A lathe is a machine tool which is principally used to shape articles of wood or metal or other materials. A work-piece is rotated on its axis by said tool for various operations like sanding, cutting, drilling, knurling etc. for the purpose of creating an object which has balance and beauty of form. There is a variety of sizes and shapes of lathe tools, and their types are largely dependent upon the stock material, the type of desired cuts, and the type of lathe – the metal lathe tooling and wood lathe tooling.

These types of tools both share a common history, however, the biggest difference between the two are how these are held and how they appear. A wood lathe, generally, is a long piece of tool steel with handle at one end. To arrive at a desired profile, hand manipulation is used. This is the tool that you would use if you want to make a bowl or any round item out of wood. A metal lathe tool is a shorter type and generally made from carbide. Usually, it is held in place using a tool post. There are instances, however, when the uses of these tools are interchanged and you can use 2 or 3 types for one specific purpose.

Lathe tooling can also be classified according to function, besides the material of the stock. There are exterior tools and interior tools. Exterior tools are used to cut and form the outside of the stock, while interior tools function by removing the materials from the stock insides. Lathe tools should always be aligned properly and supported rigidly, because otherwise, this may result in a defective work-piece, injury to the lathe operator, or damaged tooling. Some lathe tools cannot be interchanged with one another, because lathes are specifically designed for a particular operation, and for use in particular material. The tools’ inserts can be removable, which provides flexibility to the operator. When inserts are replaced with another, usually it can result with small or minimal changes.

In most cases, is better to consider the function in classifying lathe tools. When a part requires both external and internal threads, both can be generated by a lathe threading tool. The outside tool, as the name implies, is made specifically for external threads. They cut the material from the outside of the stock as it is passed over. The lathe’s rotational speed, the tooling type, and the feed of the tool itself are the factors that govern how fast the materials are removed. Vee grooving tools, facing, turning, parting and undercut are some examples of external tools. The internal tools are used inline, and some examples include taps, boring bars, reamers, and drills.

There is another type of tool, a specialized one, which is a single-function tool for one particular task. Most of the time this specialized tooling is used because of its ability to be used in place of multiple individual tools! It can also create easily a difficult feature on a certain part. Some examples of this specialized tooling are knurling, breaching, burnishing, forming and multi-step boring or drilling tools.
A lathe http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Lathes is machine tool and lathe tools http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Lathes come in different sizes and shapes.