A conventional engine lathe or a turret lathe is a common machine in just about every machine shop. A lathe is used for machining cylindrical or conical work, such as shafts, rings, wheels, bores, threads, etc. The most common lathe operation is removal of material from a round stock, using a turning tool for external cutting. A lathe can also be used for internal operations such as boring, as well as for grooving, threading, etc., if a proper cutting tool is used.
All machine tools from a simple knee type milling machine up to a five axis profiler can be included in this category. They vary in size, features, suitability for certain work, etc., but they do all have one common denominator - their primary axes are the X and Y axes - and for this reason, they are called the XY machines.