20 Different Parts of A Lathe Machine and Their Function

A lathe is a machine tool that removes material from the surface of a workpiece placed in the chuck, which holds the workpiece and provides the feed motion through tools or attached machines. It is the most versatile and widely used machine in industries, institutes, etc.

In today’s article, we are going to describe each of the different parts of a lathe and the crucial role they serve. Keep reading!

Parts of a Lathe Machine

There are different parts of the lathe machine:

#1. Headstock.

The headstock is located on the left of the lathe, with its right side containing gears, spindles, chucks, feed controllers, and gear speed control levers.

It is mounted in a fixed position on the inner ways, usually at the left end. Using a chuck, it rotates the work. The headstock can be used to control the speed at which the workpiece is being moved.

• Usage: The headstock is primarily used to hold and rotate the workpiece at different speeds about the material and operation to be performed, which determines how fast or slow the spindle rotates. The tune-up scope impacts the accuracy of the machining process.
• Working Principle: The motor activates and drives the spindle to rotate in the headstock. The chuck mounted on the spindle, which holds the workpiece, rotates with the spindle. Various attachments like chucks, faceplates, or collets can secure the workpiece through the spinning spindle.
• Operation: To have the best results from the headstock, an operator must align the spindle and set the speed correctly. The hardness of the material determines the feed rate, and the headstock speed depends on the cutting operation.

#2. Tailstock.

It is known as a loose headstock and a puppet head. Located on the right side of the headstock of the lathe, it supports the workpiece from the end.

It can be positioned anywhere along the bed, which allows flexibility in alignment with the headstock depending on the length of the workpiece. An optional taper turning attachment could be mounted onto it.

• Usage: The tailstock is primarily used to hold the end of the workpiece to ensure a steady grip when machining. It increases stability, especially under longer machining tasks. It increases the stability of long workpieces and can be outfitted with a drill chuck to bore holes.
• Working Principle: The tailstock can slide along the bed and can be fixed to provide support for the workpiece at its end. For drilling, the tailstock is capable of extending its quill and driving the drill into the workpiece’s material.
• Operation: The tailstock requires repositioning along the bed to the correct paddle alignment with the spindle. The support is then locked firmly in position, and the tailstock can maintain its desired position.

#3. Bed.

Most of the parts of a lathe. Mostly manufactured with cast iron, provides the heavy, rigid frame under which all the main components are positioned. All the parts will be attached to the bed. Comprises the tailstock, headstock, carriage rails, and other parts.

• Usage: The bed will comprise the precise guiding track of the tailstock and the carriage to be able to maintain balance with the spindle’s rotating workpiece.
• Working principle: The bed’s flat surface will be aligned/machined in a meticulous manner such that the respective components which would need to be placed on top of it will do so in an offset garden, so that in all cases of vibrations or shocks the components will remain steady and swap deeply inside the machine cavity.
• Operation: Smooth operation of the lathe requires proper maintenance of the bed. The operator must ensure that the bed is free from chips and debris that can cause misalignment or damage to the lathe parts.

#4. Carriage.

The saddle, apron, compound rest, cross slide, and tool post make up the carriage, which is situated between the tailstock and headstock. It moves on the outer ways and serves the purpose of mounting and moving most of the cutting tools.

• Usage: The carriage cuts the tool and positions it on the rotating workpiece, where it is translated in the required direction. Required operations to be performed on the workpiece include, but are not limited to, turning, facing, and threading.
• Working Principle: The carriage is movable along the bed. Its longitudinal movements can either be done by handwheel or with the aid of lead screws. The cutting tool is mounted on the cross-slide that is part of the carriage, it is positioned above the turning workpiece, and moved sideways. All these actions are performed in synchronization to carve different cuts or shapes on the workpiece.
• Operation: The steps that need to be followed to operate the carriage are as follows. Turn the tool post frame on the lathe to transfer the cutting tool to the holder. Next, position the handwheel to the desired position where accurately defined shapes and cuts will be created when the carriage is moved. Finally, elp the lead screw to move either clockwise or anti clockwise.

#5. Lead screw.

The screw is designed for aligning different threads with a bend. To smooth other refinements to the workpiece, smooth screws take the place of screws.

• Use: The lead screw is works when threading, or when automatic feeding is needed for prolonged cuts.
• Working Principle: The lead screw is controlled by the headstock, and rotates with the spindle. This turns the carriage along the bed, which allows threading and feeding to be done with great precision.
• Operation: After setting the parameters, the operator sets the lead screw into motion and the carriage moves to cut threads with uniform precision along the area of the workpiece.

#6. Chuck.

It allows the mounting of difficult workpieces that are not round, square, or triangular.

#7. Feed rod.

The lead screw is used to move the carriage automatically during threading. Used to connect the feed box and slide box, and transmit the speed and power of the feed box to the slide box, so that the slide box achieves longitudinal linear motion.

#8. Chip Pan.

At the lower section of the lathe, there is a chip pan which collects the excess material from the lathe operation.

#9. Hand Wheel.

It is a wheel that moves these components: cross slide, carriage, tailstock, and others, equipped with a handwheel that is turned manually.

#10. Cooling device.

The main function of the cooling device is to reduce the temperature of the cut section of the workpiece. With a cooling water pump, it removes the slotted fluid in the reservoir and sprinkles it onto the cutting area to wash away the chips.

Cleans the surface to enhance the tool and service life. The tool performs surface finishing operations on the workpiece, which, surface processing in this context, refers to the processing quality of the workpiece.

#11. Legs.

They are the supports holding the entire weight of the machine. The common practice is to make use of cast legs.

Both legs, however, are rigidly bolted to the ground using anchor bolts to dampen the vibration in the machine.

#12. Slide box.

It is the box that houses the control mechanism of the lathe’s feed movement. This is equipped with a device that transforms the rotary motion of the light rod and the lead screw into linear motion of the tool post.

#13. Gearbox.

The gearbox on the headstock provides many speeds with a geometric ratio corresponding to lever positions.

#14. Spindle.

A bar stock can be fed through the headstock and permits shafts to be worked on one end at a time if they are up to two times the length between lathe centers.

#15. Cross Slide.

The cross slide is placed on the carriage and moves in a direction perpendicular to the bed. This movement with the workpiece is important for depth control during cutting operations.

The cross slide enables the cutting tool to be positioned such that accurate depth cuts can be made.

#16. Tool Post.

The cutter is placed in the tool post, which is mounted on the carriage. The Tool post is pivoted at the right angle, which enables doing different types of cutting operations on the mounted workpiece.

A post of a lathe machine, which is movable, enables changing the direction and position of the cutting tool at any angle.

#17. Guideways.

To enable the tailstock and carriage to move accurately on the bed comes in outer or inner ways.

#18. Compound Rest.

The compound rest is positioned on top of the cross slide and enables making angled cuts and relatively fine adjustments of the tools.

It allows for making precise finishing cuts and makes it easy to perform very accurate angular cuts for multidimensional complex machining activities.

#19. Tool Turret.

As with any lathe, turrets allow for sequential operation of the tools, which will change as each part is completed. A turret will differ in size according to the number and dimensions of the cutting tools.

The rotation of the CNC lathe tool turret is done through a program, depending on the commands given to the CNC lathe machine.

#20. Apron.

The apron is the part of the carriage where the control systems are situated. It contains controls like gears, clutches, as well as levers that are used to manipulate the movement of the cross slide and the carriage.

In the case of machining operations, the apron makes it easy for the operator to control and adjust the position and movement of the carriage.

FAQs.