posted November 22, 2007 17:48               

Lathe or Turning Machine:
The term "Engine Lathe" Includes any Lathe that has the ability to cut treads by the use of a differential gearing system, of either the Floor standing or a bench mounted models.

The term "Engine Lathe" has nothing to do with what we consider Engines, but coined in the early "19th" century when what then was called a "screw engine" was combined with a " turning lathe" which did not have the ability to cut various threads with single point cutters.

Now I see from board posts over the years some of the posters either have a lathe or have access to one. These members know how valuable this shop machine can be in the rehab of most any kind of tractor or that of making of special tools.

Your question may be Do I need one? Well yes and no. We all can get along quite well without this machines right! This machine will pay for its own cost in time and money saved very quickly. Then there is the odd small job that may come along that would pay a bit of cash to from a source that you may not expect. So the question should be can I afford not to have one?

With a small home shop Lathe you could make special tools. Form parts that maybe hard to find or not available at all. You can use in the aid of repair or that of constructing other machines needed in your shop. The use of this machine can be endless. If you get a lathe or have the use of one you will just have to ask yourself how did I ever get along without one?

You may be concerned that there is a need of a lot of technical skill or expertise in the use of this machine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing some skill and safety basics is all that is needed for a start. These can be learned from most text books. Now the use can be highly complex even for a simple bench lathe or very simple as in making a pin or bushing. This all will come to you in a learning curve, with practice. If you can drive your tractor or overhaul the engine you can learn to run a lathe.

A machine that would be minimally suitable for a home/farm shop would be at least a 10" swing by 24" inch center distance. {Note: all dimensions will be given in inches as I dont do metrics well.}

Lathe size:
Swing is the American designation of the total diameter that a Lathe can turn over the bedways nearest the Lathe Spindle. ie 10" inch That is between the Carriage Tool post and the spindle.

The English designation of Lathe turning size is the radius of the swing and is measured from the center of the spindle to the nearest bedway that would clear the turning the work piece. That would be 1/2 the measurement of the USA designation, ie a 10" swing USA would be the same as a 5" inch size English lathe designation

Center distance:
This is the other size designation what is the distance between the front of the spindle nose and the front of the tailstock spindle plunger nose fully with drawn with the tail stock set at the maximum distance from the Head stock.

The most desirable size, space permitting, of a lathe for a shop would be the 14" inch with 48" between centers. This is of a commercially viable size and these size machines unfortunately start to run into some real hard cash too. ;((

This Link will show pictures of almost every Lathe and machine that would be suitable to the home shop
http://www.lathes.co.uk/

{ Note more info to follow when I have time and energy to write them ) }

posted November 22, 2007 19:09               

It's very handy to have access to a turning or milling machine. In combination with a welding machine your able to make a lot of parts.
But it is not easy to work on those machines without the knowledge. Certainly turning a threat is difficult and needs a lot of practice, just like welding.
But when you don't do it you will never learn it.
If anyone is interested, on my site you can see how I have reconstructed my lift parts with these machines.