# What is a lathe?
**URL:** https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679
**Category:** Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
**Created:** [December 17, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679 "2012-12-17T03:04:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@yoyomeli13](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyomeli13)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/1 "2012-12-17T03:04:57Z")
hi
i have heard many peaople talking about lathes on the wonderful yoyoxpert forums and was just wondering what a lathe exactly is and why so many people want one. my next question, is how does a lathe have to do anything with yo-yos?
thank you 🙂
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### Author:  [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/2 "2012-12-17T03:12:43Z")
Check this…
[http://www.cartertools.com/catalog.html](http://www.cartertools.com/catalog.html)
Lathe Buying Guide
> **[Lathe Buying Guide (please sticky?)](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/forums/index.php/topic,8538.0.html)**
>
> Ok, I get this question A LOT… and a while back I finally just wrote a guide for it… I finally figured I should share with everyone else. The question of course is “What do I need, why, and how much does it cost?” The following is based on the...
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### Author:  [@yoyomeli13](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyomeli13)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/3 "2012-12-17T03:15:51Z")
so basically, you can reshape yoyos and even maybe make them? ??? 🙂
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### Author:  [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/4 "2012-12-17T03:40:55Z")
Yes, both take a bit of skill and experience to do well.
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### Author:  [@Jagmcool](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Jagmcool)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/5 "2012-12-17T05:11:53Z")
They are also very important in modding yoyos.
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### Author:  [@The\_Joshinator](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/The_Joshinator)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/6 "2012-12-17T15:35:13Z")
Essentially, a lathe is a machine that holds onto something and spins it. While it’s spinning, you push a tool into the workpiece to cut into it, and you control the shape of the cut with the position and shape of the tool. They’re used to make all kinds of things, from table legs to brake pads to bolts, and of course yoyos (both modding, and making from scratch). When you see something that has been manufactured in a round shape, chances are good there was a lathe involved in making it at some point.
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### Author:  [@pkb](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/pkb)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/7 "2012-12-18T01:11:23Z")
> [@The\_Joshinator](#):
>
> Essentially, a lathe is a machine that holds onto something and spins it. While it’s spinning, you push a tool into the workpiece to cut into it, and you control the shape of the cut with the position and shape of the tool. They’re used to make all kinds of things, from table legs to brake pads to bolts, and of course yoyos (both modding, and making from scratch). When you see something that has been manufactured in a round shape, chances are good there was a lathe involved in making it at some point.
Nice explanation!
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### Author:  [@yoyomeli13](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyomeli13)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/8 "2012-12-18T17:48:21Z")
So all these people on the forums that make a small business that make homemade metal yoyos most likely use a lathe?
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### Author:  [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/9 "2012-12-18T18:06:53Z")
> [@yoyomeli13](#):
>
> So all these people on the forums that make a small business that make homemade metal yoyos most likely use a lathe?
Very few metal yoyos are “homemade”. Generally it takes a CNC (programmed) lathe or pattern driven lathe to make a decent metal yoyo. Mostly done in a machine shop.
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### Author:  [@mullicabob](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/mullicabob)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/10 "2012-12-18T18:11:52Z")
> [@jhb8426](#):
>
> > [@yoyomeli13](#):
> >
> > So all these people on the forums that make a small business that make homemade metal yoyos most likely use a lathe?
>
> Very few metal yoyos are “homemade”. Generally it takes a CNC (programmed) lathe or pattern driven lathe to make a decent metal yoyo. Mostly done in a machine shop.
Key word “few”
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### Author:  [@anonyo](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/anonyo)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/11 "2012-12-19T03:24:14Z")
A magical tool
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### Author:  [@potatobobguy](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/potatobobguy)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/12 "2012-12-19T19:53:56Z")
Is there any other way to make a yoyo than to use a lathe? And what is this CNC I keep hearing about?
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### Author:  [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/13 "2012-12-19T20:34:51Z")
A CNC machine is programmed to read a digital model of whatever piece you are making and cut from that. They are good for making very exact parts and for making exact duplicates. There are CNC lathes and mills.
With some care you could use a drill press to make a yoyo but to make the halves the same will take a lot of skill.
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### Author:  [@The\_Joshinator](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/The_Joshinator)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/14 "2012-12-21T16:48:14Z")
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the first-run OneDrop Projects were made on a CNC milling machine instead of a lathe. I’m thinking some of them had vibe issues because of the difficulty maintaining concentricity with a mill.
CNC stands for “computer-numerically controlled”, and just means the machine’s controls are operated by a computer instead of a person. Because of that, you can make much more complex shapes than would be reasonable to make on a manual machine, such as convoluted mathematical curves or very small features, and you can make them faster and more consistently.
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### Author:  [@yoyospirit](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyospirit)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/15 "2012-12-21T17:02:47Z")
Landon Balk makes his yoyos by hand on a lathe. A lathe opens up more possibilities than a drill, since there are better ways of mounting the yoyo and has much better precision. A lathe also spins at a slower, but with much more power.
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### Author:  [@merger3](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/merger3)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/16 "2012-12-21T22:31:22Z")
I love CNC. Never used it myself of course, but still.
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### Author:  [@jhb8426](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jhb8426)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-a-lathe/46679/17 "2012-12-21T22:45:16Z")
> [@The\_Joshinator](#):
>
> Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the first-run OneDrop Projects were made on a CNC milling machine instead of a lathe. I’m thinking some of them had vibe issues because of the difficulty maintaining concentricity with a mill…
A properly set up CNC milling machine should be able to make as good a piece as a CNC lathe.