Difference between revisions of "Metal Lathe training"

Revision as of 02:34, 26 March 2013

This is reference material for people interested in using our lathe. This material is collected here in order to assist a workshop on using the lathe as well as for people to teach themselves how to use this machine.

Diagram

This is a diagram of the parts of our lathe. Please note that this picture was taken before it was restored to full working condition. See that process here: Atlas_Lathe_Restoration.

Reading Material

For additional material on the subject of running and using a lathe use these links. The MIT guide is a single page with a good overview of lathe parts and operations. The WE Williams site contains complete PDF's of older books on using lathes. I have two expensive classroom books which cover lathe work which I will provide to Bloominglabs members in the near future.

• http://web.mit.edu/2.670/www/Tutorials/Machining/lathe/Description.html
• http://www.americanmachinetools.com/how_to_use_a_lathe.htm - A deeper read on lathes and how to use them
• http://www.wewilliams.net/SBLibrary.htm - Complete PDF's of older lathe manuals, all still relavent information.

Video Tutorials

These are free MIT videos which are a reasonable introduction to using a lathe. They are part of a 10 video series on machine tools, these are the lathe videos from this series. They each are about 45 minutes in length.

• [1] - MIT video 1 for the lathe
• [2] - MIT video 2 for the lathe
• [3] - MIT video 3 for the lathe

• [4] - Youtube search for "Tubalcain" maching videos, many different videos on different aspects of using a lathe.

Tool Grinding

Tool grinding is just as important as knowing how to use the lathe. You literally grind a small bar of high quality tool steel down to the correct shape you need for the cuts you need to make.

• [5] - Tool grinding video from "Tubalcain"
• [6] - Various pages on lathe info including tool grinding