Manufactured in the steel city of Sheffield, England, the Roper & Wreaks lathe was not a general-purpose machine but one intended to assist with the machining of handles to fit those Sheffield specialities of cutlery, knives and edge tools. The device was the subject of patents, applied for in the period 1921 to 1924, in Great Britain (GB75,089), America (1510,771) and France (542,832). For details see here and enter the British or American numbers.  English, G. W. Nov. 18, 1920. Drilling-machines. - A work-holder which centres knife-handles, rods, &c. for drilling or centring consists of a slide 6 provided with uprights 11, 14, the latter being axially adjustable.
The work is held between cones in the upright 11 and in the member 16 by spring pressure 19 applied to a bar 20, which is adjustably mounted on parallel rods 18 sliding in the uprights and carrying the member 16 at their forward ends.
For releasing the work the slide is withdrawn by a lever 7 till the bar 20 abuts against a fixed stop 25, further withdrawal separating the cones and permitting the ejector 22 to enter the cone in the rear upright.
The forward upright is slotted to permit entry of the work and the rear upright carries a detachable face 13 which is similarly slotted to prevent the work from rotating. A cam or wedge may replace the springs for applying the gripping pressure.
A shoot 26 may be provided to lead away the work.
Other lathes made in Sheffield included Portass, Faircut, Adept, Flexispeed, Graves, Record, Sorby and Bunting.