byAlma Abell

The Industrial Revolution saws the birth of lathes that no longer relied solely on the power of two men. The two-man lathe was to be replaced by a powerful, new lathe. This was the engine lathe. It was to take a shorter of period of time before the CNC turning machine was to make its way into the industrial tool kit and lexicon. Yet, even then, some styles of lathes are still referred to as an engine lathe.

The Engine Lathe

The engine lathe is horizontally shaped, simply designed machine. It is a tool designed to cut and shape metal. It is a metal-turning machine. Its name is debated as it has been applied to both the product of its turning – an engine – earlier would have been a steam engine, or a reference to the fact that unlike its predecessors, this lathe was powered by an engine. To the proponents of the latter, the opposite of an engine lathe was a foot lathe.

The early engine lathe was a product of the industrial revolution but it did not stand still and be a slave to the steam engine. During the late 19th century and into the mid 20th, the movement was towards running the lathe using electric motors. This was to facilitate the ability to shape items with greater speed and accuracy. Out of this experimentation was to rise other advancements.

Technology and machine tools always seem to work in tandem. The next great advancement was in the invention of CNC technology. It was grafted onto lathes with the result being the CNC turning machine. It was still a lathe since “turning” describes the work traditionally performed on a lathe. Yet, the capabilities and quality of production had shifted with the adaptation of this new technology.

Names For Lathes

Turning machine is one name given to what was once simply referred to as a lathe. There are others that have emerged in conjunction with technological changes or perceived sophistication of the trade and lathe. Among them are:

• Turning Machines – Machines that can turn and drill with equal ease

• Turning Centers – Increased sophisticated combinations and uses of the once simple lathe

• CNC Turning Center – A combination of a sophisticated lathe with an even more sophisticated computer system of running it. It produces a large amount of duplicate turned parts with both accuracy and speed.

Lathes have progressed from a simple engine lathe to a sophisticated CNC turning machine. Over the years, this popular and practical tool has made its way from the blacksmith shop to the busiest hive of industrial production without losing the basic fact that it is – no matter what the nomenclature – still a lathe.