Dating from between 1900 and 1926 - and manufactured by de'Armes et de Cycles de Saint-Etienne in France - this useful, hand-operated shaping machine was protected by Patent No. 2304500 Brevette SGDG. It appears to have been of sound construction and pre-dates the very similar English Robblak, which must have been a copy, by many years. Unfortunately, both machines suffered from the same intractable problem -  the 9" x 9" table was an extension of the machine's bed plate. Whilemost contemporary shapers of the same class used a  table formed as a simple angle bracket (that could be slid up and down a machined surface on the front of the bed) that on the Rapide-Lime and Robblak was fixed. As a consequence, any coarse setting of work height was impossible and, in addition, with just 3.5 inches clearance under the cutter, there was only just enough room to fit a small vice. Even so, on both machines, the table was of a generous size and provided with heavy-duty T-slots that would have allowed most jobs to be clamped in place. The ram stroke could be set to a maximum of 7 inches and the tool adjusted through a range of 1.5 inches.