Contents:
9 Fundamental Parts of Lathe Machine
The name of Macpower Industries may not be recognized by common people, but we surely are a popular in the world of manufacturing. The products we have created had probably affected millions of people’s lives. Perhaps not many companies have sold as many lathe machines as we had.
This post reveals what parts we use in our lathe machines. It is written for anybody who wants to gain knowledge about different parts of lathe machines whether he is an engineering student, a production manager, or even a machine shop owner.
After reading this post, you will get all the basic information that you wanted about the parts of the lathe machine. So, without further ado, let’s get started...
Lathe Machine Parts
The following represent the various pillar drill machine parts:
- Legs
- Bed
- Chip Pan
- Headstock
- Spindle
- Tailstock
- Carriage
a) Saddle
b) Cross Slide
c) Compound Rest
d) Tool Post
e) Lock Screw
f) Apron
- Lead Screw
- Feed Rod
Now let’s discuss these parts one by one.
Legs
The legs are the most important part of the lathe machine, it is the foundation. It bears the whole weight of all the parts mounted on the machine. Every leg used in “Turnerlathe - Lathe Machine” is made of high-graded industrial cast iron and there is an interesting reason behind it.
You see, Lathe Machine is not a typical industrial machine, it is a very special kind of machine tool. Every time an operator turns it on to do his job – lots of elements start working in rhythm.
And then he slowly feeds the cutting tool into the workpiece, which causes vibration in the machine… And due to the vibration –– the machine will start moving from its original position. This may increase the chances of an accident.
Also, too much vibration in parts such as motor, spindle, or gears can lead to a breakdown. This may result in financial loss to the machine owner. To avoid all the above problems, we at Turnerlathe use high-grade cast iron because cast iron has a remarkable ability to absorb shock and vibration.
Chip Pan:
Chip pan is thin and wide metal tray mounted above the legs. The main function of the chip pan is to collect hot chips produced during the machining operation.
Bed
The bed is a large horizontal structure mounted above the chip pan. This is the second most important part of the lathe machine. The bed provides necessary strengths, rigidity, and support to the machine.
The rest of the machine parts such as tailstock, chuck, spindle, electric motor, and carriage are fitted on the bed. Just like the legs, the bed is also made from cast iron.
Headstock
The headstock is mounted on the left side of the bed and it drives the spindle. It contains electric motor, gearbox, spindle and some other parts. It has a mechanism for different speeds, feeds and rotations.
You can find various control functions on the headstock such as spindle speed controller and lock for spindle movement.
Spindle
The spindle is fitted to the right side of the headstock. One end of the spindle is connected with the gearbox and the other end is fitted with a workpiece holding device.
Although there are many types of workpieces holding devices are used, but chuck is the most common.
Tailstock
Tail stock is placed on the right side of the bed. You can slide the tailstock left or right side – along the guideways on the bed. It is mainly used to support long sized workpieces, and to hold the cutting tool like a drill bit during the drilling operation.
Carriage
A carriage is mounted on top of the bed, between the headstock and tailstock. The main purpose of the carriage is to hold the cutting tool at desired angle –– and to slide the tool in different directions during the machining operation.
The carriage is made of several parts such as apron, saddle, compound rest, cross slide, tool post, hand wheel and lock screw.
Here’s the brief details of each part:
Saddle:
It as an “H” shaped part – mounted on the top of the lathe-ways. It is the base part of the carriage assembly and provides support to cross-slide, compound rest, and tool post.
By using a big sized hand wheel, you can slide the saddle in left or right direction – across the bed-ways.
Cross Slide:
The cross slide is fitted on top of the saddle, it helps you feed cutting tools into the workpiece. You can control the movement of a cross slide by small hand wheel.
Compound Rest:
Compound rest is mounted on the cross slide, you can use compound rest to hold the cutting tool at the required angle.
Tool Post:
The compound rest has a tool post on top it, where you can hold a variety of cutting tools.
Lock Screw:
You can lock the carriage position by tightening the carriage lock crew.
Apron:
Apron is situated in front of the carriage. It is a control panel made of different mechanism, hand wheels, and levers. It lets you control the movements of carriage, saddle, and cross slide, and other parts mounted on the carriage.
Lead Screw
It is a long shaft that has thread on it and you can use it during the threading operation to move the carriage automatically.
But you can also use it to give the motion for turning, boring, and other such cutting operations – in the lathes has feed rod.
Feed Rod
It is long cylindrical rod; it does not have any thread on its external surface. Feed rod is used to move carriage from the left side to right side and vice versa.
Conclusion
So that covers all of those major parts that are used in any lathe machine. I hope you liked the article.