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An "engine lathe" has NOTHING to do with grinding a crankshaft, or other operations pertaining to an internal combustion engine. You would use a "crankshaft grinder" for that purpose,a crank journals are "ground", NOT "turned". ENGINE LATHE DEFINITION: "An engine lathe is a horizontally shaped piece of machinery that is most often used to turn metal manually. By turning the metal and using special cutting tools, the engine lathe is capable of forming the metal into specific shapes. As its name implies, the engine lathe is often used to create metal pieces for use in an engine, whether it be for an automobile, a tractor, a boat, or any other motorized vehicle or machine. Although people use the engine lathe primarily for spinning sheet metals, it is also used for drilling, making square blocks, and creating shafts. Candle cup dies, forge burner nozzles, foundry pattern core boxes, and prints are other products an engine lathe can produce. Most modern tools were made with the help of an engine lathe. In addition, those who own an engine lathe can make their own tools with the machine. For these reasons, the engine lathe is often referred as a reproductive machine. The features of an engine lathe include gears, a carriage, a tailstock, and a stepped pulley used for various spindle speeds. The gears in the engine lathe are used to power the carriage. In turn, the carriage bolsters the cutting tools. The tailstock is used to support the hole-drilling process that takes place in the spindle. Engine lathes were popular in the 19th and 20th centuries at blacksmith shops and are still widely used today. There have, however, been a few amendments to the engine lathe over the years. In the original engine lathe, the carriage would trap all the dust and dirt. When this mixed with the oil in the machine, it would create a grinding motion as the carriage moved back and forth while turning and shaping the metal. The constant grinding eventually wore the machine down and made it useless. Today, the carriage on an engine lathe is self-oiling at the front and the rear. The carriage on the engine lathe has also been improved, and is built to protect the machine from the remnants of the jobs it performs." From "Britannica": "The engine lathe, as the horizontal metal-turning machine is commonly called, is the most important of all the machine tools. It is usually considered the father of all other machine tools because many of its fundamental mechanical elements are incorporated into the design of other machine tools." ANOTHER definition: "{Engine lathe}, a turning lathe in which the cutting tool has
an automatic feed; -- used chiefly for turning and boring
metals, cutting screws, etc."
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