lathe

A machine for shaping a piece of material, such as wood or metal, by rotating it rapidly along its axis while pressing a fixed cutting or abrading tool against it.

To cut or shape on a lathe.

[Middle English, a device used by coopers, perhaps a turning lathe, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

For more information on lathe, visit Britannica.com.

A machine for shaping circular pieces of wood, metal, etc., by rotating the material about a horizontal axis while a stationary tool cuts away the excess material.

Rotating a curve

In 3D computer graphics, a lathed object is a 3D model whose vertex geometry is produced by rotating the points of a spline or other point set around a fixed axis. The lathing may be partial; the amount of rotation is not necessarily a full 360 degrees. The point set providing the initial source data can be thought of as a cross section through the object along a plane containing its axis of radial symmetry.

The lathe is so named because it produces the same type of object that a real lathe would produce: an object that is symmetrical about an axis of rotation. However, unlike objects produced by a real lathe, the object can have an axis of rotation through a hole (e.g. a torus).

Lathes are very similar to surfaces of revolution. However, lathes are constructed by rotating a curve defined by a set of points instead of a function. Note that this means that lathes can be constructed by rotating closed curves or curves that double back on themselves (such as the aforementioned torus), whereas a surface of revolution could not because such curves cannot be described by functions.

See also

• Surface of revolution
• Solid of revolution

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - drejebænk, pottemagerhjul, slagbom, lad
v. tr. - dreje

Nederlands (Dutch)
draaibank, graafschapsdistrict (Kent), op draaibank bewerken

Français (French)
n. - tour, machine-outil, touret
v. tr. - tourner, façonner avec un touret

Deutsch (German)
n. - Drehbank, Drehmaschine, Lade
v. - mit einer Drehmaschine schneiden

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μηχανουργικός) τόρνος
v. - τορνάρω

Italiano (Italian)
tornio, torniare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - torno (m) mecânico (Mec.)
v. - tornear

Русский (Russian)
токарный станок, точить

Español (Spanish)
n. - torno
v. tr. - tornear

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - svarv, svarvstol, drejskiva, slagbom (i vävstol), (hist.) grevskapsdistrikt i Kent
v. - svarva, dreja

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
车床, 用车床加工

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 車床
v. tr. - 用車床加工

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 선반
v. tr. - 선반으로 가공하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ろくろ, 旋盤

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مخرطه (فعل) يخرط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מחרטה‬
v. tr. - ‮חרט במחרטה‬

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