Typical of the beautifully constructed, smaller Milnes lathes as sold from 1918 to the late 1920s (and clearly a development of earlier machines) the Milnes below shows evidence of the centre height being "built up in the sand" - the castings for headstock, tailstock and the topslide all being noticeable increased in depth. However, despite this shortcut to improved capacity, the lathe retains all the trade marks of a high-quality machine - with even the headstock pulley being sufficiently heavy and thick enough to allow re-machining to accept a V-belt drive.
Of unusual arrangement, the bed ways consisted of an inverted V at the front with a long, narrow vertical surface and, at the rear, a flat shared with the tailstock. Whether the saddle also sat on the flat nearer the front (also used by the tailstock) is uncertain but the design appears to have moved away from the usual concept of saddle and tailstock running on their own ways.