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cbxjeff
Have I been wrong for 45 years?!

I was taught that the swing on a lathe was the distance from the spindle C/L to the bed ways. I was corrected this weekend and told that the swing is half that. I'm saying that I felt that a lathe with a 6" swing could handle a 12" bar in it's chuck. Have I been wrong all this time?

Thanks guys.
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • rogue_rob
    I'll forward this to Mrs Rogue. She'll be able to answer in a few hours.
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  • cpermd
    The swing is the maximum diameter that will fit in the lathe.
    So a 12" South Bend can take a piece 12" across.

    I thik you have been wrong. [:(]

    CP
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  • MVP
    The Swing of a lathe is the largest Diameter material that can be turned over the ways of the lathe.
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  • cbxjeff
    Thanks guys. I'll just add this to the long list of things that I have been wrong about during my life!
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  • spasmcreek
    get a gap bed lathe & you will become a bigger swinger................
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  • v35
    I believe swing is the max dia between centers that will clear the bed of the cross feed, not the ways.
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  • Alpine
    V35: Nope. If you check out the specs. of a lathe you will see that the swing over the cross feed saddle is listed separately.

    The swing of a lathe is the diameter of a piece that will clear the ways of the bed.
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  • v35
    OK, I stand corrected.
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  • shoff14
    Lathes are always listed like this. Clausing 15/40, which is a lathe with 15" swing and 40" length from head to end of the table. The lathe probably won't be able to hold a 40" piece of material though but close to that.
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  • dongizmo
    quote:Originally posted by shoff14
    Lathes are always listed like this. Clausing 15/40, which is a lathe with 15" swing and 40" length from head to end of the table. The lathe probably won't be able to hold a 40" piece of material though but close to that.

    Actualy it used to be measured max center to center. (dead centers)
    Some of the oriental manufacturers have gone to bed length as a size description.
    Don
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  • Tailgunner1954
    Don
    I have a old Atlas? (Montgumary Wards) that's listed as a 9x36 It is 4 1/2" to the bed, about 3" to the saddle and can ONLY turn 28" between enters. The 36 is the total length of the bed however
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  • dongizmo
    quote:Originally posted by Tailgunner1954
    Don
    I have a old Atlas? (Montgumary Wards) that's listed as a 9x36 It is 4 1/2" to the bed, about 3" to the saddle and can ONLY turn 28" between enters. The 36 is the total length of the bed however

    Your right some do / did
    http://www.lathes.co.uk/page2.html
    quote:Size:
    When you see a lathe sized as, for example, 4" x 24" what does this mean?
    The "English" method of sizing a lathe is to quote the centre height - or "throw" - the distance from the centre of the chuck to the nearest point on the bed, in this case 4" - and the distance between centres (the maximum length of material the lathe can accommodate) - in this case 24".
    The "American" method is to give the largest diameter of a workpiece that can be turned clear over the bed - termed the "swing" - and so, in the example above, the American sizing would be 8" x 24". Some American makers, South Bend for example, also quoted the bed length as part of the specification; unfortunately this is a largely irrelevant figure as it neither tells you the longest piece of material that can be turned nor the overall length of the lathe.
    Don
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