Thread: Wadkin PP restoration (the working man's PK)

I’ve always thought the PP was a improvement over the PK.
I had a PK and upgraded to a Martin but a PP would have been acceptable.
A mate here in Sydney had one from about 80 to when he sold up in 2010 approx.
It was lmaculate like all his gear.
I did miss out on one in the early 00s it was at an auction of machinery from Little Bay goal.
It was a rusty pile on a pallet and sold for about $300.
I was employed elsewhere and down sizing my ‘shop so didn’t bid.
Do you have any other Wadkin kit?
I get down your way occasionally and wouldn’t mind a sticky if that’s ok.
H.

Thanks for the tag photo.

I have a Tony (in Australia) down on the list, as owning PK 1277. I guess that's not you then?

Cheers Vann.

Re the missing balls.
On the compositors trim saws the ball cage is shorter than the table that slides in it.
You may be able to clarify if this applies to your PP, there was an American doing up a PP on the Canadian Woodforum.
H.

What a saw! And great pictures of it as well thanks Tony. I haven't read much about the PP so hope your putting up lots more.
Id like to see just how the fold down fence attached to the slider works. Do they have a brake ? Is that what the foot lever is ?
Do they take an 18" blade?
I was looking at the pictures thinking, "Imaging getting something like that from Wadkin new in a crate or two or three ? And putting a brand new one together " It would have been pretty special .
Rob

Hi,
There is a long detailed thread on the UK wood forum about a PP restoration, lots of pics . Might be worth looking at.

I almost bought a PP a few years ago in Canberra but it was a bit complicated sale & I didn't go ahead but then my Pickles came up a week later.

The PP is a step beyond the PK. Most are belt driven, though a few earlier ones were direct drive. I worked on a few when I was in the UK in the early 70's, a wonderful solid machine. Definitely a real score.

Have fun,
Alli

Originally Posted by clear out

I’ve always thought the PP was a improvement over the PK.
I had a PK and upgraded to a Martin but a PP would have been acceptable.
A mate here in Sydney had one from about 80 to when he sold up in 2010 approx.
It was lmaculate like all his gear.
I did miss out on one in the early 00s it was at an auction of machinery from Little Bay goal.
It was a rusty pile on a pallet and sold for about $300.
I was employed elsewhere and down sizing my ‘shop so didn’t bid.
Do you have any other Wadkin kit?
I get down your way occasionally and wouldn’t mind a sticky if that’s ok.
H.

The comment about the poor mans PK was tongue in cheek, the PP is a great saw. Seems to be much more interest in the PK's on the various forums. I have only been able to find a couple if PP restoration posts on the internet, one on the Canadian site and the other in the UK.

This is my only Wadkin but have couple of other old machines that I hope to do up in the near future. You will meet them then.
And if you are down this way and want to drop in you would be most welcome, as long as you will show me your line shaft setup when I get up to Sydney.

One of the PP restorations shows a photo of the plastic ball cage and I counted the balls several times and mostly got 33 which would correspond to the full length of the retaining plate that it sits in. The plastic cage appears to support the retaining plate and I think the slogged out holes in my plastic cage account for the retaining plate scraping on the chassis below. Both my plastic cages appear to have had one end cut off. Will try it at full length and if there is a problem can shorten it
Tony

Originally Posted by Vann

Thanks for the tag photo.

I have a Tony (in Australia) down on the list, as owning PK 1277. I guess that's not you then?

Cheers Vann.

I'd say there are two Tonys with PPs in OZ.

Originally Posted by auscab

What a saw! And great pictures of it as well thanks Tony. I haven't read much about the PP so hope your putting up lots more.
Id like to see just how the fold down fence attached to the slider works. Do they have a brake ? Is that what the foot lever is ?
Do they take an 18" blade?
I was looking at the pictures thinking, "Imaging getting something like that from Wadkin new in a crate or two or three ? And putting a brand new one together " It would have been pretty special .
Rob

G'day Rob
I am a bit surprised how little there is out there on these saws. They definitely seem to be the poor cousin is in collectors eyes. Or perhaps not many of them need a restoration yet.

Am interested in how the fence works myself. It doesn't lock properly at the minute so will need to pull it down and attempt to fix. Will post pictures when I get to it.
The foot lever is a brake and it also cuts power to the motor. They do take an 18" blade.
I am sure they would have looked very impressive brand new, but the excitement perhaps tempered a little by the cost. Would be interesting to know what they cost to buy new in their day.

