The history of the lathe
ü The History of a lathe
The birth of a lathe was not invented but
gradually evolved. According to legend, human beings will use lathes in ancient
times. The ancestors used the elasticity of the branches and the tension of the
ropes, pulling the rope to rotate the wood, and the other hand carried the
cutter to turn the wood. Even so far, manpower-driven manual lathes can still
be found and used for turning and drilling of wood. The lathe's English name
Lathe (Lath is the meaning of wood) comes from this. After centuries of
evolution, the progress of lathes has been slow. The wooden body has a slow
speed and low torque. It is not suitable for woodworking except for
woodworking, until the industrial revolution. This period can be called the
embryonic stage of the lathe.
The industrial revolution that began in the 18th
century symbolized the end of the agricultural society dominated by craftsmen,
and replaced it with an industrial society that emphasizes mass production. Due
to the extensive use of various metal products, in order to meet the processing
of metal parts, lathes have become critical production equipment. At the
beginning of the 18th century, the fuselage of the lathe was already a metal
product. Its structural strength became larger and it was more suitable for
metal processing. However, due to its simple structure, it can only be used for
turning and spiral machining. In the 19th century, only lathes that had been
completely assembled with iron parts were added. With the introduction of
transmission mechanisms such as screws, a lathe with basic functions was
finally developed. However, because its power can only be driven by manpower,
animal power, or water power, it still cannot meet the demand. It can only be
regarded as the structure of the basic structure.
After the scientist Watt invented the steam
engine, the lathe could be driven by the power generated by the steam engine to
drive the lathe. At this time, the power of the lathe was concentrated, and the
lathe spread through the belt and the gear was distributed to the lathes throughout
the factory. At the beginning of the 20th century, the engine lathe with
independent power source (or machine lathe) was finally developed and the lathe
was brought to a new field.
In modern times, after the computer was invented,
the computer was soon applied to the machine tool. The numerically controlled
lathe gradually replaced the traditional lathe and became a tool for the
factory. The production efficiency was doubled, and the precision of the parts
processing was greatly improved. With the gradual progress of computer software
and hardware, With maturity, many technologies that were previously considered
unworkable have been overcome, and the ratio of automated machine tools has
become an important indicator of national modernization.
ü 車床的歷史
車床的誕生不是發明出來的，而是逐漸演進而成。相傳人類在古老時代就會使用車床，老祖先應用樹枝的彈性與繩子承受張力的特性，拉動繩子使的木材旋轉， 另一人手拿著刀具對木材來進行車削。即使到目前為止，仍然可以發現以人力做為驅動力的手工車床，並被用於木材的車削與鑽孔。車床英文的名稱 Lathe(Lath 是木板的意思) 就是由此而來。經過數百年的演進，車床的進展很慢，木質的機身，速度慢而且扭力低，除了用在木工外，並不適合做金屬類的加工，直到工業革命前。這段期間可稱為車床的雛型期。
18 世紀開始的工業革命，象徵著以工匠主導的農業社會結束，取而代之的是強調大量生產的工業社會。由於各種金屬製品被大量使用，為了滿足金屬零件的加工，於是車床成了生產的關鍵性設備。18 世紀初車床的機身已是金屬製品，結構強度變大並且更適合做金屬類之加工，但因結構還過於簡單，只能做車削與螺旋方面的加工。到了 19 世紀才有完全以鐵製零件組合完成的車床，再加上如螺桿等傳動機構的導入，一部具有基本功能的車床總算開發出來了。但因為其動力只能靠人力、獸力或水力帶動，仍無法滿足需求，只能算是剛完成基本架構的結構。
在科學家瓦特發明了蒸氣機之後，才使得車床可藉由蒸氣機產生的動力來驅動車床運轉，此時車床的動力是集中一處，再藉由皮帶與齒輪的傳遞分散到工廠各處的車床。20 世紀初，擁有獨立動力源的動力車床(或機力車床) 終於被開發，也將車床帶到新的領域。
現代，電腦被發明後，不久電腦即被應用在工具機上，數值控制車床逐漸取代傳統車床成為工廠利器，生產效率倍增，零件加工精度更是大幅提昇，且隨著電腦軟、硬體日趨進步與成熟，許多以往視為無法加工的技術一一被克服，自動化工具機的比率成了國家現代化的重要指標。
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