Lathes, in one form or another, have been around since ancient Egyptian times. Back then they were 2-man 'machines' used to make very rudimentary round objects.(As one person spun a piece of wood with the help of a rope the other shaped it with a crude cutting tool.)

These days many modern lathes are highly computerized and automated machines that rapidly produce endless amounts of complex parts from all sorts of materials.

Simple, manual lathes are still very popular for machine shops and the home workshop. These hand operated lathes come in many varieties - the most common being metalworking and woodworking lathes. There are also other varieties for such things as glassworking, metal spinning, reducing, ornamental turning, jewelry and watchmaking.

The basic design of most lathes is the same. Larger lathes have a base stand or legs to achieve the correct operating height, while smaller machines can sit on workbenches. On the bed sits the headstock at the front end (left) and a tailstock on the right side. The headstock houses the variable-powered spindle to which is attached a work-holding mechanism such as a chuck.

An obvious difference between metalworking and woodworking lathes is the setup for tool holding. Metal working lathes use a carriage unit which supports a saddle, apron, cross slide and tool post. A leadscrew is often present too which powers the movement of the cross-slide.

Lathes for wood turning have a horizontal adjustable tool rest. Hand-held woodcutting tools are supported by the tool rest and pressured against the workpiece as it is shaped.

A metal turning lathe can double as a wood lathe and in fact it is not unusual to see someone who works in both metal and wood (as well as plastic) to utilize just the one metal lathe. However, wood turning lathes are not capable of machining metal as they lack the tool holding carriage unit of the metal lathe.

A lathe that has been reasonably well looked after has a long life span. There are many solid performing machines in operation today that date back many decades. I have personally owned a Myford lathe dating back to the 1940's, and it was - and still is - an extremely useful machine.

Because of the long useful life of a good lathe, there is a very impressive selection of used models on the market today. Here are some examples. Click the links for more information:

There are also many amazing deals on new and near-new mini lathes available online today. Check these out:

A few of the most respected and popular producers of quality lathes on the market today are:

* Hardinge lathes
* Jet Metal Working Products
* Summit Machine Tools
* Grizzly
* American Machine Tools
* Sherline Products