A machine of the 1930s and 1940s the Roll 6.5" centre height by 30" between centres gap-bed lathe was adopted for used in R.A.S.C mobile workshops. It was notable for a number of interesting design features, a compact design and a very complete specification. The all-geared headstock was driven from a motor neatly contained within the cabinet base and was fitted with clutch as standard, speeds were changed by three levers on the front face of the headstock.
The screwcutting gearbox drove both a leadscrew (engaged for screwcutting only by a sliding gear at its headstock end) and a powershaft to drive the sliding and surfacing feeds.
Whilst the controls mounted on the apron might have been conventional the saddle was formed with unusually long T slots across a wide, raised flat area to the right of the cross slide to make a useful boring table. To get the cutting tool up to height the top slide was mounted on a raised boss - not the most rigid of designs - and fitted with an unusual handwheel that swept back in the form of a V rather like an extreme version of that used on the Leicester-built ETA lathe.
If you have one of these lathes the writer would be very pleased to hear from you