The metal lathe has two main wheels. One moves the tool to forward and backward on the lathe, controlling how deep the cut is. The other dial moves the deck up and down the rail. A dial on the motor controls the speed of the lathe. With these three controls, you can easily manipulate the tool up and down the stock and make precise cuts. You can even use both wheels at once to make a tapered cut. The stock is then placed in the chuck. It is extremely important that the stock remains centered, while the lathe spins. To do this, make sure the stopper is at the other end of the stock and is centered properly.

__Wood__

A fibrous material. Wood is hard but still easy to cut. Tends to stall the lathe if the tool is forced to quickly against the stock. Wood is like a metal in that you have to make multiple cuts, each successively deeper. Wood doesn't break easily, but when it does tends to splinter, not just break off.

__Machinable Wax__

A softer, more easily cut material. Wax is less likely to stall the lathe, but is also more likely to snap or break if too much force is applied, or if the stock gets too thin. To machine wax, you can initially make deeper harder cuts at a higher speed. But once the wax gets then reduce the speed of the lathe and make more shallow cuts.

__Rubber__

Similar to wax in initial cutting properties, rubber has the advantage of not breaking or snapping as easily. Rubber still cuts relatively easily, and you can get the stock much thinner more quickly. The only problem with her rubber is that the excess tended to wrap round thinner parts of the stock, creating messy tangles that slowed down the process.

__Metal__

By hardest material, metal was also the most difficult to cut. Many shallow cuts had to be made over the same area to get the effect of one deeper cut. If the tool was pressed too closely against the stock, the lathe would stall. On the other hand metal did not snap or break easily.

* First, properly set up the lathe.

* Next, center, the stock in the chuck and put the stopper on the other end.

* After that, smooth the stock into a dowel, if it does not already a smooth circular shape.

* You may now begin working on the stock moved the tool in and out on the deck and move the whole deck along the way cutting the stock at different depths depending on the shape you want.

* Next, when the stock is the way you like it smooth any rough areas by lightly applying the tool, adjusted at the same angle as the area you working on. Use sandpaper or another smoothing tool such as a file to help you with this.

* Finally, to cut off the stock spin the the way that a high speed while lightly applying the hacksaw. When the finished product is seperated from the rest of the stock, a belt sander, sandpaper, or a file can be used to finish the job, smoothing rough edges/cut-off points.

During my work on the metal lathe, I used all four materials. With wood, I made a samll baseball bat, to get accustomed to the tool and learn a little more about how it worked. With wax, I got a little more detailed, making more intricate designs and figures. I made some small tops and grooved shapes, as well as five chess pieces. I wanted to experiment with the limitations of both the wax and the lathe. With rubber, I continued this process, learning more about the new material and also about the lathe. I made a complete chess set (one of each type of piece). Finally, I began work with metal. Due to limited time, I was only able to complete a .40 cal bullet (built to spec). This taught me a bit more about using the lathe with metal, as well as about using the lathe with measurements and dimensions.