine tools that (arguably) only a lathe can make. While catchy, I think that’s a bit disingenuous. In fact, people love to utter the old saw that the lathe is the only machine tool that can make itself. There are very few things that you can’t make with one. The lathe is known as the King of Machine Tools for a reason.
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