Lathe (metal) - Feed Mechanisms

Feed Mechanisms

Various feed mechanisms exist to feed material into a lathe at a defined rate.

Bar feeder

A bar feeder feeds a single piece of bar stock into the cutting machine. As each part is machined, the cutting tool creates a final cut to separate the part from the bar stock, and the feeder continues to feed the bar for the next part, allowing for continual operation of the machine.

Bar loader

A bar loader is a variation on the bar feeder concept in that multiple pieces of bar stock may be fed into a hopper, and the loader feeds each piece as necessary.