From 1918 until 1922, the famous American A.C. Gilbert Company of New Haven Conn., offered (amongst a wide variety of tools sets, models kits and similar items) a set of miniature machine tools including lathes, a tiny drill press, a punch press, a grinder, and a jig saw. All were functional and able to be used independently by either the maker's little P-58 motor or, if run together, a larger 1700 r.p.m., 110-volt. 2.75 Amp AC or DC motor. It is believed that many of Gilberts miniature machines were sourced from or made by Knapp toy machine tools.
At least four lathes were offered, two smaller ones each around 9 inches long and 5 inches tall that appears to have been well-presented machines with a black "Japanned" finish and some parts nickel plated. One had a box-form bed (shown in the advertisements below) while the other - illustrated at the bottom of the page - had a more conventional bed with feet at each end. One of the much larger models had a bed 24 inches long, a centre height of 2.5 inches and came complete with an electric motor that formed the headstock. This lathe could also be supplied without the motor and, in its place, a 3-step V-pulley for drive by a round belt in rubber The direct-drive version was priced at $8.95 but the belt-drive one at a considerable saving  - just $3.95.
The final Gilbert lathe known about was the "Portable Electric", this being driven by a detachable electric drill - exactly like the post-WW2 types from the American Cummings, the German Bosch, the English Picador, some French Siame machines - and even versions of the wonderful Swiss metal-working Astoba. Might the Gilbert have been the first lathe to be powered in this economical way?
As can be seen from the advertisements below, the smaller "box-bed" lathe was mounted on a base, this being used to hold - behind the headstock on slots for belt tensioning purposes - the 2.75 Amp and, at extra cost, a small vise at the tailstock end of the bed. A range of useful accessories was also offered including a faceplate, chuck, tailstock drill chuck, a "sabre saw" (a vertical scroll saw), a grinding wheel, an adjustable mitre gauge, three turning tools and a saw bench. With every accessory - and in a ready-to-run state (even to nuts, bolts and washers) - and with a shipping weight of 38 lbs, the total price delivered to the door of one very excited boy was $18.98.
One very interesting extra - and seldom found - was a type of factory line shafting, this being in the form of an "A" frame and used to connect the machines together just as in a real, commercial workshop and presumably like that provided for the similar Knapp toy machine tools.