The LAMA 1 lathe was manufactured by the ESA manufacturing cooperative in Prague, Czechoslovakian the mid-1950s ("Lidové výrobní družstvo ESA"). The name LAMA is reportedly an acronym for the name of the designer or the original workshop owner before nationalization by the communists in 1948. However, this is still a subject of ongoing research.
A clear copy of the American Webster Whitcombe 8 mm lathes, but with its own design for the headstock, tailstock, and other components. According to my research, a full range of accessories existed for the machine, comparable to brands like Boley or Lorch (milling attachment, dividing head, various collets, arbors, etc.). Only a small number were produced, likely just dozens of units. Its successor was the LAMA 2, which is designed more like a Schaublin 70 but with the addition of changewheels, engaged through a tumble-reverse mechanism for thread cutting as standard. However, there is even less information available about this model, though its construction does allow it to be classified as "bench precision" type
Specifications for the LAMA 1:
Bed length: 15.5" (approx. 390 mm)
Bed width: 1.5" (approx. 39 mm)
Center height: 2" (approx. 50 mm)
Collets: 8 mm
Thread: Appears to be G7 x 40 TPI (I have only a tailstock drawbar, G7 x4 0 t.p.i. fits)
Speeds: 140-1100 RPM with the countershaft; 600-3000 r.p.m. when driven directly (with matching pulleys).
The machine was equipped as standard with a single-phase 220/110V motor (approx. 140W, 1370 r.p.m.) made by the Czechoslovak company ATAS (Antonín Taichman & Co.) in Náchod. Interestingly, this company was nationalized after 1948 and renamed MEZ Náchod (MEZ = The National Enterprise Moravské elektrotechnické závody - Moravian Electrical Engineering Works - 1948-1994). However, the plate on the motor is of the older type--likely to have been caused by using old stock from before the 1948 communist coup..