More info on these lathes can be found here...

ManSon Lathes

I've seen a number of these but always as collector items; I've never heard of anyone actually using one to make something. They first appeared after the war so they weren't designed for some obscure armament job. They're too small to be really useful for modelmakers and too expensive as well. Who was the target market?

As tools go, the Unimat and Sherline are far more useful. Nevertheless, I'd love to have one to display on my mantel.