Editing Machine tool (section)

{{short description|Machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials}}
[[File:Conventional-lathe.jpg|thumb|A [[metal lathe]] is an example of a machine tool.]]
A '''machine tool''' is a [[machine]] for handling or [[machining]] metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, [[Boring (manufacturing)|boring]], [[grinding (abrasive cutting)|grinding]], shearing, or other forms of deformations.  Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping.  All machine tools have some means of constraining the [[workpiece]] and provide a guided movement of the parts of the machine. Thus, the relative movement between the workpiece and the [[cutting tool]] (which is called the '''toolpath''') is controlled or constrained by the machine to at least some extent, rather than being entirely "offhand" or "[[wikt:freehand#Adjective|freehand]]". It is a power-driven metal cutting machine which assists in managing the needed relative motion between cutting tool and the job that changes the size and shape of the job material.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190504041958/https://mechanicalsite.com/metal-cutting Define Metal Cutting]}}, mechanicalsite.com, retrieved 2019-05-04.</ref>

The precise definition of the term ''machine tool'' varies among users. While all machine tools are "machines that help people to make things", not all factory machines are machine tools.

Today machine tools are typically powered other than by the human muscle (e.g., electrically, hydraulically, or via [[line shaft]]), used to make manufactured parts (components) in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation.

With their inherent precision, machine tools enabled the economical production of [[interchangeable parts]].