PREFACE
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.
T. J. PALMATEER.
Stanford University, Cal.
January 1917.