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The "Baby Zyto" (2.125" centre height by 10" between centres) was an attempt to produce a really simple little lathe but, during the 1920s and 1930s, it was in competition with many others and, despite costing only £2: 7 : 6 against the £8 : 2 : 6 of its bigger brother, few can have been sold and today is a very rare find. The lathe was manufactured in Sheffield by Portass.
Larger Zyto lathes.
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The 5" x 24" Zyto lathe was of conventional construction with a deep gap in the V bed, screwcutting with tumble reverse and a compact backgear system engaged by a lever which can be seen protruding below the faceplate. Power cross feed was fitted and the lathe was available for bench mounting (with a countershaft unit) or on the treadle stand illustrated; the saddle was T slotted. From its published description the lathe would appear to have been both well specified and equipped - and cost a little over three-times as much as the 3.375" model. The photographer obviously knew little about centre-lathe practice - witness the fully-forward position of the top slide. This lathe was also marketed using the IXL brand name and would almost certainly have been made by Ehrlich in Germany.
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The same lathe but fitted to a stand with the motor enclosed within the left-hand cabinet leg. The drive to a flywheels was a fad of the 1930s and resulted in a lathe was exceedingly slow to stop from high speeds.
Source;http://www.lathes.co.uk/
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