Produced by the American firm of Burton and Rogers Manufacturing of Boston, Mass., this simple, special-purpose armature-turning lathe swung around 8.5 inches and admitted approximately 18 between centres. The bed, some 28 inches long and 4.125 inches wide, had a single V way that aligned the headstock and guided both the saddle and tailstock.
The most unusual - indeed ingenious - feature of the machine was the neat, integral drive system that not only drove the headstock pulley but also a "vertical milling unit" - used to undercut the mica between armature segments The drive, bolted to the back of the bed, resembled a traditional wall or ceiling-mounted countershaft in having a pair of fast-and-loose pulleys with a belt-striker bar to engage and disengage the drive. The shaft carried only a single pulley to drive the headstock - at one fixed speed. There was no backgear or screwcutting - and the slide rest was a simple cross-slide with no swivel facility; the lathe carried a label stating: "Auto Electrical Test Equipment Model No. 43-52".