Stark Countershafts, like those of many other makers, were available in a variety of forms from simple 3-speed units to more complex affairs where a multitude of speeds, in both forward and reverse - as well as stopping and starting - could be obtained instantly by flicking belts from one pulley to another. All of Stark's early systems used flat belts - thankfully they avoided the wretchedly inefficient round leather rope or "gut" drive of many cheaper machines - and all included a control system which involved "fast-and-loose pulleys" where a belt, idling on a "loose" or "free" pulley which was free to rotate on its shaft, could be flicked across to a "fast" or "connected" pulley and transmit the power onwards, usually to a 3-step pulley, which drove a matching pulley on the lathe spindle.
Although the illustrations below show the countershaft which drove the lathe, it is worth remembering that this would represent only a small part of the drive system, especially on ones offering multiple speeds and reverse. If, for example, three fast-and-loose pulleys were employed to give high, low and reverse ranges - as on Countershaft No. 2 - then a matching arrangement, driven by overhead line shafting (or in later years an individual electric motor) had to be provided either above, below or behind it. No wonder that many of the largest advertisements in industrial towns of the Victorian era were for power transmissions systems of one sort or another - they could easily represent a substantial proportion of the cost of the machinery they drove. When a basic Stark bench lathe cost $100, the No. 1 countershaft was priced at $12, the No. 2 at $18 and the No. 3 at $25 - and that was without the ancillary drive gear and line shafting required to bring power to them when the total cost would have risen beyond that of the lathe itself..
Later Stark lathes adopted underdrive stands and integrated drive systems with one lathe boasting not only a built-on motor but a completely enclosed variable-speed drive system.