The 2.5" centre height by 8" inches between-centres "Grindturn" lathe was first manufactured by Grindturn Engineering in Shrewsbury during the late 1940s and then, the design having been bought by Richard Haighton Ltd. of Canning Street, Burnley. Haighton in 1950, as the improved and rather more sophisticated "Cadet". Haighton were not just makers of a small lathe, but a proper engineering company bwith a long history of successful projects. One interesting machine they made was a perfect replica of the beautiful Harding precision milling machine,  the TM/UM, that they manufactured from approximately 1953 to 1958. Haighton must also have had some influential with the local technical college (and the teachers some considerable sense) for, in the 4th & 5th year of their City and Guilds Machine Shop Engineering course, students had to build a 'Cadet' from castings supplied by Haighton's.
Early versions of the Grindturn were without a backgear - and equipped with just a simple swivelling tool slide; they were mounted on a rather crudely finished cast-aluminium base plate that formed a mounting for the neat V-belt drive 6-speed countershaft unit and electric motor. The machine was light enough to be considered portable and could, with "suitable permissions", be moved indoors during winter months to share the kitchen table and warmth from the open coal fire. The flat-topped, V-edged bed had a usefully large gap (to accommodate a 6-inch faceplate) and the carriage was propelled along it by an overhung leadscrew turned by a handwheel at its tailstock end. Although a screwcutting version of the Grindturn with a dog clutch on the leadscrew was also made, non have yet been found with a backgear.
An obvious development of the original machine, the Haighton "Cadet" was very well built, almost a large lathe in miniature, with an outstanding specification and very careful attention to detail. The bed, held down with four bolts at the headstock end and two at the tailstock, was fitted to a slightly modified, and much better finished base plate in either cast iron or, more commonly aluminium, a feature that, as before, added an enormous amount of strength and stability. As a reflection of its quality, and the comprehensive specification, the price of the Cadet in the late 1950s was £44 : 15s : 0d, only £7 : 2s : 6d less (25%) then asked for the 3.5" centre height by 20" between-centres Myford ML7.
A proper backgear assembly and full screwcutting were fitted as standard and the spindle, which ran in simple split bronze bearings, had 12 speeds from 25 to 1800 rpm. The 6-speed countershaft assembly was bolted to the frame and used proper (if miniature) V-belts to transmit the power from the full-size (and hence heavy and reliable) Brook Gryphon single-phase motor. In place of tumble reverse (which is difficult to engineer satisfactorily on small lathes) a dog clutch was fitted to the headstock-end of the leadscrew. Because the leadscrew nut was "full", and could not be disengaged from the carriage, the clutch removed the chance of making errors when re-engaging the drive during screwcutting. A compound slide rest was standard (with knurled-edge zeroing micrometer dials) as was a neat 4-way toolpost and full enclosure for the changewheels - and semi enclosure for the headstock drive belt.
Although described as, "Completely self-contained and portable" the large base plate and full-size electric motor meant that its all-up weight, even with the aluminium base, approached  42 lbs and it was certainly not as easy as the makers claimed to: "Turn your kitchen table into a workshop". When fitted to the 70 lb cast-iron base plate, it was most definitely not easy to move around, especially when fitted with the high-quality but large Gryphon motor - and doubtless 'Er in do'u'ers" (or, as our much more perceptive  American friends would say,  SWMBO) would have had a thing or two to say about the matter - especially if asked to help carry it back to its storage in the 'cole'ole.
An example of the Cadet that the writer found several years ago was still resplendent in its original black crackle-finish paint - which appears to last remarkably well - whilst the earliest models were either a plain grey or finished in a remarkable "craquellee" black-and-white finish not unlike that given to the quite different German Hommel machines. The writer's lathe ran almost silently, with the heavy bed plate adding such enormous stiffness that it was, as a consequence, capable of taking extraordinarily heavy cuts for so small a machine. If you find a Grindturn or Cadet don't be tempted to take it off the mounting foot, the lathe really will work much better left as it is.
More Cadet and Grindturn photographs can be found here.