Thread: Wadkin PK Ripping Fence

I've search far and wide for pictures of details of the PK fence. The best pictures I've found so far are in Auscab's thread on CWW "A Wadkin PK in my back yard" https://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...ack-yard/page2

fetch-3.jpg fetch-2.jpg Jacob's fence off PK 1947 (of 1956), the fence on the right in each photo belongs to Auscab (and does not appear to be made by Wadkin).

There's no sign of that bolt, so I'm no wiser. Maybe it's a user modification - but for what purpose? The bolt extends into the dovetail groove, but is too narrow to be a guide, therefore I presume it had a dovetail end to lock the fence mechanism. But it is threaded in the casting, so a dovetail couldn't be tightened .

Cheers, Vann.

Looking further at Jacob's fence base, I see that his has two screwed-on keys that engage in the dovetail slot, to keep the fence aligned.

fetch-3.jpg

On my fence the "keys" are part of the casting - and are well worn.

F5.jpg

I might have to consider having a slot machined and fitting bronze keys, as fitted by Matt Matt and described in his CWW thread "What A Wadkin PK Great Day" https://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...eat-day/page30 (don't try reading the whole thread unless you've got a week free )

fetch-3.jpg fetch-2.jpg fetch-4.jpg Matt Matt's "ampro" replacement keys.

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

Also, the base casting of the fence has a bolt that is damaged, and I'm not sure what it's supposed to do...

F2.jpg F5.jpg The bolt head - posed for this photo today.

Turning the casting over, the stem of the bolt extends into the dovetail groove in the table.

F6.jpg F7.jpg

Anyone know?

Cheers, Vann.

Hi Vann.
What year is your saw ? The fence has the same PJ32 pattern stamp that is on my early saw .
Ill see if I can get a pic of my early fence . I don't remember a bolt being there though . Why is it sticking out in the under side direction ? The fence wont go on if its there of course. Could it be a user mod pre set sort of stop . so you could loosen and tilt the fence to the set up angle which stopped on the end of the bolt ?

One thing I wonder about the tilting fence on the PK is, Why have it ?? The tilt fence option.
The blade tilts and is much better and safer to do angled cuts with the blade tilted and not the fence.
Could it be because Wadkin used the saw fence from the PJ Saw and that never had tilt blade ? and they stuck with it ?

Rob

My guess would be like you said a user mod to try and fix the worn keyway on the base. The keyway stops any slop in the fence. Your fence is from an early saw but has a fine adjuster knob like the later fences. The two pins that the fence pivots on are fun getting out, on the later fences the dowel goes all of the way through so can be knocked out. On yours they have a threaded hole that you can use a bolt to wind them out.

Originally Posted by auscab

What year is your saw ?

1945.

Originally Posted by wallace1973

The two pins that the fence pivots on are fun getting out, on the later fences the dowel goes all of the way through so can be knocked out. On yours they have a threaded hole that you can use a bolt to wind them out.

Yes, that had me wondering for a bit. I didn't see a thread in the holes. I jammed a woodscrew in the hole and twisted each one out .

Originally Posted by auscab

One thing I wonder about the tilting fence on the PK is, Why have it ?? The tilt fence option.
The blade tilts and is much better and safer to do angled cuts with the blade tilted and not the fence.
Could it be because Wadkin used the saw fence from the PJ Saw and that never had tilt blade ? and they stuck with it ?

Hmmm. I hadn't considered that. I guess the tilt function is redundant - though in the back of my mind I think someone (Jack maybe?) did say it was still useful (can't remember what for though...).

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by wallace1973

My guess would be like you said a user mod to try and fix the worn keyway on the base.

Yeah I see . That sounds better than what I was suggesting.
Maybe its bent so the user can rotate it and set it to take out slack?

The fence off PKA 390 for comparison .

IMG_3656.JPGIMG_3657.JPGIMG_3658.JPG

Originally Posted by wallace1973

...a user mod to try and fix the worn keyway on the base...

Just to clarify: it's a worn cast key, rather than the keyway (I haven't checked the dovetail keyway for wear yet).

Auscab, thanks for the photos. Just looking at the differences:
- the micro-adjustment knob is turned steel, not cast (like a G1 PK);
- the four screws to align the fence plate are bolts wit locking nuts (on mine they're 1/2" x 1/2" Allen screws with a fine thread - 19tpi );
- the sliding tee handle to adjust the fence plate (mine just has a nut). I see in the "A Wadkin PK in my back yard" thread, that Jacob's PK fence has a small ball lever handle in this location;
- also in the "A Wadkin PK in my back yard" thread, I see that both your other PK fence, and Jacob's PK fence, have sliding tee handles to adjust the fence angle (to 45*) whereas I have a nut there too. So this is missing from mine.

But back to my bent bolt - I think it's safe to conclude that the bolt is a user mod - and can be dispensed with. I'll have to try the fence base in the dovetail keyway to see if replacement keys are required.

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

Auscab, thanks for the photos. Just looking at the differences:
- the micro-adjustment knob is turned steel, not cast (like a G1 PK);

Cheers, Vann.

Isn't that knob on my last fence pics , from PKA 390 a G1 knob?

I only know of two knob types and I thought this was the early one . Same as the UK PKA 266 I thought, but there is only an end shot of that.

IMG_4141a.jpeg$_57.JPG

left is PKA 405 AU. And right is PKA 266 UK

Rob

Originally Posted by auscab

...I only know of two knob types and I thought this was the early one...

Yeah my bad. I remembered (badly) that the knurled steel knob (1st type) was only found on G1 PKs, but having just checked the type study I see it is also on G2 PKs.

I've just finished trawling through photos of ~32 different PKs (yeah I know - I need to get a life...), about 20 of which showed some detail of the fence. The most common arrangement of handles and nuts is this:

PK97.jpg PK 1479 of 1952.

Only three or four had a different combination. So might look at getting another sliding tee handle made up.

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

I've just finished trawling through photos of ~32 different PKs (yeah I know - I need to get a life...), about 20 of which showed some detail of the fence.

Cheers, Vann.

Lol

I remember Jacob telling me he put the locking lever that's on his fence in place of a nut because he liked it there. He either got it off another Wadkin or somewhere off his PK ?

Rob