Produced until 2003, the Sorby lathe was manufactured in-house at the Company's main works in Athol Road on the west side of Sheffield, South Yorkshire - just a few hundred yards away from what used to be the well-known Portass lathes works. Apart from industrial-sized examples, by the 1980s the Sorby was one of the very few English woodturning lathes left on the market that was not only properly designed but also carefully engineered from top-quality materials and assembled by skilled men.
Based on two hard-chromed solid steel bars, the 6.5-inch centre-height lathe had a very heavy headstock constructed (as were all the other cast parts) from a strong spheroidal-graphite iron; three bed lengths were available offering 24, 36 and 48 inches between centres.
The No. 2 Morse-taper headstock spindle ran in sealed-for-life ball races and could be supplied with either a 1-inch x 8 t.p.i English or two metric pitches of 33 x 3.5 mm and 24 x 2 mm. (on metric threads the 3.5 mm and 2 mm are the distance between two thread crests. Drive was by a 5-step Poly-Vee belt from a headstock-mounted hinged motor plate that carried either a 1 h.p., 1425 r.p.m. single speed motor (with a no-volt safety starter) or a DC variable-speed unit with electronic control; with the former the spindle speeds were a useful 265, 550, 950, 1500 and 2400 r.p.m. - and with the latter a more impressive 0 to 3000 r.p.m. Although the DC motor-equipped version would run through the entire speed range without the need to change belt position, the lathe retained the complete 5-step pulley arrangement of the standard model; this had a considerable advantage, for, by positioning the drive belt on the pulleys normally used for the slowest speed, the torque was greatly enhanced and the top speed physically limited to a maximum of 360 r.p.m. - thus making the turning of very-large diameters a much easier and safer proposition.
Able to be rotated through 360 degrees, the headstock assembly was secured to its base by a positive "cam-lock" mechanism which (unlike those on cheap imported contemporary lathes) clamped it to the baseplate with absolute security. Turning the headstock through 90 degrees - and passing the bed rails through its base - allowed the optional large-diameter bowl-turning rest to be mounted. If the headstock was rotated through 180 degrees to face in the opposite direction to normal - and the lathe fitted with variable speed drive and some type of independent, remotely-mounted tool rest - the possibility of turning very large diameters indeed became a real possibility.
Equipped with a hollow, No. 2 Morse taper barrel that allowed it to be adapted as a steady to assist with long-hole boring, the tailstock was clamped to the bed rails by the same type of quick-setting handle as used on the lathe's other fixtures - the design allowed the operating angle to be instantly changed by simply by lifting the lever from its splines and letting it spring down into a new position.
A wide range of accessories was available including a special roller-bearing tipped fixed steady to assist with long, slender work and a very interesting eccentric chuck which could be not only be used in ordinary faceplate and screwchuck modes but also in combination with a hexagonal ball-and-socket driver that allowed the workpiece to be angled at up to 20 degrees away from the spindle axis. The versatility of the device was explained in a 12-page instruction manual..