4. In 1797, the Englishman Maudsley invented the epoch-making tool holder lathe, which had a precision lead screw and interchangeable gears.

Maudsley was born in 1771. When he was 18 years old, he was the right-hand man of the inventor Bramer. It is said that Bramer had always been doing farm work. When he was 16 years old, an accident caused his right ankle to be disabled, so he had to switch to woodworking with low mobility. His first invention was the flush toilet in 1778. Maudsley began to help Brammer design hydraulic presses and other machinery. He did not leave Brammer until he was 26 years old because Bramer rudely rejected Maurizio's proposal. A request for an increase in wages above 30 shillings per week.

In the year Maudsley left Bramer, he made the first thread lathe, an all-metal lathe with a tool base and tailstock that could move along two parallel guide rails. The guide surface of the guide rail is triangular, and when the spindle rotates, it drives the screw to move the tool holder laterally. This is the main mechanism of modern lathes. With this lathe, precision metal screws of any pitch can be turned.

Three years later, Maudsley built a more complete lathe in his own workshop, with interchangeable gears that could change the feed speed and pitch of the thread being machined. In 1817, another Englishman, Roberts, used a four-stage pulley and back pulley mechanism to change the spindle speed. Soon, larger lathes also came out, making great contributions to the invention of steam engines and other machinery.

Turret lathes and rotary lathes have a turret tool holder or a rotating tool holder that can hold multiple tools. Workers can use different tools to complete multiple processes in one clamping of the workpiece, and are suitable for batch production. 

Automatic lathes can automatically complete multi-process processing of small and medium-sized workpieces according to certain procedures. They can automatically load and unload materials and repeatedly process a batch of the same workpieces. They are suitable for mass and mass production.

Multi-tool semi-automatic lathes are divided into single-axis, multi-axis, horizontal and vertical types. The layout of the single-axis horizontal lathe is similar to that of an ordinary lathe, but two sets of tool holders are installed at the front, rear or upper and lower of the spindle. They are used to process discs, rings and shaft workpieces. Its productivity is 3 to 5 times higher than that of ordinary lathes.

The profiling lathe can imitate the shape and size of a template or prototype and automatically complete the processing cycle of workpieces. It is suitable for small batch and batch production of workpieces with complex shapes, and its productivity is 10 to 15 times higher than that of ordinary lathes. There are multiple tool holders, multi-axis, chuck type, vertical type and other types.

The spindle of a vertical lathe is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the workpiece is clamped on a horizontal rotary table, and the tool rest moves on the beam or column. It is suitable for processing larger, heavier workpieces that are difficult to install on ordinary lathes. It is generally divided into two categories: single column and double column.

While the shovel tooth lathe is turning, the tool holder periodically makes radial reciprocating motion, which is used to form the tooth surfaces of forklift milling cutters, hobs, etc. Usually with a relief grinding attachment, a small grinding wheel driven by a separate electric motor relieves the tooth surface.

Specialized lathes are lathes used to process specific surfaces of certain types of workpieces, such as crankshaft lathes, camshaft lathes, wheel lathes, axle lathes, roll lathes, and ingot lathes.

The combined lathe is mainly used for turning processing, but with the addition of some special parts and accessories, it can also be used for boring, milling, drilling, inserting, grinding and other processing. It has the characteristics of "one machine with multiple functions" and is suitable for engineering vehicles, ships or mobile applications. Repair work at the repair station.

  Boring machine

1. The earliest boring machine designer - Leonardo da Vinci's boring machine is called the "Mother of Machinery". Speaking of boring machines, we must first talk about Leonardo da Vinci. This legendary figure may have been the designer of the earliest boring machine used for metal processing. The boring machine he designed was powered by water or a foot pedal. The boring tool rotated close to the workpiece, and the workpiece was fixed on a moving table driven by a crane. In 1540, another painter painted a painting of "The Art of Pyrotechnics" with the same picture of a boring machine. The boring machine at that time was specially used for finishing hollow castings.

2. The first boring machine born for the processing of cannon barrels (Wilkinson, 1775). By the 17th century, due to military needs, the cannon manufacturing industry developed rapidly. How to manufacture cannon barrels became a major problem that people urgently needed to solve.

