A Lorch Schmidt backgeared and screwcutting lathe as illustrated in the  Lorch catalogue for 1912 and a French dealer's from 1910. The lathe was available in two versions: the 100 mm x 650 or 1100 mm Type AB and the 120 mm x 1100 mm or 1500 mm B-11. By 1912 this specification would have been dated -  with indications of a Victorian-era design including: a perfunctory saddle and coarse-pitch leadscrew, the carriage traverse by a crank handle direct to a bed-mounted rack with no intermediate gearing; spindle end thrust taken on a plate outboard of the left-hand spindle bearing and the tiny micrometer dials. The AB and B-11 Series lathes are easily recognised by their flat rather than V-way beds.

Lorch Model AB 100 mm x 660 x 1000 mm circa 1900. Lacking backgear guards and fitted with round-rope "gut" drive this is an earlier version of the lathe in the photograph below. 0.5" (12.5 mm) hole in spindle and mounted on a Lorch stand with overhead drive complete with a power take-off to drive a toolpost-mounted milling or grinding  slide. Note the extensive selection of screwcutting changewheels - a set often comprising 24 or more gears.

An example of how small precision lathes evolved in the early years of the 20th century. This Lorch Schmidt AB has flat-belt drive and guarded backgears. Additional pictures of the AB are here

Elegant but lightweight cast-iron legs that would have originally carried a treadle-flywheel drive assembly. The extensions to the rear were for mounting the traditional rear tool board. It appears that this antique design of stand, with a few minor modifications, may have continued in production until the 1920s.

Another Lorch Model AB - this time with maker's built-on countershaft. Should any reader have an example of the same type, the writer would be pleased if they could make contact - on the lathe above the rod to tension the belt is missing