Thread: Haigh Chain & Chisel Mortiser - and more

Here's another brand I've never heard of before - a Gorta (made in UK).

Gorta2.jpg aGorta3.jpg aGorta4.jpg aGorta1.jpg

Cheers, Vann.

It's a one-man shop - note the guards . I couldn't find a maker's name on this. It looks to be about a 30" saw (forgot to take a tape to measure ).

aBS10.jpg aBS11.jpg aBS13.jpg aBS15.jpg It looks like it was once flat-belt driven.

aBS1.jpg "Sole Agent for New Zealand, N. Andrew. Wanganui"

Cheers, Vann.

He also had five Wadkins.

Firstly a Wadkin CK radio alarm - which has been out of use for some time. He mentioned that there were currently two Wadkin RAS listed on Trademe - one for $150 (relisted several times) and one for $2500 - so what's their value? Not enough to be worth selling!!

aCK1.jpg aCK2.jpg Somewhere in there is a Wadkin CK.

I couldn't get in there to find a tag.

Then there's this very nice Wadkin RD buzzer;

aRDd.jpg aRD2.jpg aRD3.jpg aRDb.jpg

RD 1048, test 41175, of 1951. Obviously in regular use. I didn't notice any ducting....

Cheers, Vann.

According to the Wanganui Herald of 1902, N. Andrew was the sole distributor of John Sutcliffe and Son woodworking machinery.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...H19021119.2.41

There is a mention of John Sutcliffe and Son on Graces Guide with a picture of a very similar bandsaw.
John Sutcliffe and Son
IMG_1235.JPG

There were three spindle moulders. All Wadkin. Two of them "specials".

Firstly:

aSpindle1b.jpg aSpindle1a.jpg aSpindle1c.jpg aSpindle1h.jpg

Wadkin EPA 1406S, test 5542 (pre-1937?).

Secondly:

aSpindle2f.jpg aSpindle2a.jpg aSpindle2h.jpg aSpindle2e.jpg aSpindle2c.jpg

Wadkin 139S, of 1946.

And lastly:

aSpindle3z.jpg aSpindle3y.jpg aSpindle3f.jpg

Wadkin EPA 884, test 11125, of 1938.

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

There were three spindle moulders. All Wadkin. Two of them "specials"...

Damned Specials, they're a pain - their test numbers don't fit the dating information available (although this one, marked "test 11/4/46" has just got to be 11th April 1946 !).

aSpindle2c.jpg

Cheers, Vann.

Vann, you are truly becoming the Wadkin whisperer of the South.
What makes a machine a "special"?

Originally Posted by hiroller

...What makes a machine a "special"?

I don't know for sure. I think it's a machine ordered with variation to spec., outside of the normal options.

The serial number then contains an 'S', and the test number seldom conforms with the normal pattern. It seems more common with spindle moulders than with other machines.

Cheers, Vann.

We have two bandsaws of that 'look'.
One has a 27" throat, (and a 2hp single phase motor), and the other 36" throat, with a 7hp, 3phase motor.
Both have their original line-shaft belt pulleys, too.
I'll have to go and check for a brand...

The 27" one used to belong the Broughtons, a coachbuilding business at Ipswich (Qld). They shut down during the WW2 and did not restart.
It was bought by a pattern-maker who worked for the Railways for a whiole, then for anyone who wanted pattersn for castings. Jim Farrel was his name.
He'd retired in about 1980. I bought it from him in about 1988.
The 36" beast used to belong an an agricultural machinery & implement maker just west of Dalby. I've had a senior moment and forgotten their name. A friend bought it at the liquidation sale, and I bought it from them 12 years later. It sounds like a helicopter taking off when you start it up!