Sold from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, the powerful Adcock & Shipley Model 3S bed-type universal milling machine was offered in three versions, the "3S Basic" having 18 rates of power feed to the table and rapids on all three axes. This model was intended for general engineering work on single components or short-run batches.
The "3S Table Sequence" version incorporated the facility to program a set of table travels that allowed batch work to be carried out more efficiently. The system had the faculty for skip milling, full or half-cycles to the left or right, spindle braking and a centre stop position for pendulum milling - the latter being a system where the machining process was continuous.
Top of the range was the "3S Full Sequence", this having picture-frame milling, spindle braking, extra-fine-feed for higher accuracy positioning, cutter relief by ram retraction or elevation of the head and all the cycles of the table-sequencing machine - but with the centre-stop facility as an optional extra. In addition, the maker could incorporate arrangements for continuous milling and an automatic indexer integrated into the electrical-control circuit.
In 1976 the 3S Basic was listed at £17,976; the 3S Table Sequence at £19,151 and the 3S Full Sequence at £20,224.