A very rare lathe, the 4" x 31" Rollo woodturning lathe was of a similar design to the contemporary Coronet models with a bar bed and a 3-speed, V-belt drive headstock. In the case of the Rollo, like the Myford ML8, it could be driven from underneath only - a design feature that might have made for an awkward installation but one that guaranteed a compact, space-saving set-up. Although every bit as strongly built, with all-iron castings and steel bed, the capacity of the Rollo, and its cosmetic finish, were both inferior to the Coronet. Both lathes used a slot cut in the bed to locate the tool-rest and tailstock; in the case of the Rollo this was just a pad tightened by a screw while the Coronet had, in comparison, a relatively sophisticated lever-operated spring-plunger for location and a separate lever to close down the split castings around the bed.
Heavily-built, the Rollo's bowl-turning attachment was (like that on a Myford ML8) clamped around the end of the bed and, if the lathe was arranged so that this assembly could overhand the end of its bench (and the speed reduced sufficiently), bowls of a very large diameter could be turned..