People from the 18th century began to use machines for production instead of manual labor. They worked on steam, then switched to electricity in the 20th century. Machine production makes people's lives much easier by doing all the hard work for them, so humanity modernizes technology every year. One of the most important machines is the lathe. The USSR actively used this device during the Great Patriotic War and during the periods of five-year plans. Now young people do not even really understand why this car is needed. In this article we will analyze what a lathe is, what it is used for, what lathes were in the USSR.
What are lathes for?
This machine is needed in order to process parts (or their blanks) from metals and wood by cutting or turning. With the help of a lathe, smooth cylindrical, shaped and conical surfaces of this shape are turned and bored, grooves (recesses on the product), cones are machined, internal surfaces are machined,threading, trimming and end processing, drilling, etc.
The device has many possibilities, and accordingly, there should be many different models and varieties. In fact, no matter what role the lathe performs, all machines have the same structure, shown in the photo below.
- The headstock (which contains the gearbox, which consists mainly of the spindle) is fixed to the left end of the bed.
- The spindle communicates the main movements to the workpiece thanks to special devices. There are also seating surfaces on the spindle for mounting a chuck or faceplate, and inside there is a conical hole where the center shank is inserted.
- The gear box in the headstock serves to adjust the spindle speed.
- The feed box provides the drive shaft and the screw with different speeds.
- The caliper is needed to secure the cutting tool, it tells it the feed movements.
- The caliper apron converts the rotary motion of the driveshaft or lead screw into linear motion of the caliper.
- And the tailstock plays the role of fixing centers, drills, taps, etc.
USSR lathe
During the five-year plans, during the Great Patriotic War and after it, the Soviet Union actively used various machines to boost the country's economy. In the USSR, lathes for metal and wood were most often used to create weapons, military equipment, as well as other devices and devices that wouldhelped in difficult times.
During the war, people actively worked on machines. The lathes of the USSR are well preserved, there are no photos left from that time, but the machines have survived to this day. And, having come to the museum of military equipment, most likely, you will see devices from factories there. The machines were made well and of high quality, so that they would not wear out and last for a very long time, and so it happened.
Conclusion
So, in this article we figured out what lathes are, why they are needed, what their structure is, how long they can serve. Lathes of the USSR, as time has shown, are the most reliable, they never let people down in difficult times.
