How to Use A Metal Lathe – For Beginners

Metal equipment has become an integral part of everyone’s daily life. Several kinds of machinery are used to cut or shape the metals and transform them into the desired shape. This machine is known as a metal lathe. You can operate it by rotating the lathe. The idea of cutting metal is certainly appealing.

However, operating a metal lathe has its fair share of danger. You can’t just go out there, hold the lathe and start rotating it. Instead, one might need proper training to operate it because of the dangers it poses. If you want to know more, then ahead is a quick guide containing steps that can walk you through the process of using a metal lathe.

General Saftey Precautions Before Getting Started

Just like you need a safety helmet while operating machines like a pallet jack or a forklift, you need to wear certain safety gear to operate a metal lathe. While using a metal lathe to cut metal, witnessing flying metal chips is a normal thing. However, they can possess great harm to your eyes. To avoid any kind of mishap, make sure to wear a protective layer for eye protection.

There are various kinds of strong eyewear available in the market for the same. Also, some helmets come with attached glass-like plastic on the front, which covers your face completely. Wearing that kind of helmet would protect both your head and face from flying chips. Moreover, lathes are ideal to use in an enclosed place as it reduces the chances of the danger of flying pieces and chips.

Steps To Use A Metal Lathe

Here comes the part you must be looking for in this guide: the steps to use a metal lathe. Since metal lathes are used in multiple areas, such as drilling, cutting or boring, it’s impossible to list all the steps in this one segment. That is why below are the general steps. Some steps might differ from your particular model.

• Set up your lathe. You can mount the small bench lathes on a pedestal or sturdy bench.
• Use the holder, which is commonly known as Jaw Chuck and mount the workpiece into the part that usually revolves and is also known as the headstock.
• If you have a mini-lathe, then it must have a chuck guard. Put it on and choose the direction of the rotation. Now switch on the lathe.
• Wear your protective gear and start rotating the lathe at the specified RPM.
• Take the lathe to your workpiece and lightly put it in the place where you want to do your work. Let it pass swiftly at first.
• Move the carriage as per your convenience to set the tool.
• If it’s your first time, be extra cautious while scraping out the material from the workpiece which you have mounted.
• Keep going till you achieve your final result.
• After your work is done, make sure to switch off the lathe.

Conclusion

So these are the steps that can help you in using the metal lathe. If you still have doubts, you can search for each step on youtube and see the steps visually. It will provide you with more clarity. If you want to buy a lathe, then metal lathes for sale are available. You can check it out by visitng the given link.