One of several wood-turning lathes manufactured by Tekny and marketed in the UK by Multico, the TWL-860110 and TWL-860120 were amongst the largest and heaviest offered. Made in cast iron, the headstock and tailstock were supported on a robust, widely-spaced, solid-steel, chrome-plated twin-bar bed, the two models sharing the same 200 mm centre height and differing only in their between-centres capacities of 800 and 1000 mm. Although the lathes allowed decently large jobs to be tackled, none were fitted with a bowl-turning attachment. A very similar version was also listed - as the "Multico Junior" - and looks to have been identical. Power came from a 0.75 kW/1 h.p. single or 3-phase motor built into the underside of the headstock with drive going direct to the spindle via 5-step, rather narrow V-pulleys. Motor control was by a simple push-button, safety Mo-volt release starter on the headstock's front face. Access to the drive belt was by a door that formed the left-hand face of the headstock, the motor being lifted by a large locking knob at the front that allowed the belt to be shifted from groove to groove. The six speeds provided ran through a perfectly adequate 550, 800, 1300, 1800 and 25000 r.p.m. on a 50 Hz supply and 660, 960, 1560, 2160 and 3000 r.p.m on 60 Hz. To help stop larger jobs, a simple mechanical friction brake was fitted to the spindle drive, the operating lever protruding forwards from the junction between the headstock casting and belt guard.
Supplied with each new lathe was a 150 mm diameter faceplate to screw onto the M20 x 1.5 mm spindle nose, a wood-screw chuck and, to fit the generously proportioned No. 3 Morse taper tailstock spindle - rare on any wood lathe save for the very largest - a rotating centre. Unlike many wood-turning lathes, as the spindle nose did not have a Morse taper socket, if the screw-on wood-drive centre is missing a problem arises - new ones are not available and one will have to be made.
Overall dimensions, when mounted on the maker's stand, were 1500 mm in length, 820 mm front to back and 1190 mm tall - with weights of 93.6 kg for the 1000 mm between-centres model and 89.6 kg for the 800 mm version.
A wide range of accessories was offered including a robust Tekny copying attachment, a tilting sanding table assembly, a bolt-together stand made from sections of pressed steel, extra long tool rests, a bed-mounted three-point steady, wood screw and socket chucks, Morse wood-drive and standard centres, a tailstock rotating centre with a large diameter cone, faceplates, drill chucks, 3-jaw self-centring and 4-jaw independent chucks and, a selection of turning and boring tools. The unexpected addition of a copying attachment, the TCA 800/1000, allowed (so claimed the makers) for it to be adapted to other wood-turning lathes. The attachment could manage both longitudinal and faceplate duplication, the size limit being the full length between centres to a maximum diameter of 120 mm and to 380 mm in diameter on faceplate work.
It is believed that this and other Tekny models (lathes and assorted wood-working machines) were sold using different brand names in several export markets.
Some of the wood lathes that had competed in the same market segment - what might be termed the serious end of the amateur market - were the Denford Tools Viceroy, Harrison Jubilee and Graduate, the Wadkin BZL, and BL150, Emco DB5, Coronet Major, Myford Mystro, and some models by Oliver and the rare Milford..