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FIMAP (Fabbrica Italiana Macchine Aprilla) was manufacturer of high-quality, precision machine tools amongst which were centre and production lathes, jig borers and circular-table transfer machines.
Based in Aprilia, a province of Latina to the south of Rome, their machines were imported into the UK, in small numbers, by Acbars Ltd of 331-3 Walworth Road, London S.E.17.
Outside their native land, they were best known for the 8.5" x 45" or 60" (215 x 1143 or 1524 mm) TP-22 lathe, of which models several versions were produced, all based on a single design: the TP 20, TP22-A and TP 26-A with centre heights of 180, 220 and 260 mm (7", 8.7" and 10.2") respectively. All the company's lathes - standard, production and specialist - were V-bed types with either hardened or hard-chrome plated ways and built to what were described as tolerances a fraction of established Schlesinger. On many models the spindle speed was changed by a hydraulic mechanism incorporating a pre-selector, rotary control. With the lathe running, the following required speed could be dialled in, and as the spindle was brought to a stop, the selected speed was automatically engaged. Power sliding and surfacing rates were similarly selected, making it unnecessary to stop the lathe: the required setting was obtained by turning a dial, and the engagement was achieved by depressing a lever.
Constructed so that its ways continued past the headstock's front and back faces, the bed was immensely deep and heavily built. With the saddle wings overlapping the headstock, the toolpost could be brought right up to the spindle nose - yet with the 25.25-inch long cross slide being almost centrally positioned on the saddle, it was given complete and even support. As a beneficial side effect, wear over the most used section of the bed - by the chuck - was evened out, the load being spread along the 24 inches (610 mm) of saddle length. The bed was mounted on two massive cast-iron plinths, with a large pull-out chip tray filling the gap between them. Unfortunately, no storage was provided, and the designer was unwilling to compromise the structure rigidly by forming other than the most necessary opening in any face.
Using ground ways with and pressure-fed lubrication, the cross and top slides were immensely strong with the cross-feed screw running in its own oil bath and equipped with an exceptionally large micrometer dial fitted with a straight-pull face lock.
Bored through 2.25" (57 mm) and made from nickel-chrome steel, the spindle was nitrided, hardened and ground; it ran in three SKF bearings - that at the front being an expensive high-precision type with the other two of an ordinary commercial grade. A pair of taper-roller bearings accommodated the axial float.
The hydraulic pump used to power the speed and feed-section controls was also utilised to drive an oil pump that pressure lubricated both the headstock and the screwcutting and feeds gearboxes. As standard, the lathe was equipped with an ASA (American Standards) A6 nose, but for the English market, and optionally elsewhere, a Cam-lock fitting was available. Driven by a 7.5 or 12 h.p. motor (to the customer's choice) 16 speeds were available from 20 to 1600 r.p.m. - though one suspects that alternative ranges would have been available to special order - and with all rotating parts dynamically balanced, the lathe was exceptionally smooth running. Spindle start and stop were controlled by a third-rod system, with a lever pivoted from the right-hand face of the apron; one must assume, though it was not illustrated or described, that the longest bed model would have had this control duplicated at the headstock end of the control rod.
Entirely separate sealed gearboxes provided screwcutting and feeds, the latter being mounted directly beneath the former with all controls by rotary knobs - there being no open, sliding tumbler to admit dirt and swarf. 48 Whitworth pitches were available from 1/2 to 30 t.p.i., 48 metric from 0.5 to 30 mm and 48 module from 0.25 to 15. The nine rates of power feed rates varied from 0.0016" to 0.0315" (0.04 to 0.8 mm) for both sliding and surfacing - an unusual situation where normally one would have expected to find cross-feed set at a rate twice as fine as that along the bed. Each feed was engaged by its own lever - through safety friction clutches - with the carriage handwheel being weight-balanced and provided with a large micrometer dial.
Fitted with a 2.75-inch (70 mm) diameter hardened spindle with a No. 5 Morse taper, that tailstock could tackle the heaviest drilling jobs - yet had only one clamp holding it to the bed - with no auxiliary ratchet to provide a positive location.
A wide range of production accessories was listed, including special longitudinal, facing and heavy-stock removal models by Duplomatic, an automatic threading attachment supplied by Filematic, and the usual steadies, collets and micrometer carriage stops..Intended exclusively for production work, the TP-22-A-T version was a non-screwcutting lathe fitted with hydraulic trip stops on both longitudinal and cross feeds. Automatic-sequence electro-hydraulic or standard hydraulic copying attachments were normally fitted on this model, together with air-operated chucks and the option of a hydraulically-operated tailstock..
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