Lathe
![A metalworking lathe from 1911, showing component parts:
a – bed
b – carriage (with cross-slide and toolpost)
c – headstock
d – back gear (other geartrain nearby drives leadscrew)
e – cone pulley for a belt drive from an external power source
f – faceplate mounted on spindle
g – tailstock
h – leadscrew](/Images/godic/202501/23/Lathe5151.PNG")
![A watchmaker using a lathe to prepare a component cut from copper for a watch](/Images/godic/202501/23/Watchmaker's_Lathe_in_use5151.jpg")
![Exact drawing made with camera obscura of horizontal boring machine by Jan Verbruggen in Woolwich Royal Brass Foundry approx 1778 (drawing 47 out of set of 50 drawings)](/Images/godic/202501/23/Jan_Verbruggen_Foudary_Drawing_47_Horizontal_Boring_Machine5152.JPG")
![A steady rest](/Images/godic/202501/23/Luenette_mit_klappbarem_oberteil5152.jpg")
A lathe /ˈleɪð/ is a machine tool that rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation, facing, turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object with symmetry about an axis of rotation.