page_title: Lathe
section_title: Patternmaker's lathes
hierarchical_section_title: Lathe / Major categories / Patternmaker's lathes
caption_attribution_description: Fig. 58 Patternmaker's double lathe. This is used for both large and small items. The bed is 18 feet long overall and is provided with two powered headstocks and two tailstocks. In normal use, items up to 6 feet long may be turned simultaneously on each half as independent lathes. For long work, the tailstocks are slid to the far end of the bed and the full length used for one piece.
context_page_description: A lathe is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object with symmetry about that axis.
context_section_description: Used to make a pattern for foundries, often from wood, but also plastics. A patternmaker's lathe looks like a heavy wood lathe, often with a turret and either a leadscrew or a rack and pinion to manually position the turret. The turret is used to accurately cut straight lines.
  They often have a provision to turn very large parts on the other end of the headstock, using a free-standing toolrest. Another way of turning large parts is a sliding bed, which can slide away from the headstock and thus open up a gap in front of the headstock for large parts.
caption: Patternmaker's double lathe (Carpentry and Joinery, 1925)
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