Frequent Traveler
You’ve probably heard about the different classes of lathes. There’s the woodworking lathe, the glassworking lathe, cue lathe, metal spinning lathe, ornamental turning lathe, rotary lathe, watchmaker’s lathe, reducing lathe. Then there’s the metalworking lathe, and its smaller version: mini metal lathe. Mini metal lathes are used to cut, sand, knurl, drill through and deform different types of metals, and its being small is a design choice with the frequent traveler in mind.
Here is a list of technical terms associated with mini lathes:
Dogleg (or dog) – This is an L-shaped adapter. Commonly made of cast iron, the dogleg is used to clamp the work piece against the lathe while applying rotational force to it.
Faceplate – This is a flat metal piece designed to hold the work piece in place. Faceplates are used when working with irregularly-shaped pieces.
Facing – Facing is the process in which the metal is removed from the workpiece to create a perpendicular face or surface.
Halfnut – A nut formed from two halves.
Halfnut lever – This controls the operation of the halfnut on the lathe, and is also used to engage the leadscrew with the carriage for it to move.
Morse taper – The Morse taper is a special tool used to match male and female parts together. Sizes are categorized according to diameter: #0, #1, #2, #3, #4, etc. with the larger sizes represented with higher numbers.
Hundred Revolutions
The mini metal lathe is one of the toughest and most hardworking of all lathes. Can you imagine metal being shaved, cut, knurled and drilled through by nothing more than a wheel spinning at close to a hundred revolutions per second? Metal against metal, teeth against teeth. And to think that it’s a mini lathe, with significantly decreased power and stability, it’s amazing, isn’t it?