Tony

Originally Posted by Allison74

Hi,
There is a long detailed thread on the UK wood forum about a PP restoration, lots of pics . Might be worth looking at.

I almost bought a PP a few years ago in Canberra but it was a bit complicated sale & I didn't go ahead but then my Pickles came up a week later.


The PP is a step beyond the PK. Most are belt driven, though a few earlier ones were direct drive. I worked on a few when I was in the UK in the early 70's, a wonderful solid machine. Definitely a real score.

Have fun,
Alli

Thanks Alli
Have checked out that post and his finished saw certainly looks fantastic.
Tony

Have put in several days of sanding, wire brushing, washing, masking , priming and painting and don't seem to have a lot to show for it. I find it a slow job. Will take several more days to finish the painting then things should come together fairly quickly.
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And it always feels good when I start reassembling.
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Gave the old name plate a wash and polish and it came up OK.

The belt tension adjuster wasn't working and the cause proved to be a couple of sheared screws.

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They were only 3/16 so drilled out the holes and re threaded for 1/4 screws. Although they were probably broken by someone screwing the adjuster without loosening the slide bolts it didn't look overly strong and this was an easy fix. Wouldn't be an easy job to fix if the saw was assembled.

Had a satisfying few days. Finished painting the internal castings. Massey Ferguson red.
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Have painted lots of fiddly bits as I live near the coast and any bare metal rusts.

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Now to start putting things back together.
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Rise and fall gearbox.
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This is pretty much where I got to tonight

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Still a couple of small bits to be painted now they are assembled. I spray the nuts and bolts with etch primer after cleaning and will put the final coat on them with a brush when assembly is complete.

Slow progress over the last week, numerous interruptions and a few fiddly bits.
Motor is now back in place. Painted it Massey Ferguson grey for no other reason than it was close to the original colour.

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Re doing the wiring and fixing up the brake are pretty much the only jobs left to be done under the table.

Started on the sliding table. The base section took quite a while to prep for painting, lots of difficult to access bits. The sliding table runs on steel balls held between of two rows of steel rods. There are four pairs of the steel rods, one on each side of the slider table and one on each side of the base. Some of the earlier photos show this prior to disassembly. Will probably make more sense in a few days when I post photos of the reassembly.
The steel rods had a slight flat spot, where the balls run, so pulled them out and rotated them a little to a fresh section. On the base, the rods are held in place by a flat plate as shown at the top of the photo below.
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One of the rougher rods below.

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Tony

Wadkin refer to the base of the sliding table assembly as the intermediate slide. Steel rods that make up the linear bearing have been cleaned and rotated to present a clear face and the intermediate slide painted.

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Now the sliding table gets the same treatment. The two linear bearings on the sliding table are a slightly different arrangement than the intermediate slide with removable rails carrying the linear bearings shown below. This allows for adjustment of the rails to remove any play in the sliding table. Note adjusting screws on the side of the linear bearing.

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To remove the rods, the centre spacing strip had to be prised out. The linear bearing went back together quire easily, layb the rids up each side and then tap in the spacing strip to lock the rods in place.

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Linear bearing reassembled on a painted sliding table.

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The steel bridge sits between the sliding table and the intermediate slide and holds the two plastic bearing cages in place.

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The old plastic bearing cages were slogged out and had been shortened. This was allowing the steel bridge to drag on the intermediate slide.

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Sourced two High Density Poly strips 25mm by 3mm and drilled them to take the 3/8 balls as per the originals.

Made a jig to clamp on the drill press to keep the holes centred and uniform.

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Tony

Followed the steps in the Wadkin manual for installing the sliding table and it went nigh perfectly. Had a mate come over and help as supporting the sliding table and inserting balls into both linear bearings is damn near impossible for one person. I didn't get any photos of this as once we started we were focused on the job and didn't stop.
Couple of end on photos of the sliding table installed at both extents of its travel with the steel bridge showing.

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A few adjustments on the preload for the linear bearing and the table was running like a Swiss watch.

Below is the foot brake assembly with a stop switch to cut the motor and the brake cable to actuate a brake on the spindle pulley.
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Had a mate whose a sparkie come around and check the wiring. Had been waiting on him for a week or three; curious that someone who is highly intelligent and was one of the maths guru's at school finds time such a confusing concept. With that the table could go back on.

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Even if I say so myself it's looking pretty good.