been mechanically automated, and machines of the 1860 type were retronymously called semi-automatic. From that time on, machines with fully automated cycles were usually called automatic screw machines, and eventually, in the usage of most people in the machining industries, the term screw machine no longer was used to refer to manual or semi-automatic turret lathes, having become reserved for one class of machine, the fully mechanically automated type. This narrow meaning of screw machine remained stable from about the 1890s until the 1950s. (Brown & Sharpe continued to call some of their hand-operated turret lathe models "screw machines", but most machinists reserved the term for automatics.) Within this class called screw machines there were variations, such as single-spindle versus multispindle, horizontal-turret versus vertical-turret, etc. With the advent of NC, screw machines diverged into two classes, mechanical and NC. This distinction continues today with mechanical screw machines and CNC screw machines. However, in shop-floor jargon, the term screw machine by itself is still often understood in context to imply a mechanical screw machine, so the retronym mechanical screw machine is not consistently used. Automatic chucker An automatic chucking machine is similar to an automatic screw machine; both use spindles in production. The use of spindles, which are able to drill, bore and cut the workpiece, allows several functions simultaneously on both machines. A key difference between the machines is that the automatic chucker handles larger work, which due to its size is more often chucking work and less often bar work. The Fay automatic lathe was a variant that specialized in turning work on centers. While a screw machine is limited to around practice, automatic chuckers are available that can handle up to chucks. The chucks are air-operated. Many of these machines are multispindle (more than one main spindle). Well-known brands of such machines have included National-Acme, Hardinge, New Britain, New Britain-Gridley, Acme-Gridley, Davenport, Bullard Mult-Au-Matic (a vertical multispindle variant), and Thomas Ryder and Son. Automatic chuckers are a class of machine tool specialized to narrow industry niches, such as OEM part suppliers to the automotive industry. They are limited in their economic niches to high-volume production of large parts, which tends to occur only at relatively few companies (compared to smaller work that may be done by small businesses). The market for such machine tools does not generally include local job shops or tool and die shops. Cam-operated chuckers