Of compact dimensions, the little Feinbau 110-mm centre height Model PM-1 lathe was made by Maschinen-Gesellschaft M.B.H.of Winterbach, a village to the east of Stuttgart (the latter town also home to the export agents, Hans & Klob). Like the Rindis, Hardinge HSL and Edgwick "Whippet", the Feinbau was designed to be an economical-to-buy but well-made lathe that could be used for simple production jobs involving short plain-turning, deburring, polishing, slotting, grilling, grinding and finishing. It could, despite its deliberately limited capacity and narrow speed range, also compliment or free-up more expensive, properly-specified lathes in a factory or tool-room.
Despite the aforementioned limitations it met it design criteria - simplicity, high quality and robustness - perfectly. The heavy, cast-iron headstock had an integral motor to drive the hardened and ground 25 mm bore main spindle, so eliminating drive belts. The spindle was fitted, as standard, a lever-operated collet closer and a screwed nose that could take the usual range of collets chucks and faceplates. Headstock collets had a 23-mm shank and ranged in capacity from 1 to 20-mm; a flanged "step-chuck" was also offered able to grip a variety of external diameters up to a maximum of 80 mm.
The motor could be ordered as a 3-phase 2 or 3-speed unit with rates of: 700, 1400 & 2800 r.p.m. or 700 &1400 r.p.m - or 1400 & 1800 r.p.m. To make the machine as efficient as possible when used in production the collet-closer lever also served to start, stop and automatically brake the motor. A pole-change switch on the front of the headstock was used to both select speeds and reverse them.
The 310-mm x 110-mm bed, bolted and dowelled to the face of the main casting, carried three 12-mm wide longitudinal T slots to mount the various accessories. As supplied it was fitted with a well-made, all-lever-action compound slide rest with the cross slide of the full-length type, with two T-slots at the back for mounting auxiliary tooling, and equipped with adjustable fore-and-aft stops. The long-travel topslide was equipped with a chip guard at the front and could be swivelled 40-degrees in either direction from the centre. A simple, single toolpost with a triangular clamp was supplied as standard but, at extra cost, a unique version of the "American-style" toolpost was also offered: this was an all-hardened-and-ground affair with castellated cut-outs to retain the tool and a sliding wedge (but without the traditional dished washer) to adjust its height.
Supplied as a lever-operated type, the tailstock was available with either a hardened-and-ground spindle, to accept a No. 1 Morse taper centre, or a fitting to mount 12-mm shank draw-in collets with a capacity of 1 to 9 mm. A neat combined sliding die and tap holder mounted on a collet draw-bar fitting was also offered. One unusual accessory was a lever-action tailstock, fitted with a spindle formed as the shaft of a 10,000 r.p.m. electric motor, and intended for drilling small holes. If required, faster motors could also be provided.
Should a milling capability have been needed a compound table could be mounted in place of the normal bed assembly: this had 2 T-slots and lever-operated longitudinal and vertical feeds (with stops) but a screw-operated cross feed. Other extras included a T-handrest, a 3-jaw chuck and a cast-iron floor stand; the makers also offered to manufacture special fittings to a customer's requirements and would, no doubt, also have modified the standard parts if necessary as well.
The Feinbau PM1 stood 1150-mm tall, occupied a floor space of 365 x 335 mm and weighed approximately 135 Kg..