Used METAL LATHE equipment

A metal lathe usually spins the workpiece along a horizontal axis. A mandrel or chuck is mounted to the headstock of the lathe. A follower block or tail block is mounted to the tailstock.

A bank piece is clamped to the tool and pressure is applied to the blank via a forming tool. Material is cut away on each pass accross the blank. After each pass, the lever arm is moved closer to the final position. Eventually, when the proper amount of material has been removed, the part is completed.

Some lathes can form hollow parts by a process called metal spinning. These parts have circular cross-sections. This process starts with a flat metal blank disk with rotates on a lathe. The rotating blank is pressed agains a mandrel or chuck to form the interior of the workpiece.

Automatic lathes make spinning a low cost option for all sizes of part production. The relatively inexpensive tooling price for spinning still makes this forming method a cost effective one for fabricating prototypes.