Glassblowing Lathe
This page documents the build of a glassblowing lathe. Projected started on May 29, 2019 by BES and Andrew Ferris.
Introduction
Q: So what is a lathe?
A: Definition: a machine [used] for shaping wood, metal, or other material by means of a rotating drive which turns the piece being worked on against changeable cutting tools.
Wikipedia - General discussion
The most basic parts of a lathe include:
- 1) Head stock assembly
- 2) Tail stock assembly
- 3) spindle/chuck
The head stock assembly is composed of two main parts: 1) the motor that turns the "piece" and 2) it holds the spindle/chuck where the "piece" is mounted.
The tail stock assembly on a standard lathe is where the "piece" is held/stabilized on the other side.
Lathes are physically different based on the material of the piece.
- 1) Wood lathes
- There are 2 wood working lathes in the MC Physics Machine Shop]
- 2) Metal lathes
- 3) Glassblowing lathes
- these lathes are very specialized and hence as >$8k, if you can find them. So we are going to build one!