Horizontal and Vertical Lathes

Horizontal lathes have a main spindle that orients spinning workpieces horizontally as a static tool moves down the length of the workpiece to shape the part. These were the world’s first machine tools. Vertical turret lathes (VTLs) have main spindles that are oriented vertically. VTLs in which the spindle faces upward are often used for large, heavy workpieces as they use gravity to their advantage in clamping parts during turning operations. VTLs in which the main spindle faces downward offer the advantage of using the main spindle as a part pickup device, essentially serving as its own robotic part loader. Both horizontal lathes and VTLs are often available with live-tooling spindles to perform operations such as milling and cross drilling in an attempt to machine parts complete in one setup.