Glossary
Lathe Operator Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential lathe operator terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key lathe operator vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in lathe operator training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Boring
- Enlarging holes.
- Carriage
- Moves the tool.
- Chuck
- Holds the workpiece.
- Facing
- Flattening the end.
- Feed rate
- Tool travel per turn.
- First article
- First part checked before a run.
- Insert
- Replaceable cutting tip.
- Lockout/tagout
- Energy isolation before servicing.
- PPE
- Personal protective equipment.
- Runout
- Wobble.
- Scrap
- Parts that fail inspection.
- SOP
- Standard operating procedure.
- Tailstock
- Supports long work.
- Threading
- Cutting threads.
- Turning
- Reducing diameter.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Lathe Operator practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Lathe Operator training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.