ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

Accessories and attachments:v Lathe accessories include centers, catch plates and carriers,
chucks, collets, face plates, mandrels and rests.
v They are either used for holding or for supporting work or
for holding tool.
v Lathe attachments are additional equipment used for
specific purposes.
v They include stops; taper turning, milling, crank turning
attachments, etc.

vLathe center:o The most common method of holding the working a lathe
is between two centers - live and dead.
o These two centers take up the thrust due to metalcutting and the entire load of work piece on small
bearing surface.
o They are made up of very hard material to resist
deflection and wear.

ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

vCarriers and catch plate:o Carriers or driving dogs are attached to the end of the
work piece by a set-screw and catch-plates are either
screwed or bolted to the nose of head-stock spindle.
o A projecting pin from catch-plate or carrier fits into slot
provided in either of them.
o This imparts a positive drive between lathe-spindle and
work piece.

vChuck:o Work piece of short length and large diameter of

irregular shape which cannot be conveniently mounted
between centers are held quickly and firmly in a chuck.
o In a three-jaw universal chuck, all the jaws may be made
to slide simultaneously by an equal amount within the
slots provided on the body by rotating any one of three
pinions which meshes with the teeth.

ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

o In a four-jaw chuck, each and every jaw should be aligned

separately, and should be checked continuously for
wobbling.

o The advantage of a four-jaw chuck is that when the job is

fit perfectly in the chuck, there is no wobbling in it and
the level of finish is high.

vMandrel:o A mandrel is a device for holding and rotating a hollow

piece of work that has been previously drilled or bored.
o The work revolves with mandrel which is mounted
between two centers.
o The mandrel should be free with accurate center holes
for machining outer surface of work piece.

ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

vRests:o It is a mechanical device which supports a long slender

work piece when it is turned between centers or by a
chuck, at some intermediate point to prevent bending of
work piece due to its own weight and vibration setup due
to cutting forces that act on it.
o A rest should always be used when the length is 10-12
times the diameter of work piece.
o Following are the types of rests used:-

Steady rest: The main function of steady rest is to provide

support to a long, slender work piece.
The jaws are properly adjusted radially by rotating
individual screws to accommodate work pieces of
different diameters.
They rest on a spot on the work piece which has
been previously turned, to provide true bearing
surface.

ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

Follower rest: It consists of a like casting having 2 adjustable jaws

which supports the work piece.
The rest is bolted to back end of carriage and moves
with it.
The tool is fed longitudinally by the carriage, the
jaws always follow the tool, giving continuous
support to work piece.
The follower rest prevents the job from springing
away when the cut is made.

vFace plate:o A face plate consists of a circular disc bored out and
threaded to fit the nose of lathe spindle.
o It has radial, plain and T-slots for holding work by bolts
and clamps.
o It is used for holding work pieces which cannot be
conveniently held between centers.

v Saddle:- It is a H shaped casting that fits over bed and

slider along ways.

ACCESSORIES & ATTACHMENTS

LATHE

THEORY

vCross-slide:o It comprises of a casting machined on lower side for

attachment to saddle.
o It has dove tail way at right angle to center axis of lathe
which serves to guide cross-slide itself.

vAngle plate:o It is a cast-iron plate having 2 faces machined to make

them absolutely at right angles to each other.
o Holes and slots are provided on both faces, so that it may
be clamped on a faceplate and can hold the work piece
on other faces by bolts and nuts.
o Angle plates are used in conjunction with a face plate
when the holding surface of work piece should be kept
horizontal.