Turning is a metal cutting process for producing a cylindrical surface with a single point tool. The workpiece is rotated on a spindle and the cutting tool is fed into it radially, axially or both. Producing surfaces perpendicular to the workpiece axis is called facing. Producing surfaces using both radial and axial feeds is called profiling.
A lathe is a machine tool which spins a block or cylinder of material so that when abrasive, cutting, or deformation tools are applied to the workpiece, it can be shaped to produce an object which has rotational symmetry about an axis of rotation. Examples of objects that can be produced on a lathe include candlestick holders, crankshafts, camshafts, and bearing mounts.
Lathes have four main components: the bed, the headstock, the carriage, and the tailstock.  The bed is a precise & very strong base which all of the other components rest upon for alignment. The headstock's spindle secures the workpiece with a chuck, whose jaws (usually three or four) are tightened around the piece. The spindle rotates at high speed, providing the energy to cut the material. While historically lathes were powered by belts from a line shaft, modern examples uses electric motors. The workpiece extends out of the spindle along the axis of rotation above the flat bed. The carriage is a platform that can be moved, precisely and independently parallel and perpendicular to the axis of rotation. A hardened cutting tool is held at the desired height (usually the middle of the workpiece) by the toolpost. The carriage is then moved around the rotating workpiece, and the cutting tool gradually removes material from the workpiece. The tailstock can be slid along the axis of rotation and then locked in place as necessary. It may hold centers to further secure the workpiece, or cutting tools driven into the end of the workpiece.
Other operations that can be performed with a single point tool on a lathe are:
Chamfering: Cutting an angle on the corner of a cylinder.<br />
Parting: The tool is fed radially into the workpiece to cut off the end of a part.<br />
Threading: A tool is fed along and across the outside or inside surface of rotating parts to produce external or internal threads.<br />
Boring: A single-point tool is fed linearly and parallel to the axis of rotation to create a round hole.<br />
Drilling: Feeding the drill into the workpiece axially.<br />
Knurling: Uses a tool to produce a rough surface texture on the work piece.  Frequently used to allow grip by hand on a metal part.
Modern computer numerical control (CNC) lathes and (CNC) machining centres can do secondary operations like milling by using driven tools. When driven tools are used the work piece stops rotating and the driven tool executes the machining operation with a rotating cutting tool.  The CNC machines use x, y, and z coordinates in order to control the turning tools and produce the product. Most modern day CNC lathes are able to produce most turned objects in 3D.
Nearly all types of metal can be turned, although more time & specialist cutting tools are needed for harder workpieces.