Woodturning and metalworking
Lathes are used in woodworking to produce what are known as turned objects:
- furniture components such as knobs and chair legs
- joinery parts like spindles for staircases
- decorative pieces including bowls, cups, candlesticks and plates
- musical instruments, among them recorders and clarinets
- sports equipment such as snooker cues, and
- parts for industry such as wheel spokes, hubs and tool handles.
Skilled operators using lathes can turn out very sophisticated 3D wooden objects.
Woodturning is a hobby that’s grown enormously in popularity in recent years. Turners use three main kinds of hand-held tool: chisels (similar to regular woodworking chisels), gouges (which have a concave inner surface to the blade) and parting tools (which come to a “v” at the sharp end).
Flat objects, like lids, can be held in place on the headstock alone; longer pieces need to be secured at both ends, in the headstock and tailstock.
The engineering industry uses lathes to machine a huge variety of metal objects in a wide range of materials, from alloys to glass and plastics. Anything from threaded screws and shafts through to tram wheels and pistons for car engines can be turned on a metal lathe. Copy lathes can reproduce complex shapes from a template.
