What’s In A Name: The Definition of a Machine Tool
Friday, April 24, 2015
Just as Juliet
Capulet pondered to herself, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” we
wondered, would that be the case in every other aspect of life? You see, before her untimely demise, Juliet argues that it does not matter if Romeo is a
Montague or not; she still loves him. But if this had been the case for, say
machine tools for example, would someone be arguing the same thing? Can’t seem
to figure out what on earth we’re
talking about? Don’t worry, we’ll give you time to think in this blog post.
Before saws,
milling machines, gear shapers and the countless other machine tools we know of
today became commonplace to help accomplish tasks and construct useful items,
they all had to start somewhere. As the machine tool family nowadays encompasses
a broad range of tools, it may be hard to believe some of these tools had lowly
— and even ancient — beginnings. But that is just the case for the lathe.
The lathe has had a
long and continuously successful history
since people first started using it in one form or another from ancient times
dating around 1300 B.C. But while this
tool is now commonly used to turn, cut and shape various materials into other
forms, it was once (and according to some sources, still is) at the center of a
bit of “controversy,” if you will. Not the type of controversy we’d think of in
the modern world involving public figures and their email accounts, but with
its definition.
You see, according
to many, the definition of a machine tool is as follows: “a machine for shaping
or machining metal or other rigid materials by cutting, boring, grinding,
shearing or another form of deformation.” Seems straightforward enough that
this definition could apply to many tools, right? Not so much. As those same
people also feel there are true machine tools and then there are the ones that
require the human hand (or foot or mouth) to operate, which is the case with
many early lathes. There was, and sometimes still is, an argument among those
in the industry that true machine tools are those that have their tool path
guided by the machine and not by a
human. So by this definition, early forms of what we now consider machine
tools, such as the lathe and potter’s wheel, aren’t, in fact, machine tools.
These would be considered hand tools.
What gives? Well, early
lathes required two people to work the device: one person would use a rope to
turn the woodwork piece, while the other used a sharpened tool of some sort to
cut the wood into the desired shape. By that distinction, that meant a human
hand would always be touching one part of the two-person lathe in one way or
another. Other varieties of lathes, like those jewelers and watchmakers use, are
small enough that they can be held in one hand, so they also require a human’s
touch. However, like many other tools, the lathe has seen numerous advancements
in its time, and depending on what lathe you’re referencing, it can indeed be
referred to as a machine tool — but be careful to whom you’re referring it.
Have we rocked
your world or turned your whole life upside down with this life-altering
definition? With the inventions of CNC lathes and the continuous advancements
with other forms of machine tools, the need for a person to handle a lathe is
being phased out. So we’ll ponder the tragic Juliet’s thought once more: Is a
rose by any other name just as sweet? Lathes, and a few other machine tools, as
we thought we knew them don’t exactly abide by their original definition. But
that brings us back to the age-old question, what’s in a name?
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