From a now no-longer-trading Company - "Wings Universal" - this unusual machine was described in their Swedish patent of 1973 as being: "A lathe that can be supplemented with, among other things, belt sander, drill, milling machine and saw.
The machine is built on stock tubes that allow lengths to be easily varied between 1-6 meters. The strong spindle with brackets means that a variety of different tools can be attached to it. "
Assembled from a collection of basic, easily-machined components, the lathe was driven by a motor mounted behind the headstock with the drive taken by a V-belt to a pulley overhung on the left-hand end of the spindle. This simple arrangement - of a fully-enclosed, box-section headstock and overhung pulley - was, and remains, a shortcut used by many makers striving to save costs. The design has been found on various large, small, cheap and expensive lathes, with examples including, Pultra, Logan, Emco Maximat Standard, Melcer and EXE.
Mounted on a circular post - and so able to be rotated on its vertical axis - the headstock - complete with its drive system - could also be rotated around the tubular bed. Presumably, to aid its multi-function use, the slide rest assembly consisted of an enormous T-slotted compound table, which, like the headstock and tailstock, was carried on an open-sided, box-section assembly. Constructed from steel plates, the vertical sections of the box through which the bed passed were split and clamped with through screws - so allowing the whole assembly to be rotated around the bed.
As there was no leadscrew passing though the bed tube, the travel of the T-slotted table was limited to the provided by its feed screw.
Unfortunately, apart from what appears to be an angle plate bolted to the T-slotted table, no 'multi-function' accessories survive with the machine and one wonders - as there was no slow-speed backgear on the headstock - what they were and how they would have been employed .
If you have a Wings Universalmaskin, or any literature about the makers, the writer would be delighted to hear from you.