lathe

On the rail as lathe.

When to use it

Making a vase, bottle, cup, lamp base or chess piece in 3D from its silhouette: any shape that turns around one axis, even when the ask names no picture.

When to reach for something else

It takes no written direction and only spins a profile you draw, so an asymmetric object, or anything that has to match a reference picture, needs a different tool.

How to use it

1. Use the card’s Profile area. Draw half of the outline. The card spins it around the axis into a solid.
2. Press Run.

On the card

Control	What it does	Choices
Profile	Draw half of the outline. The card spins it around the axis into a solid.
Run	Starts the run. The number on it is what this run costs in credits, worked out before you press.

Settings

These sit behind the settings button on the card.

Setting	What it does	Choices
Sides	How many flat faces go around. Low looks faceted like cut glass, high looks smooth.	3 to 128
Sweep	How far around it turns. Less than a full turn leaves it open, like a bowl cut in half.	10 to 360
Flutes	How many ridges run around the form. Zero leaves it perfectly round.	0 to 24
Flute depth	How far the ridges push in and out. Needs at least one flute to do anything.	0 to 1
Twist	Rotates the ridges as they climb, like a barley-twist candlestick. Needs at least one flute.	-2 to 2
Colour	The surface colour of the finished object.