The unusual screwcutting arramngement on Webeco lathes is by toothed-belt drive.

The wide Poly-V belts of the Webeco drive system give all the advantages of flat-belt drive - smooth, silent running at very high speeds - without the (alleged) drawback of slippage under high levels of torque transmission.

The clever but simple "double over-hung" countershaft unit can be quickly set to tension both belts equally.

The carriage drive motor, combined with its speed-reducing gearbox in a unit that looks remarkably like a windscreen wiper motor assembly, is mounted at the headstock end of the lathe behind the rear bed rail; a toothed belt is used to drive the centrally-mounted leadscrew.
The use of windscreen wiper motors was once a popular amateur conversion for small lathes and the author has experience of a converted Drummond M type which was transfomed by just such a modification.

The Graduated Dial and handwheel fitted to the leadscrew end are both supplied as standard.
Though probably subjected to a rigorous mathematical stress analysis before being approved production, the appearance of the fixed steady does little to inspire confidence in its ability to withstand the wayward inclinations of a large billet of steel …..