The legs supporting lathe shears are, in lathes of ordinary length, placed at each end of the bed, so that the weight of the two heads, that of the work, and that of the carriage and slide rest, as well as the downward pressure of the cut, act combined to cause it to deflect or bend. It is necessary, therefore, in long beds to provide intermediate resting or supporting points to prevent this deflection.
Fig. 633.
Professor Sweet has pointed out that a lathe shears will be more truly supported on three than on four resting points, if the foundation on which the legs rest do not remain permanently level, and in lathes designed by him has given the right-hand end of the shears a single supporting point, as shown at a in [Fig. 633].
Fig. 634.