One of the options offered by South Bend during the 1920s and 1930s was their "High Swing" range. These lathes used standard beds, headstocks, carriage and tailstock units, but with the centre height raised by a set of cast-iron blocks. Unlike other makers, who offered similar conversions,  South Bend ensured that, on their machines, by fitting the headstock block with a set of gears to connect spindle to leadscrew, the full range of threading and feeds remained intact. However, although very useful for specialised work, one drawback on all these models was the inability of the cutting tool to reach anywhere near to the outside of the largest diameter that could be swung - and the difficulty (with a standard countershaft and backgear) of reducing the job's peripheral speed to a safe level..