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Essbeco lathes were manufactured by S. Bjorklund and Company in Aktiebolag, Sweden. By the 1950s their product range covered general-purpose, toolroom, heavy-duty and large-capacity lathes of 8, 10, 12, 14, 17 and 20-inch centre height with one additional massive 24-inch (630 mm) model able to take up to 20 feet (6m) between centres.
Essbeco's smallest machine, the 7.5" (190 mm) centre height Model ABC 190, was a simple but well made lathe designed for use in training establishments and general workshop and could accept either 30, 40 or 60 inches (750, 1000 and 1500 mm) between centres; the basic model had no gap but the ABC190/G version was fitted with a removable bridge section that increased the maximum capacity to a disc some 23.375" in diameter.
All-geared, with 8 speeds from a usefully low 34 r.p.m to an adequately high 1000 r.p.m., the oil-bath splash-lubricated held a spindle running in taper roller bearings, bored through to clear a 1.625 inch (41 mm) bar and with an "American long-taper" in an LOO size. Drive was by two V-belts from a 2 h.p. motor neatly contained within the cast-iron headstock-end cabinet leg. Spindle speeds were controlled by two concentric levers mounted on the front face of the headstock with a lever operating the leadscrew reverse fitted to their left and the flange-mounted electrical control switch mounted immediately below and to their right.
A full screwcutting gearbox was part of the standard specification and able to generate, without changing or moving any gears, 32 English pitches from 3 to 44 t.p.i., 20 metric from 0.25 to 10.532 as well as 32 longitudinal feeds from 0.195 to 2.87 mm and 32 surfacing (cross feed) from 0.089 to 1.3 mm - both per revolution of the spindle. A separate power shaft provided the sliding and surfacing feeds. The changewheel drive to the screwcutting gearbox was protected by a shear pin and the tumble-reverse mechanism, for reversing the leadscrew drive, built into the headstock beneath the spindle where the fast-running gears could receive constant lubrication. Although the powershaft ran continuously, the 1.125 inch diameter leadscrew could be disengaged when not in use by use of a sliding gear at its headstock-end.
Though robust, the apron was only a single-sided casting, the gears running on overhung shafts with no provision for other than occasional lubrication by a pressure oil gun.
Locked to the bed with a permanently fixed lever working through a cam, the tailstock had a 1.75-inch (45 mm) diameter, No. 3 Morse taper graduated tailstock spindle was clamped by a proper compression mechanism that limited any deflection as it was operated.
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