The Lathe Headstock, Important Part of the Lathe

The Lathe Headstock is a cast iron box and is attached to the lathe bed on its left side by means of screws.

The lathe headstock contains in its interior a series of elements among which are: splined shafts, gears, chains, the clutch, a reversing mechanism, a lubrication pump, bearings and perhaps, the most important part: The Spindle Lathe.

The Headstock Spindle of the Lathe

The lathe spindle is a hollow shaft that goes from side to side of the head in order to pass a bar that needs to be turned, for example. Its interior is conical with the standardized Morse taper, the largest diameter of the Morse taper is found at the end where the cups, chuks or plates of the lathe are placed, in general, a conical sleeve is placed in it and then the fixed point of the lathe is placed on it, that is to say the point that ends with an angle of 60°.

The external part of the spindle is made up of couplings, wedges and threads that can accommodate or house bearings and nuts in order to allow the continuous and play-free rotary movement of this part of the machine.

The end that protrudes from the headstock contains a coupling that allows the plates, chucks or cups of the lathe to be placed on it in a precise way.

This element is manufactured like the other parts of the headstock lathe from special steels, alloy steels that are usually hardened and grinded, all this in order to guarantee the durability, quality and precision in the lathe.

Some lathes may have the following elements inside the headstock:

• Pulley: It is the mechanism that transmits the movement of the electric motor of the lathe.
• Clutch: It is the element that allows a start both in normal and reverse gear of the lathe’s spindle. Although some lathes do not have this element.
• Friction Brake: Enables the spindle to be stopped or braked when the clutch is not activated.
• Fixed Gear Train.
• Sliding Gear Train, which are those that allow the change of speeds of the lathe spindle.
• Bearings.
• Levers, that allow to select the speed range.

There are also other elements on the outside and behind the fixed head of the lathe:

• Pulley´s Belt, which transfer the movement of the electric motor to the lathe´s spindle by means of two pulleys.
• Rear Gear Train, which communicates the movement of the lathe spindle with the lead screw.
• Gearing Lyre, which is a piece that allows the accommodation of the rear gear train and also allows to locate or accommodate more gears.

You may also be interested in: What is the lathe bed?

Lubrication.

As previously mentioned, headstock of the lathe is a box where the transmission mechanisms or converters of the electrical motion of the motor to a rotating mechanical motion of the lathe’s spindle are located, therefore, when there is a continuous motion, there is a generation of a lot of friction and therefore of heat; therefore, this box must always be lubricated. For this purpose, the fixed head is provided with eyes or bubbles where we can inspect the proper level of oil or lubricant. In addition, most lathes have a cover at the top of the fixed head, which can be removed by means of screws and observed inside, making adjustments to the clutch, or to the spindle bearings and depositing or changing the oil, which is generally a fine oil and is specified by the lathe manufacturer.

Well friends, I trust I haven’t missed anything about this important part of the lathe.

I hope this information has pleased you and served you well, and as always, if you liked it, please remember to rate this post with the highest score on the stars below.

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