wadkin fd series four sider

[bcoz]

Hi All,
Looking at buying an old Wadkin four sided moulder FD series which has the old square cutter blocks and wondering if anyone has used one or has any advise. They're a good old solid machine - this one needs the electrics going over but for 1500 bucks its pretty attractive to a lucas miller with an excess of timber & heaps lined up to cut.

Any advise greatly appreciated.

[West OZ Mark]

Hi Bcoz,

I have a Wadkin 5 head moulder that I bought a couple of years ago and haven't used yet so cant help with info on setup but my problem was that my workshop has 3 phase power but cant handle the amount of amps I need to get the 5 motors running at once. Would be Worth while talking to an Electrician to make sure you have enough amps unlike myself. :(
I tracked a manual down on the internet for mine with some searching which was a bonus and needed. It had a lot of info on setup. Make sure all parts are there. Could be an expensive exercise if you need to do a lot of work to it.
If you get it and need any info in particular give us a PM and I with copy some pages for you as the manual is a lot of pages.

.....Mark

[Stopper]

I agree. Make sure you have the amps first. My first moulder was a wadkin 7 header and I still have it in the back shed. Old machines are cheap. It's the installation, dust extraction and tooling that increase set up costs. Check what tooling comes with it. Cutters are expensive. A set of tungsten decking cutters will set you back $550. (4 profiled knives). Then you need the straight knives.
Check the bed for wear. It will give you an idea how much work the machine has done. Try and get a picture of the original to compare for missing bits. Replacement parts are expensive.
Once you have your machine installed you can set up your cutters for the first run. This takes time and practise to get right. Once you are set up you will need a heap of timber cut to the right size to make the run worthwhile. Probably 4x1s oversize which aren't much fun to cut on a portable mill.

After all that ask yourself if your dressed (and dried) timber will be price competitive with the existing local suppliers. Sometimes its a lot easier to just sell it green off the saw.

However, having said that getting a moulder up and running smoothly is a hoot.:)

cheers
Steve

[Travis Edwards]

The Old square blocks are highly dangerous you would be better off getting moulding blocks made with brazed in carbide tips or at least serra-back blocks to suit it. One customer I made a set of cutters for a number of years ago nearly killed himself and my boss when they fired his machine up and it spat the newly made cutters, they ended up pinned deep into the wall after missing them both by a matter of a few inches. Needless to say after that we made him a set of profile blocks, with carbide braze in tips. if you are going to use high speed steel make sure it is serraback and your blocks match. however there are many mobs out there who make proper cutter blocks, and I can recommend Hughans saw service in WA, get Jim Penketh to make em.

FOR SAFETY SAKE DO NOT USE THE SQUARE BLOCKS UNLESS THEY ARE SET UP FOR SERRABACK CUTTER STEEL!!!!

[bcoz]

Thanks for the advise guys - greatly appreciated, will let you know how it goes

Cheers,

Ric