Although Russia has produced a huge variety of industrial lathes, their centralised industries with many manufacturers producing identical models, have not been known for their interest in smaller ones, especially those intended for the model engineer or home-shop enthusiast.  Some copies of German lathes were manufactured for watch, clock and instrument manufacture and repair including the "GODOVIKOV" (based on the Boley No. 1b), and a screwcutting version of the same machine the Model T-11; the "T-28" (modelled on a 10mm collet Schaublin) together with a little watchmaker's lathe, the "KHARKOVSKI" - a direct copy of a  6mm Lorch copy. However, one enterprising designer obviously saw the export potential for a small, very-well equipped machine able to turn both metal and wood to be sold at a bargain price and designed the "Universal 3 Inches" - as it was known in some markets and the "Delphin Universal-3 Bench Machine Tool" in Australia.
The current manufacturer is "OAO Michurinskiy Zavod Progress" - which means "Factory Progress" with the first part of the name chosen in memory of the Russian scientist Michurin who was famous for breeding many new strains of plants. The company's main products appear to be electric motors and compressors; their telephone number might be: (07545) 2-11-60, 2-12-98.
Although sold in many countries the "Universal 3 inches" remains a little-known, unappreciated  machine though it appears to have been developed as a workman like job in a modern style. Not all examples of the lathe discovered so far have been identical, and minor modifications have been evident to various parts, so it is entirely possible that more than one factory has been responsible for their construction.
The "Universal" has a most unusual feature, a bed where the main section is constructed from a length of ground-finished 50 mm diameter steel bar held between the end walls of a cast iron "frame" with the rear part of the bedway formed by the top edge of the frame's back "wall".
The leadscrew runs down the front of the bed and is protected by a deep, full-length cover; there are no clasp nuts, the leadscrew being permanently engaged with the carriage by what used to be called a "full nut". A form of tumble reverse is fitted to the carriage drive, built, rather unusually, into a casing situated at the left-hand end of the leadscrew.
The swing over the bed is 150 mm (a 3-inch centre height) and over the carriage 90 mm; the capacity between centres 250 mm (10 inches) and the No. 2 Morse taper headstock spindle, which runs on taper roller bearings, has a bore of 15.2 mm (0.5"). The original models had a 0.5 kW motor, though more recent machines have been equipped with an improved 0.75 kW version; in both cases 9 spindle speeds are provided, ranging from a much-too-high 200 rpm, to a more useful, if seldom used, 3000 or 3200 rpm that is really fitted to make the lathe suitable for wood turning.
No backgear is fitted; instead, following modern practice (as on Hobbymat and Unimat lathes for example), a 4-step overhung pulley is fitted on the end of the headstock spindle driven either directly from the motor or, to obtain the full speed range, by running belts from the motor pulley to an idler pulley positioned below and then back up to the spindle pulley. It may even be that the headstock spindle pulley is intended to be reversed (with the changewheels removed for clearance) to obtain and even wider speed range. A jockey pulley (visible between the motor and intermediate pulleys) is provided to press against the back of the V belt to provide tension in the low speed range.
The tailstock, though robust looking, contains a barrel with a miserly 30 mm of travel - and a hopelessly inadequate No. 1 Morse taper nose.
As standard, the machine is very well equipped, being supplied with the accessories necessary to convert it into a tool grinder, a simple boring and milling machine (with a vertical-milling slide), a wood lathe, a 35 mm-depth capacity circular saw, a wood planer capable of machining material up to 85 mm wide and an "Alternating" saw.
Besides the conversion equipment, a 3-jaw chuck, tailstock chuck, machine vice, drive dog and No. 2 to No 1 Morse taper adapter also accompany each machine together with a set of Carbide and Ti-Nitride HSS cutting tools, a decent tool kit, a set of changewheels to cut metric threads (from 0.2 to 2.5 mm pitch) and two dead and one rotating centres; of course, this accessory list is subject, of course, to the usual change without notice. The overall length has been seen listed at both 670 mm and 825 mm, the width 410 mm and the height 285 mm; when stripped, the basic machine weighs just 60 Kg whilst the accessory kit adds a further 30 to 35 Kg. In the early 1990s the lathe was priced at around US$800 - a comparative bargain considering the rigid construction and large number of standard accessories.
Today, several versions of the lathe appear to be manufactured with the two main variants being an industrial "light-production" unit the other a conventional screwcutting centre lathe with a compound slide rest; both are very similar in overall construction but the industrial lathe has a lever-action, quick-release collet chuck and a six-station, bed-mounted capstan fitted as standard.
The other models are (in so far as they can be translated):
TN-ymb - a basic model with the minimum tool kit
TN-ymby - the lathe fitted with several extra (unspecified) "universal devices and adaptations"
TN-ym - complete with all the accessories except the "swivel head" and quick-release collet holder
TN-ymr - a basic model with a quick-release collet holder and a bed-mounted capstan unit.
TN-ymrp - another version with a quick-release collet holder and a bed-mounted capstan unit.
Another little known machine of eastern European origin is the miniature TOS precision lathe which, whilst of a completely different design to the Russian machine, was also marketed some years ago with a vast accessory range and at a bargain price..