A lathe can take many shapes. If you think about it a potters wheel is a lathe. You put an indexing head on a lathe and use a tool post cutter/grinder to work on something. Do a search for; potato peeler, apple peeler, etc.

"At its heart, a lathe is a simple device, designed to hold a section of material to be carved, cut or shaped. This is called the workpiece. Unlike a simple vise, a lathe not only holds a workpiece, but also rotates it. This allows another part of the machine, the head, to move along the workpiece, using different bits or cutting instruments to remove material as needed and shape the workpiece. "
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