Typical of the low-price "jobbing" lathes offered in trade catalogues such as that issued by the well known suppliers Burton, Griffiths & Co. Ltd. to garages and small repair shops during the first 40 years of the 20th century, the 6.5" x 24" or 36" 'Sterling'  nevertheless possessed some interesting features. The use of an overtly evocative name by the retailer can only mean that this was an imported machine and almost certainly, judging by the design of toolpost, gap-less V-bed (and the number of other machines from that country in Burton's catalogue) from the USA.
The general layout of the lathe followed contemporary practice for cheaper models in having changewheels for screwcutting (without the option of a screwcutting gearbox) that generated 3 to 40 tpi and no tumble reverse to isolate the drive from the leadscrew; the generation of left-hand threads also appears to have been impossible, there being no mention in the literature, nor evidence in the illustration, that a stud was provided to mount the extra changewheel required. A thread dial indicator was: "arranged in conjunction with the apron handwheel, greatly simplifying the chasing of threads"; this meant that either the makers were hopelessly ill-informed about the realities of the rack and 15/16" x 5 tpi leadscrew remaining in synchronisation or the carriage was driven along the bed by a gear working against the leadscrew; a solution often used on light lathes, but one that must be questioned when employed on one of this weight and capacity. The leadscrew was slotted along its length to drive an optional-cost power cross feed mechanism.
The simple headstock ran its high-carbon steel mandrel (with a 1.5"  x 10 tpi nose an inadequately-large 11/16" bore) in white bronze bearings of "large lead capacity" that were mounted on un-braced "posts" when many similar lathes had their stiffened by a raised front to the casting that rose to the centre of the bearing line. Strangely, despite the parsimony evident in other aspects of the lathe's construction, the headstock cone pulley held a set of epicyclic reduction gears within the its largest diameter. The gears, which provided a reduction ration of 4 to 1 against the more normal 6 to 1 of a conventional backgear, were engaged by a simple, exposed toggle lever and could be put into and out of mesh whilst the lathe was running; as a considerable bonus the spindle could also be stopped by moving the lever to a third position, a handy feature that allowed the very heavy flywheel to keep turning whilst adjustments were made to the job. The large amount of time wasted stopping a heavy flywheel and then bringing it back up to a working speed is one of the most serious disadvantages to any foot-powered lathe.
Because the carriage was arranged to run past the front of the headstock the 11-inch long saddle was able to be fitted with four equally-disposed T-slotted wings, so converting it into a perfunctory boring table. The cross slide positioned exactly in the middle of the saddle, where it was well supported and the tool forces spread more evenly along the bed. As standard only a plain (cross) slide was provided, but a compound slide rest was available as an option.
The set-over tailstock was heavily built and carried 1.25-inch diameter barrel with a No. 2 Morse taper and 1/16" ruler graduations.
The stand was of cast iron with a very large flywheel turning on a long pin that ran through both legs and which picked up power from both ends of the full-length foot pedal; the length of the pedal was such that both left and right-footed operation would have been possible, or two long-suffering apprentices might have been cajoled to stand side by side and provide sufficient power to cope with heavier jobs.
Supplied as standard with the lathe were: a useful T-slotted faceplate, fixed steady, guards for the changewheels, a set of spanners and either the treadle stand illustrated or a wall-and-ceiling countershaft unit to accept motor drive. Amongst the options available were metric changewheels, a six-station capstan turret, draw-in collet set, power cross feed and a vertical milling slide.
The lathe weighed 500 lbs in basic trim.