The object of this instruction book is to help beginners to acquire
some familiarity with the more common lathe operations in the shortest
practicable period of time. For this purpose three exercises have
been designed with the view of giving the student the maximum amount
of information in the small amount of time usually allowed for this
purpose. The repetition of operations has therefore been avoided
wherever it was considered advisable and the time lost in simply
cutting off metal has been reduced as much as possible.
It is assumed that beginners will receive oral instruction on the
manipulation of the lathe, as in shifting the belt, the feed control,
etc. It will also be necessary for the instructor to give a practical
demonstration of most of the operations.
The lathe speeds for the different operations as indicated in this book
are only approximately correct since the actual cutting speed of the
tool in feet per minute varies with the size and kind of lathe used.
The instructor is expected to designate the proper speeds although
the belt connections given herein will generally be close enough for
beginners.
In case it is considered advisable to devote to the elementary lathe
operations less time than would be necessary to complete the three
exercises presented herein, very good results can be obtained if the
student will read all of the instructions carefully and then do only
Exercise No. 1 and piece B of Exercise No. 3.
The instructions here given are not intended as fixed rules for it is
recognized that some of the operations may be done by other methods
with equally good results.