The world's first true boring machine was invented by Wilkinson in 1775. In fact, to be precise, Wilkinson's boring machine was a drilling machine capable of precision machining of cannons. It was a hollow cylindrical boring bar with both ends mounted on bearings.

3. The birth of the table-lifting boring machine (Hutton, 1885). In the following decades, people made many improvements to Wilkinson's boring machine. In 1885, Hutton in the UK manufactured a lift-type boring machine, which became the prototype of modern boring machines.

milling machine

1. The first ordinary milling machine (Whitney, 1818) In 1818, Whitney built the world's first ordinary milling machine. However, the patent for the milling machine was the British Bodmer (with a tool feeding device). The inventor of the gantry planer) "obtained" it first and foremost in 1839. Because the cost of milling machines was too high, not many people were interested in it at that time.

2. The first universal milling machine (Brown, 1862) After being silent for a period of time, milling machines became active again in the United States. In contrast, Whitney and Pratt can only be said to have laid the foundation for the invention and application of milling machines. The real credit for inventing milling machines that can be used in various factory operations should belong to American engineer Joseph Brown.

In 1862, Brown of the United States manufactured the world's earliest universal milling machine. This milling machine was an epoch-making initiative in being equipped with a universal indexing plate and integrated milling cutter. The worktable of the universal milling machine can rotate at a certain angle in the horizontal direction and is equipped with accessories such as an end milling head. The "Universal Milling Machine" he designed was a great success when it was exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition. At the same time, Brown also designed a form milling cutter that would not deform after grinding, and then manufactured a grinding machine for milling cutters, bringing the milling machine to its current level.

1. Gantry planer for processing large flat surfaces (1839) Due to the need for flat surface processing of steam engine valve seats, many technicians began research in this area starting from the early 19th century, including Richard Robert and Richard Pratt. Special, James Fox and Joseph Clement, etc., they independently manufactured gantry planers within 25 years starting in 1814. This kind of gantry planer fixes the workpiece on the reciprocating platform, and the planer cuts one side of the workpiece. However, this type of planer does not yet have a knife feeding device and is in the process of transforming from a "tool" to a "machine". By 1839, a British man named Bodmer finally designed a gantry planer with a knife feeding device.

2. A planer for processing small planes. Another British man, Nesmith, invented and manufactured a planer for processing small planes within 40 years from 1831. It can fix the processing object on the bed while the tool moves back and forth.

Since then, due to the improvement of tools and the emergence of electric motors, gantry planers have developed in the direction of high-speed cutting and high precision on the one hand, and in the direction of large-scale on the other hand.

Grinding machine

1. The first grinding machine (1864) In 1864, the United States made the world's first grinding machine, which was a device that installed a grinding wheel on the slide tool holder of a lathe and made it have automatic transmission. Twelve years later, Brown in the United States invented a universal grinder that was close to a modern grinder.

2. Artificial grinding stones - the birth of the grinding wheel (1892), the demand for artificial grinding stones also rose. How to develop a grinding stone that is more wear-resistant than natural grinding stone? In 1892, the American Acheson successfully trial-produced silicon carbide made of coke and sand, which is an artificial grindstone now called C abrasive; two years later, A abrasive with alumina as the main component was trial-produced. was successful, and in this way, the grinder became more widely used.

Later, due to further improvements in bearings and guide rails, the accuracy of grinders became higher and higher, and they developed in a professional direction. Internal grinders, surface grinders, roller grinders, gear grinders and universal grinders appeared.

 Drilling machine 

The first drilling machine (Whitworth, 1862) Around 1850, the German Martignoni first made a twist drill for metal drilling; in 1862 at the International Exposition held in London, England, The Englishman Whitworth exhibited a power-driven cast iron cabinet frame drilling machine, which became the prototype of the modern drilling machine.

Since then, various drilling machines have appeared one after another, including radial drilling machines, drilling machines equipped with automatic feed mechanisms, and multi-axis drilling machines that can drill multiple holes at the same time. Due to improvements in tool materials and drill bits, as well as the use of electric motors, large, high-performance drilling machines were finally manufactured.