Little known, and now very rare, Mann lathes were built by the short-lived (1885 - 1905) Charles A. Mann Company of Providence, Rhode Island. The three examples shown below all appear to be of sound construction with careful detailing of minor parts and - evident in the very original, well-preserved second machine shown - a excellent cosmetic finish. All were backgeared and screwcutting with a 6-inch centre height and accepted 24-inches between centres. Of utterly conventional design for the time, their beds were decently wide and deep with four sets of V-ways , two for the tailstock and a separate pair for the long saddle - the latter able to be spanned past the headstock and so bring the cross slide, centrally positioned on the saddle, right up to the spindle nose. As was common on similar, lower-priced machines, only a cross slide was fitted as standard, the assembly being arranged (as was the fashion for a time in the late 1800s) with a hinge at the back that allowed the front to be elevated for coarse setting of the cutting tool. As this introduced a lot of unnecessary flexibility for very little gain, the idea was soon abandoned.
Power cross-feed was fitted, engaged by a push-pull knob with a direct mechanical drive, there being no clutch to soften the engagement or act as a safety override.
Although offered with treadle-driven flywheel assembly, one example below lacks a hole in its headstock-end leg to accommodate this and would have been driven from either a separate wall or ceiling-mounted countershaft, or a factory's roof-fitted line shafting.
Should you have a Mann lathe, or any publicity literature featuring the company, the writer would be interested to hear from you.