Plain or Straight Turning

Plain turning originated in the watch industry and is used to manufacture long, slim parts from rod stock or wire. On the plain lathe the rod material is clamped in a chuck and pushed through a guide sleeve. There are plain lathes with rigid and those with follower guide sleeve. The turning tool is situated on the other side of the guide sleeve and the turning tool can be adjusted so that the diameter of the work piece changes. The feed movement is thus produced by the collet chuck, which pushes the rotating raw material through the guide sleeve on the standing turning tool. This arrangement offers the advantage that very long, precise diameters can be turned. A significant drawback of plain turning is the fact that the final contour must be produced solely by material removal, because for a second chipping the material must be retracted through the guide sleeve and thereafter would no longer be guided. Therefore, the workable diameter on sliding lathes is limited to about 32 mm.