What is a bench lathe?
What is a Bench Lathe?
The simple answer is that it is a lathe that is mounted onto a workbench. To break it down, a lathe is a machine that is used to cut down blocks of material such as wood into a symmetrical shape. It spins the material around so that it can be drilled or sanded and it is capable of many other types of operations. It is used primarily in woodwork, pottery and metalwork shops. There are a wide variety of lathes such as:
- Ornamental turning lathes
- Glass cutting lathes
- Metal spinning lathes
The lathe bench holds the lathe and other peripherals that enable work on large pieces of material. Other pieces that are part of the lathe bench are the spindle and headstock. The spindle moves the material being worked on. The headstock holds the bearings that spin and do the drilling, cutting and sanding. This is almost always located on the left side. Depending on what the lathe bench is used for there may also be additional parts. For instance, those used for metalwork have what is known as a carriage. Those used for woodwork do not need this attachment.
There are different types of lathe benches. Some are actual benches and sit on the ground, while others have no legs. Some are even built to work as storage areas for small tools and accessories which will be used with the lathe.
A lathe bench can be operated manually or electronically. Manually, the machinery is operated by a foot pedal. In more modern workshops, an electric motor is used to do the work. Whatever power source is used, the purpose remains the same.
Lathe benches are used for a number of things such as carving chair legs and wooden bowls.
A bench lathe is a material reduction machine built into a bench or worktable. A lathe takes a solid block of a material and reduces it to create a symmetrical item. Using a bench lathe, you can cut, knurl, drill, or sand material down to create a new object. The lathe is designed to hold the block at two points and spin it while allow the user to reduce the material to the new shape.
