Carrying a plate showing that it was supplied by M. C. Layton Ltd.  96-98 Victoria Street.  SW1. London, the Bellow shaper was unknown until one emerged from store in 2016. Of both unusual appearance and novel design, the shaper had its ram-drive reciprocating motion generated by a crankpin adjustable in a slot integral with the top surface of a large bevel-gear that, instead of being arranged vertically, was set horizontally. Construction was entirely traditional with iron usedfor all the castings, gear wheels and pulleys, mild steel for the shafts and feedscrews and with all threads of Whitworth form. Instead of the usual one-piece casting, the Bellow was constructed in two sections, upper and lower bolted together. The top element housed the bevel gear reduction drive with the ram on the top and a dovetail vertical slideway at the front carrying a horizontal slideway to which was attached a swivelling "work box" with T-slots its top as well as each side face. Oddly, the assembly was not a rigid box, but left open at the bottom - and also lacked any form of front support so limiting the machine to lighter cuts. The lower assembly was used to house the 1/2 h.p. 1400 r.p.m.motor and countershaft drive assembly that gave three speeds using two flat belts - final drive to the ram mechanism being by a lower pulley held on a Heath Robinson arrangement of a 3-leg support bracket spaced well out from the main body of the machine.
The stroke was adjustable between 2 ½" - 6 ½" with a slow rate of 40 strokes/minute, a medium of 60 and a fast of 80. The swivelling tool slide had a travel of 2 ½". Fitted with power feed by the usual ratchet mechanism found on nearly all shapers, the table could be moved horizontally through a travel of 8" and raised through 4" by a handwheel positioned rather inaccessibly beneath the casting. Overall dimensions were: length  28" (700 mm); width 22" (560 mm)  and height 47" (1200 mm) with a weight of approximately 3 cwt (150 kg)..