Having established their first model in production, a second was introduced, the Duo Lathe this being slightly larger than the original ManSon and a more fully-developed machine with backgear and a built-in multi-speed countershaft. Shortly afterwards a third machine joined the line-up, the very rare, less expensive "MonoLathe" - this being a version of the DuoLathe intended just for simple plain-turning work with the bed (but not the stand) painted in rather a fetching crackle black (a finish often used until around the mid-1950s to indicate a machine of better-than-usual quality). While the MonoLathe retaining the backgear and a ball-bearing supported collet-holding headstock spindle, it lacked a carriage assembly and leadscrew - the maker equipping it with just a tip-over toolrest. Without a bed rack - the normal place for the serial number to be stamped - on the MonoLathe this was punched (prefixed by J9) into the left-hand face of the main body, to the lower right-hand side - and so not visible when the end cover is in place. Electrical control was by a rheostat foot unit, not unlike that used on a sewing machine, with a reversing switch on the back face of the bed. Few examples of the MonoLathe can have been made, the highest serial number so far encountered being 110; indeed, so slow must sales have been that a number were converted by the manufacturer to DuoLathe specification - which could be the explanation for why, very occasionally, an example of the black-bed model is found - the rarest and so most collectable ManSon of all..
Should any reader have a MonoLathe, or a DuoLathe with the black bed, the writer would be interested to hear from you..