This document provides information about lathes and their operation. It discusses the basic working principle of lathes, where the workpiece is rotated and a cutting tool is fed into it to remove material. It classifies different types of lathes based on design, drive type, gear arrangement and purpose. It describes the key parts of a lathe like the bed, headstock, tailstock and carriage. It also discusses lathe accessories, tools, specification of lathe size, and common machining operations like turning, facing, drilling and threading.