Produced by the American firm of Burton and Rogers Manufacturing of Boston, Mass., this unusual special-purpose armature-turning lathe swings around 8.5 inches and admits approximately 18 between centres. The bed, some 28 inches long and 4.125 inches wide, has a single V way which aligns the headstock and guides both the saddle and tailstock.
The most unusual feature is the vertical "milling unit" - which would have been used to undercut the mica between the armature segments - powered from a countershaft drive built onto the back of the bed which carries a pair of fast and loose pulleys with a belt-stricker bar to engage and disengage the drive. The shaft carries only a single pulley to drive the headstock - at one fixed speed. There is no backgear or screwcutting - and the slide rest is a simple cross slide with no swivel facility; the lathe carries a label stating: "Auto Electrical Test Equipment Model No. 43-52".