small mystery
 

while browsing for lathes on cl i have noticed many many brake lathes
once used by automotive shops

at first i did not think much of it but there are so many it is hard
not to notice

well the mystery is solved

apparently no one turns drums or rotors anymore

once they get worn to some minimum thickness they are discarded

seems wasteful but maybe there is a good reason


not sure if there is any way to turn wood on the brake lathes
but maybe there is some way to repurpose the mechanism