LathesLathes are machine tools designed primarily to do turning, facing and boring, Very little turning is done on other types of machine tools, and none can do it with equal facility
Because lathes also can do drilling and reaming, their versatility permits several operations to be done with a single setup of the work piece
Consequently, more lathes of various types are used in manufacturing than any other machine tool
The essential components of a lathe are the bed, headstock assembly, tailstock assembly, and the leads crew and feed rod
The bed is the backbone of a lathe
It usually is made of well normalized or aged gray or nodular cast iron and provides s heavy, rigid frame on which all the other basic components are mounted
Two sets of parallel, longitudinal ways, inner and outer,