Above: the 8.5-inch centre height lathe Type M.E. This lathe was offered in two bed lengths of 8 and 10 feet; the shorter admitted 56 inches between centres, the longer 80 inches.
All-geared, the headstock had nine speeds from either 14 to 325 rpm (with a 1000 rpm 4 hp motor) or 22.5 rpm to 490 rpm (from a 1500 rpm 4 hp motor).  The 2.125-inch bore No. 3 Morse taper main spindle was manufactured from a solid carbon-steel forging, fully ground and supported on Timken taper roller bearing; the headstock gears - with 'generated' teeth in a 20-degree pressure angle - were made from either carbon steel or heat-treated, nickel-chrome forgings; the gear shafts were in carbon steel, ground all over and supported in ball or roller bearings and, where they protruded through the wall of the headstock casting, were fitted with "Angus" oil seals. Like most medium-duty lathes of the time oil was circulated throughout the headstock by the splashing action of the revolving gears.
With inverted-V and flat ways, the bed was 12.5" wide and 13 inches deep and formed underneath as a shallow arch, had chill-cast slideways, and was fitted with a removable gap which allowed material up to 26 inches in diameter and 10-inches thick to be held on the faceplate.
Formed to allow the cross slide to take a single cut across the full radius of the maximum diameter that could be accommodated in the gap - not even a reset of the tool was required - the carriage had a double-wall apron of modern design with a two-position quadrant lever to select power sliding or surfacing feeds and a single lift-and-lower lever to engage and disengage the feed - the latter not "loading up" as a deep cut was taken and remaining easy to disengage.
A full screwcutting gearbox was fitted as standard and able to generate 40 different threads (2 to 28 t.p.i) and 40 feeds; metric threading was not built into the box - as it was on the equivalent Colchester model - but a metric conversion set was available, together with a selection of pick-off gears by which means a greatly-extended threading range could be obtained. Each gearbox bearing was supplied with oil by a pipe, and all the shafts were ground and splined.
Standard equipment included with the lathe when new included: a 20-inch diameter faceplate, catchplate, two No. 3 Morse centres, travelling steady, spanners, suds pump together with distribution equipment and a steel chip tray, a handbook and an electric motor with its associated control gear.
The standard 8-foot bed lathe weighed just short of 1.5 tons, was nearly 10 feet long and 4 feet 5 inches wide.

Above: the 9.5-inch centre height lathe Type S.A.R. (above) was offered in a standard bed length of 10 feet, but with longer ones, at foot intervals up to a maximum of 18 feet, available to special order; the standard machine admitted 49 inches between centres, the longest 14 feet and 1 inch.
Although the general appearance of the lathe was very similar to the M.E., the design of the inverted-V bed was different, with the base parallel to the top and not arched in the Colchester-like way of the smaller machine. Externally, the headstock appeared little different - indeed, it had the same nine speeds from either 14 to 325 rpm, or 22.5 rpm to 490 rpm, but from more powerful 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm 5 hp motors - however, the spindle, increased in size to hold a No. 4 Morse taper centre and able to pass a 3-inch diameter bar, ran in phosphor bronze bushes with a third "central bearing". As on the smaller lathe, the spindle was manufactured from a solid carbon-steel forging, fully ground and carried gears made from either carbon steel or heat-treated nickel chrome forgings with 'generated' teeth in a 20 degree pressure angle. The supporting shafts were in carbon steel, ground all over and supported in ball or roller bearings and, where they protruded through the wall of the headstock casting, were fitted with "Angus" oil seals; despite the size of the lathe, and its capacity for hard work, the headstock still relied upon splash lubrication. The reason for the bronze-bearing headstock becomes obvious when the options' sheet is consulted, for listed there is an opportunity to specify Timken taper roller bearings - but with a restricted spindle-bore of 2.626 inches; the thinner bronze bearings had allowed the designer to squeeze a bigger spindle into the same (lightly modified) headstock casting used on the M.E.; s compensation, the factory could arrange for the roller-bearings model to have a higher maximum speed.
The inverted V and flat-way bed - the same 12.5" wide but 3 inches less deep than the M.E. model - had chill-cast slideways and was fitted with a removable gap which allowed material up to 34 inches in diameter and 13-inches thick to be held on the faceplate.
Of modern design, the double-wall apron had a two-position quadrant lever to select power sliding or surfacing feeds together with a single lift-and-lower lever to engage and disengage the feed--the latter remaining easy to disengage no matter how deep the feed.
A full screwcutting gearbox was supplied as standard, identical to that used on the M.E models and able to generate 40 different threads (2 to 28 t.p.i) and 40 feeds; metric threading was not built into the box - as it was on the equivalent Colchester model - but a metric conversion set was available, together with a selection of pick-off gears by which means a greatly extended threading range could be obtained. Each gearbox bearing was supplied with oil by a pipe, and all the shafts were ground and splined.
Standard equipment included with the lathe when new included: a 16-inch diameter faceplate (a 32-inch was extra), catchplate, two No. 4 Morse centres, travelling steady, spanners, suds pump together with distribution equipment and a steel chip tray; a handbook and an electric motor with its associated control gear and switches.
The 10-foot bed lathe weighed just over 2 tons, was nearly 13 feet long and just over 4 feet wide..