- Most metal working lathes have similar abilities and parts, though tools, spindles, chucks and carriages often change the way lathes perform and differ. One lathe system could have more than 30 individual parts, each serving its own function to deliver your end product. Obtaining a general knowledge for how certain lathe variations perform will provide you with the best choice in a purchasing decision or when performing metal work projects with a lathe.
Metal working lathe tools, often capable of producing precision dimensional accuracies of one-one-thousandth of an inch, offer you the ability to create highly technical parts from high grade steel and workable metals. Advanced, high quality lathes offer computerized control systems that have built-in programming capabilities, giving you the option of automatic fabrication. Manual control plays a large role in the fabrication of detailed metal parts as well. Fixing broken parts that remain hard to find in stores or from leading manufacturers provides another incentive to use metal working lathe tools; with the capability to produce highly accurate pieces in the smallest sizes, you can even use a lathe to produce replacement screws for eyewear glasses, or replacement parts for circuit boards. - Power hammers contain a simple powered system, either battery or air and hydraulic, that force a hammering device up and down rapidly to bend, shape, shrink, stretch and transform metals such as steel and aluminum.
- Forming mallets are metal working tools, operated by hand, that shape and form metal by striking its surface. Mallets provide different shapes for different finishes and forming abilities; some have long torpedo-like shapes, while others contain a blunt, wide striking head.
- Metal working files allow hobbyists and professionals to incorporate smooth edge work on projects. Much like cosmetic files, the tools work away sharp edges and excess metal.
- Metal workers use torches to weld or stick together pieces of metal for a permanent connection. Filler metal, which come in rods of various types, act as the bonding agent between two pieces.
- The bed of the lathe, also known as a base, supports your project workload and the rest of the lathe construction. You will notice cutouts in the bed, called ways.
- A piece named the carriage moves through the ways, cutting metal with a piece called the tool, which sits in a tool post.
- A chuck holds pieces in place that will get trimmed and cut to produce an end product; another type of chuck holds drills in place that make holes on project pieces.
- You can use a carriage handwheel to move the entire working tools and a compound handwheel to change the angle to better suit the piece being work on. The entire carriage system moves up and down along a long rod called a leadscrew.