Made in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s by the Milan-based Sicmatic Company, this type of semi-automatic and automatic copying lathe was a popular machine tool until the advent of NC controls in the early 1970s. Models offered included the Autosicmatic TRIAD, Autosicmatic DUMAX, Autosicmatic DUMID, Autosicmatic DUMOR, Sicmatic TRIAD, Sicmatic DUMAX, Sicmatic DUMIN and Sicmatic DUMOR.
All could mount either an original part to copy, or a specially-prepared template with the desired form.
The fully automatic machines could also be run under manual control, a useful adjunct to their capabilities if the component had some unusual or awkward form that required some adjustment in its completion. If set for fully automatic running, one operator could attend to several machines, their only job being to load and unload the components.
Once set in motion - and the patented pre-set depth-of-cut control adjusted - the Autosicmatic models could complete up to six cycles of the carriage and copying slides without any human intervention. Once the roughing work to a pre-set depth had been completed, the machines switched to a series of fine finishing cuts - with any number of up to six cuts at pre-set depths able to be performed at varying positions along the workpiece beforehand.
Although the machines were built by Sicmatic, they employed Italian-made "Duplomatic" hydraulic copying equipment - the oil used to drive the copying unit also bled off the lubricate the machine's slideways.