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What is a lathe?Classification of lathes

Sep. 20, 2019

What is a lathe? 

A lathe is a machine tool that mainly turns a rotating workpiece with a turning tool. On the lathe, drills, reamer, reamer, taps, dies and knurling tools can also be used for machining. Lathes are mainly used for machining shafts, discs, sleeves and other workpieces with a rotating surface. They are the most widely used machine tools in machine building and repair plants.

The ancient lathe was made by hand or foot, rotating the workpiece through a rope, and cutting with a hand held tool. In 1797, the British mechanical inventor Mozley created a modern lathe with a screw drive tool holder. In 1800, an exchange gear was used to change the feed speed and the pitch of the thread being machined. In 1817, another British Roberts used a four-stage pulley and back wheel mechanism to change the spindle speed.

In order to improve the degree of mechanization automation, in 1845, Fitch in the United States invented the turret lathe; in 1848, the United States again showed a return lathe; in 1873, the American Spencer made a single-axis automatic lathe, and soon he made it again. Three-axis automatic lathe; at the beginning of the 20th century, a lathe with a geared transmission driven by a separate motor appeared.

After the First World War, various efficient automatic lathes and specialized lathes developed rapidly due to the needs of the arms, automobiles and other machinery industries. In order to increase the productivity of small batches of workpieces, lathes with hydraulic profiling devices were promoted in the late 1940s, and multi-tool lathes were also developed. In the mid-1950s, program-controlled lathes with perforated cards, latch plates, and dials were developed. CNC technology began to be used in lathes in the 1960s and has grown rapidly since the 1970s.

Lathes are classified into various types depending on the purpose and function.

The general lathe has a wide processing target, and the adjustment range of the spindle rotation speed and the feed amount is large, and the inner and outer surfaces, end faces, and internal and external threads of the workpiece can be processed. This type of lathe is mainly operated by workers and has low production efficiency. It is suitable for single-piece, small batch production and repair workshops.

The turret lathe and the rotary lathe have a turret or a returning tool holder that can hold a plurality of tools. The workpiece can be used in a single clamping process by the worker to perform various processes in turn, which is suitable for batch production.

The automatic lathe can automatically complete the multi-step processing of small and medium-sized workpieces according to a certain program. It can automatically load and unload, and repeatedly process a batch of the same workpiece, which is suitable for mass production and mass production.

Multi-tool semi-automatic lathes are available in single, multi-axis, horizontal and vertical. The layout of the single-axis horizontal type is similar to that of a conventional lathe, but the two sets of tool holders are respectively mounted on the front, rear or up and down of the main shaft for machining discs, rings and shaft-like workpieces, and the productivity is 3 to 5 times higher than that of ordinary lathes.

The profiling lathe can automatically complete the machining cycle of the workpiece according to the shape and size of the sample or sample. It is suitable for small batch and batch production of more complex workpieces, and the productivity is 10 to 15 times higher than that of ordinary lathes. There are multiple tool holders, multi-axis, chuck type, vertical type and so on.

The main axis of the vertical lathe is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and the workpiece is clamped on a horizontal rotary table, and the tool holder moves on the crossbar or the column. It is suitable for machining large, heavy and difficult to install on ordinary lathes. It is generally divided into two categories: single column and double column.

While turning the lathe lathe, the tool holder periodically reciprocates radially, and is used for the forming tooth surface of the forklift milling cutter, the hob, and the like. Usually with a shovel attachment, the small grinding wheel driven by a separate motor shovel the tooth surface.

Special lathes are lathes for the machining of specific surfaces of certain types of workpieces, such as crankshaft lathes, camshaft lathes, wheel lathes, axle lathes, roll lathes and ingot lathes.

The combined lathe is mainly used for turning machining, but with the addition of some special parts and accessories, it can also be processed by boring, milling, drilling, inserting, grinding, etc. It has the characteristics of one machine multi-energyand is suitable for engineering vehicles, ships or mobile. Repair work on the repair station.


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