Screw-cutting lathe name "screw-cutting lathe" carries a taxonomic qualification on its use—it is a term of historical classification rather than one of current commercial machine tool terminology. Early lathes, many centuries ago, were not adapted to screw-cutting. Later, from the Late Middle Ages until the early nineteenth century, some lathes were distinguishable as "screw-cutting lathes" because of the screw-cutting ability specially built into them. Since then, most metalworking lathes have this ability built in, but they are not called "screw-cutting lathes" in modern taxonomy. The screw has been known for millennia. Archimedes devised the water screw, a system for raising water. Screws
Dewatering screw press One modern approach even removes the screen in favor of a system of fixed and moving rings, which often eliminates solids buildup entirely. The most commonly known screw press of this design is said to have been invented by famous Greek mathematician Archimedes and is known as the screw conveyor. The screw conveyor consists of a shaft, which is surrounded by a spiral steel plate, similar in design and appearance to a corkscrew. This design is used in a multitude of screw presses. There are some machines of this and also of similar design that are not screw presses at