If Unknown Lathe No. 96 can be described as "...of the very simplest, most basic  kind.." - then this little lathe almost defies description. Although its make and origin are unknown - though the latter is suspected to America - it may be, as there are two accommodating holes in the cast base behind the headstock, that in its original form it had a built-on countershaft unit. While the use of a single-step pulley to take a round belt would have seem an odd fitting when a 3 or 4-step could just as easily have been fitted, it does appear to be original, the same black (plastic?) being used as bosses on the locking screws that secure the, headstock, tailstock and T-rest to the bed. There is always the possibility that this was "special-use" machine intended for just one specific job - or work on something that was passing through a production process..