Called simply the "Five-inch" - a rather prosaic title for what was, undoubtedly, the Raglan company's best-ever product - the final production Raglan incorporated a number of improvements. The headstock and bed, even though they looked rather different, were dimensionally identical to the earlier models (as was the mechanical variable-speed drive system and the lathe's work capacity) but major modifications, which significantly improved the lathe, had been made to the saddle, apron, compound slide and screwcutting arrangements.  An interesting point concerns the cross slide, which, whilst much wider than that on the Little John was shorter than the ways on which it ran. Over time this caused the slide to wear the ways more in the middle than the ends; however, if the optional T-slotted long slide was used, this difficulty vanished and wear was both slower and more evenly distributed. A quadrant arm on the face of the apron, moving into indented positions, selected power sliding and surfacing whilst another lever was arranged to allow an instant release of the power feeds; a knock-off for the sliding feed was also provided by a button on the left-hand face of the apron combined with the use of the standard-fit carriage stop. The headstock end of the lathe was rounded off to give it a more contemporary appearance, the screwcutting gearbox was enclosed and a proper hinged guard, with a catch to hold it closed, was provided to cover the stronger changewheels and their modified (and now easily-adjusted) mounting bracket.
Particularly well finished (lots of filler was used on the castings and much preparation and care went into the painting) many "Five-inch" models have survived in their original livery and one in fine condition is an impressive sight - and should perform as well as it looks. All appear to have been supplied on cabinet stands and, although strongly constructed (they were built on two girder-section steel beams) and rather handsome, the early versions were rather strangely designed affairs that lacked a chip tray and had the electrical switch gear mounted inconveniently and dangerously on the right-hand leg - both these little design foibles are, of course, easily corrected. Later machines used a version of the Myford Industrial cabinet stand, but with a larger, sharp-edged chip tray. A few machines were also constructed with the optional L00 spindle fitting as used on, for example, Harrison "Eleven Inch", "L5A" and Boxford VSL lathes. The last of the Raglan "Five-inch" lathes were assembled under Myford's ownership (they can be recognised by the use of that company's traditional "fully-machined" and chemically-blacked nuts and bolts) and an interesting change was also made to the drive system on at least a few machines late in the production run: because the variable-speed drive pulley was mounted on the motor shaft, and needed to be an exact distance from its matching pulley under the headstock, it was necessary to use a particular make and model of electric motor. Myford's modification allowed the motor to be replaced by a shaft (carried on a pair of simple plumber-block bearing assemblies) with the variable-speed pulley mounted on one end. At the other end was an ordinary V pulley, driven by the motor that was now positioned low down on the back of the stand. This freed the makers (and subsequent owners) from the restrictions of a single-make motor fitment for it was now possible to use one of almost any shape or size - providing, of course, that it was of a suitable rating. This alteration to the drive can be made, with great advantage, to earlier machines, especially when the original motor fails - or if a conversion is to be made from three to single-phase electrics. When considering the size of single-phase motor to use, bear in mind the relatively high transmissions losses inherent in the drive system and the fact that a slightly over-size motor will have an easier and longer life than one that has to struggle for a living. Around one horse power should be correct but, for safety's sake, it would be unwise to go above 1.5 hp.
Interestingly, Raglan themselves offered an accessory similar to the device just described; however, they rather mysteriously called it a "Single-pulley drive attachment" designed to, "fit in place of motor when electric power is not available". Perhaps they envisaged it being driven by a remotely-sited motor or even a stationary IC or steam engine.
On the standard machine the 11/32" bore Timken taper-roller bearing spindles could be rotated by the infinitely -variable drive unit at speeds between 38 and 1750. Like the earlier lathes, a "High-Speed Spindle" model could be specially ordered with a top speed of 2500 rpm; however, this version omitted the screwcutting facility and the power feeds were driven by V belts and "pick off gears" rather than the screwcutting gear train and power-shaft combination of the standard lathe.
Sets of photographs showing details of the Raglan 5-inch can been starting on this page.