In comparison with the established Qualos 5-inch  the 4-inch centre height by 14-inches between-centres, backgeared, screwcutting and gap-bed Qualos "Junior" lathe was a very much more lightly built machine - though it still weighed around 172 lbs. It was obviously built down to a price that would appeal to the amateur market with substantial cost savings coming from the use of ZAMAK pressure die-castings for the apron, compound slide-rest end plates and even the carriage rack. In this respect it followed the lead of the American Atlas - but also went further, like the English-made but Atlas-based Sphere - with engineering plastics employed for the changewheels, headstock and countershaft pulleys, all the control wheels and even the leadscrew clasp nut. With so many components made in expensive-to-produce dies the makers must have expected the lathe to sell in sufficient numbers to recoup what must have been a considerable investment.
Despite these measures to cheapen smaller parts the main elements of the lathe were strongly built with the bed and headstock made as one piece and cast in the manufacturer's own foundry. The bed was unusually wide, divided into three "ways" with the saddle guided by the two narrow vertical surfaces formed at each side of the front way - exactly in the manner of early 7 Series Myfords - with a keeper-plate under its back edge. A gap was provided as standard and (though able to swing a piece of metal a full 12 inches in diameter and 33/16" thick on the faceplate), was carefully dimensioned so that a cutting tool was just able to reach across to the face of an standard 4-inch 3-jaw chuck without the carriage running over fresh air.
Fitted with a 5/8-inch bore, No. 2 Morse taper spindle running in conventional Timkin taper roller bearings the headstock was unusual in that its 4-step plastic V-belt pulley was able to be driven from either underneath or behind the lathe or by a special "fast-and-loose" overhead countershaft - any type of which could be ordered with the lathe and appear to have been included in the price. The makers recommended either a 1/3 or 1/2 h.p. motor. Although the ability to be driven from either underneath or behind left a surfeit of (weakening) openings in the headstock casting it did mean that changes of speed could be managed easily - although the backgear engagement pin (despite another hole left in the headstock for access) was awkward to release and (according to regular users) required more than the usual amount of fiddling to get home again. The rear element of the backgear slid into position and was secured in place by a simple hinged, drop-in strip. The drive gave eight spindle speeds that covered the majority of work likely to be encountered by the model engineer or small repair workshop:  32, 52, 81, 130, 260, 416, 650 and 1040 rpm.
Propelled by a large plastic handwheel working through a train of steel reduction gears the carriage was of substantial construction (even the ZAMAK apron was unusually heavy) and carried a compound slide rest fitted with a top slide that bore a strong resemblance to that used on the English Drummond M-Type with a side-mounted feed screw and the same style of awkward-to-read, rear-positioned degree scale. The cross slide carried 3 T-slots but, unfortunately, the cross-feed screw end bracket ended flush with the casting (instead of being cantilevered out to allow the bracket to pass over the ways as it moved to its most forward position), so limiting the slide's travel and restricting its usefulness when fitted with a vertical milling slide. Unaccountably, on the cross-slide, the loose gip-strip was on the thrust side of the casting (where it would have introduced unwanted flexibility) and the plastic handwheels fitted to both feedscrews were fragile, causing the owner of the Junior illustrated below replaced them with steel components. Drive to the ground-thread leadscrew (stated in the catalogue as having a pitch of 1/3") was by coarse-pitch plastic changewheels though a tumble-reverse mechanism that, as a cost-cutting measure, lacked a spring-loaded indent mechanism and required the operator to  laboriously unbolt it each time the drive required reversing or disconnecting.
Locked to the bed by a nut that required the services of a self-hiding spanner, the set-over tailstock was modelled on that fitted to the larger Qualos lathe with a 1-inch diameter, No. 2 Morse taper, self-ejecting barrel that was, unfortunately, locked by the simple method of closing down a long slot in the casting with a screw - though the makers were kind enough to include an insert so it could not be over tightened and snap the casting.
Supplied with the lathe were a countershaft unit (but not a motor), faceplate, catchplate, Morse centres and s set of changewheels: 20t, 24t, 28t, 32t, 36t, 40t, 44t, 48t, 52t, 60t and 63t.
Information on this model is scarce and if any reader has sales catalogues, photographs or other data the writer would be pleased to hear from you..

Qualos Junior with bed and headstock cast as one.  The gap was of unusually large capacity, but carefully dimensioned so that the tool was just able to reach across to the face of an standard 4-inch 3-jaw chuck without the carriage running over fresh air. With the light "ring-scroll" 3-jaw fitted to the example above the tool cannot quite reach.

Drive to the leadscrew was by coarse-pitch plastic changewheels though a tumble-reverse mechanism that, as a cost-cutting measure, lacked a spring-loaded indent mechanism and required the operator to  laboriously unbolt it each time the drive required reversing or disconnecting.

The relatively coarse pitch of the plastic changewheels is evident from this picture. Not even the spindle and tumble-reverse gears were given finer-pitch gears, a common arrangement on other lathes.

A compound slide rest assembly was fitted with the top slide resembling that used on the English Drummond M-Type with a side-mounted feed screw and awkward-to-read rear-mounted degree scale.

Locked to the bed by a nut that required the services of a self-hiding spanner, the set-over tailstock was modelled on that fitted to the larger Qualos lathe with a No. 2 Morse taper barrel but, unfortunately, locked by the simple method of closing down a long slot in the casting with a screw - though the makers were kind enough to include an insert so it could not be over tightened and snap the casting.