Based in the town of Louvroil, a commune in the Département du Nord of northern France close to the Belgium border, the Smal  Machine Tool Company had their factory at 60, Route D'Avesnes, a site now occupied by a supermarket.
Listed during the late 1930s and into the 1940s, the Smal AM.235 lathe had a centre height of 235 mm, a maximum capacity over the carriage of 315 mm and could be in capacities to take 1000, 1500, 200 and 2500 mm between its centres. The bed was made from what the makers described as a "Special, hard, tight-grained cast iron" with a hardness of 200 to 220 Brinell. It could be had as a straight type or fitted with a detachable gap piece to admit a diameter of up to 710 mm. The gap piece was not just bolted into place, but also aligned precisely by conical taper pins. The front and back walls of the bed were braced by a series of diagonal ribs, these not only stiffening the structure but were also claimed to dampen vibration.
The bed was carried on two heavy plinths in cast iron, these being box-shaped with widely splayed feed for improved stability.
Partially protected from chips by long slide covers fixed to the front and rear of the carriage, the asymmetrical V and flat ways of the bed were accompanied on the back surface by a T-slot intended for the mounting of a either taper turning attachment or a hydraulic copying unit.
Of the all-geared type and providing 12 forward and 6 reverse speeds in geometric progression, the headstock held gears in nickel-chromium steel, with rectified teeth and carried on hardened and ground splined shafts. Lubrication was by a simple oil bath with a sight glass provided to check the level.
Machined from a forging, the hardened and ground spindle rotated in adjustable, plain bearings, carried a No.4 Morse taper socked and was fitted with the recently-introduced American Cam-Lock safety nose in a size D1-6.
Power was provided by a 7 h.p. 1500 r.p.m. motor mounted inside the headstock-end plinth and driving the headstock input pulley by V-belts - the drive passing through a multi-disc clutch that also acted as a means of instantly reversing the spindle or braking it. Control of the clutch was by the third-rod system, with a lever to the right of the screwcutting gearbox and a second pivoting from the right-hand face of the apron. Electrical control was by simple start and stop push-buttons, fixed to the front of the gearbox and so within easy reach of the operator. However, typically for the period, there was no form of emergency quick stop fitted.
Operated by the usual sliding tumbler and two levers, the Norton-type quick-change gearbox provided 40 inch and 40 metric pitches, the former from 2 to 28 t.p.i. and the latter from 1 to 14 mm with a single lever used to swap between the two.
40 rates of power sliding and surfacing feed were available, the former from 0.054 to 0.75 mm/minute and the latter from 0.046 to 0.64 mm/minute.
With its axial thrust taken by a pair of ball races in the tailstock end bearing, the 40 mm diameter leadscrew could be had with a pitch of 4 t.p.i. or 6 mm. Like nearly all commercial lathes at the time, the leadscrew could be disengaged when not screwcutting, leaving just the power shaft to rotate. Lubrication of the gearbox was by a centralised system that also provided oil to the leadscrew clasp nuts. An additional benefit was provided by a "quick-step" mechanism inside the twin-walled, oil-bath-lubricated apron that multiplied the screwcutting pitches and power feeds rates by a factor of eight.
With the bedways passing a little in front and behind the headstock - and combined with the shorter saddle wings facing the chuck, the forged-steel and indexing, 4-way toolpost could be brought right up to the spindle nose.   
Fitted close to the cross-slide handwheel was a small lever to lock a series of selected settings, the makers claiming that this arrangement facilitated series work and avoided the need to read off the micrometer dial for each job. Also fitted was a handy cross-feed threading stop. Made in stainless steel, the large diameter micrometer dials, reading to 5/100 mm, were intended to be easily read with their gradation lines set 2.5 mm apart. 
The Net weight for the 1000 mm lathe was 2050 kg with approximately 180 kg to be added for each extra 500 mm of bed length. Net weight for the heaviest 2500 mm model - which was mounted on heavier plinths - was however around 2700 kg.
Accessories included 4-Morse taper centres, 3 and 4-jaw chucks, fixed and travelling steadies, a light-duty faceplate-cum-4-jaw independent chuck, a dividing plate to cut multi-start threads, taper turning, hydraulic copying, a coolant system including pump, trapezoidal belt, removable tank and piping and a set of changewheels to extend the range of the screwcutting gearbox and generate diametral and module pitches..
Si vous avez un fraiseuse Smal ou des publications à ce sujet, veuillez contacter Tony Griffiths. Je vous remercie.