Manufactured by Perkis & Hayes (Engineers) Ltd. of 147 Tarring Road, West Worthing, Sussex, the 4.5-inch centre height  "Perhays" looks to have been made during the 1940s and early 1950s - although its general antique appearance was more akin to a lathe from the late 19th century. Almost certainly assembled in a small factory converted from a stable block at the rear of a Victorian terrace, the lathe was available in standard and long-bed forms able to accept, respectively, 24" and 36" between centres. Although of simple design and construction it was properly built from cast iron and steel with an absence of the cheap fittings normally found on such simple machines. The general specification was impressive with the bed having a very deep gap that allowed a disc of wood 18" in diameter (but only 3" thick) to be turned. Fitted with a square-thread, 1" x 12 t.p.i. Nose with a No. 1 Morse socket, the spindle ran in plain bronze bearings lubricated through simple flip-top lubricators. The outside end was threaded 12 t.p.i. left-hand and intended to accept - instead of the expected bowl-turning attachment - such things as emery wheels and polishing mops. The spindle carried an  3-step V-pulley in aluminium with diameters of 5", 4" & 3" to take a full-size "A" section (1/2") wide belt, an arrangement that would have guaranteed a long and trouble-free life. As on many other wood-turning lathes of the era, the makers offered a neat saw-bench unit to mount on the left of the headstock; the rise-and-fall 12" x 9" table was in cast-aluminium and the arbor took 6 and 8-inch diameter blades.
For metal and precision wood-turning jobs, a compound slide rest was offered; this had small, non-zeroing micrometer dials and a 360° swivel top slide of limited travel - instead of the much longer type normally fitted to plain lathes. With a useful No. 2 Morse taper, the 1" diameter tailstock spindle was bored clear though - to act as a long-hole boring support - and fitted with a square thread that passed though a large diameter but smooth-edge handwheel that lacked any form of handle to aid grip
A proper stand was offered, this being welded up from angle iron and flat strips with a large storage drawer and carried the drive system - a strong countershaft unit with its swing head equipped with self-aligning bearing housings, the unit resembling that offered for the Myford ML2 and ML4 lathes. Bolted to the back of the stands headstock-end leg, the countershaft could be equipped with a cast aluminium guard to shield the motor-to belt run - though nothing was listed to hide that driving the headstock. The countershaft assembly was also available in a version for bench mounting..

Perhays on the maker's stand with saw-bench attachment, compound slide rest