Thread: L. S. Barker Bandsaw ... heavy castings

Nice one, Peter - love that w-i-d-e table & clearance! I assume the resto included sealed bearings? 3HP ought to be heaps - my 17" has about that & sails through a 12" resaw with no sign of stress (unless the blade is very dull, which I confes it occasionlly is..... )
Cheers,

Noice one

From Pompei's, ?

You have a piece of Australia's, boat building history.

Lucky you.

Paul.

Great to see that photo.

I wasn't seeing any difference until you I saw you had written 32".

My version is the 36" - also distributed originally by McPhersons.

These pictures were taken at the business in Kenwick where it was part of a closing down auction. The auction was the same day as the Forest Products Division was auctioning whole trees, slabs, etc down in Harvey (150km away) ... and I wanted to be at both

I couldn't get to inspect the Kenwick auction before the day, even though it is only the almost to next suburb ... so I finished work at 8am Saturday ... went to Kenwick ... looked around - debated internally - and left a bid for $700 for the bandsaw. Then I drove down to Harvey to be at the FPD auction.

I met a guy at a petrol station on the way back home with a ute-full of jarrah and asked if he had been down to Harvey. He said no, he'd been at the Kenwick auction. "Do you know what the big bandsaw sold for?" I asked hopefully. "Dunno - about a grand I think". "Ohhhhh..... thanks".

So I forgot about it and just held on to my pictures I had taken with my phone.

The next day the auctioneer rang to say it was mine - I nearly fell over

Looking back maybe $700 might have been a bit high - but I would pay that over again. It has been great to use and learn from.

Cheers,
Paul McGee

Originally Posted by IanW

Nice one, Peter - love that w-i-d-e table & clearance! I assume the resto included sealed bearings? 3HP ought to be heaps - my 17" has about that & sails through a 12" resaw with no sign of stress (unless the blade is very dull, which I confes it occasionlly is..... )
Cheers,

Thanks Ian,
I'd bought a couple of the WEG 3hp motors, one for the saw, and another for a 12 inch Wolfenden Bros. buzzer ( pics of that one later....), and got a dud motor, so sent it back. Whilst waiting ages for the replacement to arrive, I ran it with an old 1 1/2 hp Crompton Parkinson motor, and was pretty pleased with how that went. I gave it a try on 10 inch wide piece of green / wet Banksia to resaw....it didn't hesitate!

Regards,
Peter

Originally Posted by HOOKED.UP

From Pompei's, ?

You have a piece of Australia's, boat building history.

Lucky you.

Paul.

Paul,
it was out the back, in the open, covered in bird-ship.
I think they made a deal on a job and got the saw a payment



Because it was behind the factory...we had to strip it down and get it out through this lane way.


Here's Matty lugging the guards out!



Here it is in bits, and loaded into the trailer and ute...





don't think I can add any more pictures here, so I will make another post with some pictures from inside the workshop!


Regards,
Peter

Originally Posted by HOOKED.UP

From Pompei's, ?

You have a piece of Australia's, boat building history.

Lucky you.

Paul.

Paul,
Click here for a bit of history of Pompei's boats link
And below are some pictures from inside the workshop.
You can just see Joe sitting amongst the rubble.
What a character he is, gnarled, stooped and sharp as any bloke I've met







Here are some of the machines.
I have got a buzzer the twin of this one.



I think this is a Barker...Matty???





Hope you enjoyed this look at the chaos in the workshop, it's like stepping back in time.
Regards,
Peter

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Great to see that photo.

I wasn't seeing any difference until you I saw you had written 32".

My version is the 36" - also distributed originally by McPhersons.

These pictures were taken at the business in Kenwick where it was part of a closing down auction. The auction was the same day as the Forest Products Division was auctioning whole trees, slabs, etc down in Harvey (150km away) ... and I wanted to be at both

I couldn't get to inspect the Kenwick auction before the day, even though it is only the almost to next suburb ... so I finished work at 8am Saturday ... went to Kenwick ... looked around - debated internally - and left a bid for $700 for the bandsaw. Then I drove down to Harvey to be at the FPD auction.

I met a guy at a petrol station on the way back home with a ute-full of jarrah and asked if he had been down to Harvey. He said no, he'd been at the Kenwick auction. "Do you know what the big bandsaw sold for?" I asked hopefully. "Dunno - about a grand I think". "Ohhhhh..... thanks".

So I forgot about it and just held on to my pictures I had taken with my phone.

The next day the auctioneer rang to say it was mine - I nearly fell over

Looking back maybe $700 might have been a bit high - but I would pay that over again. It has been great to use and learn from.

Cheers,
Paul McGee

Paul,
It is a brother to yours! .....the little brother
Yours is the twin to Matty's.
I gave $850 for mine, and would have liked to get it lower, but only because that was the "asking" price...but Joe was sticking to his price...the price is the price with him I'm still very happy with what I paid. $700 at an auction... you did pretty well I think.
I like you guards, see through, so you can sell the beautiful lines of the casting.
A few weeks ago i put a 1/4 inch blade on it and made a couple of corbels in Blackwood for my brother in-law. It was the first time I ever used a band-saw for a real job. It is a treat to use, and like you, I think it will be a great machine to learn on.
Attachment 187111 Attachment 187114

Regards,
Peter

Hi Lightwood.

Thanks very much for the link and the extra photos.
I have always wanted to meet these guys, but never have.

I hope your new/old machine takes pride of place in your workshop.

Paul.

Originally Posted by lightwood

I like you guards, see through, so you can sell the beautiful lines of the casting.

I don't know if worksafe would agree

Originally Posted by lightwood

A few weeks ago i put a 1/4 inch blade on it and made a couple of corbels in Blackwood for my brother in-law. It was the first time I ever used a band-saw for a real job. It is a treat to use, and like you, I think it will be a great machine to learn on.

Regards,
Peter

They look great! Excellent work.

I have taken quite a long time to get mine to do what I wanted .. slicing up large sections of tree. I bought a new blade fairly early on .. 5.5m long 25/30mm wide 20mm between teeth .. but only really got it performing when I made large guide blocks for it out of marri and built a decently high+square+stable fence.

I have attached my closest approach to artful woodwork ... some straight cuts

The tyres on the wheels are old, hard, flat and chunks missing ... still works great. I had a quote of $500 to replace them ... would love to know if someone knows of a better source.

Cheers,
Paul McGee
"Adepto is rectus secundo"

I forgot to say I am found some BIG offcuts at the local steel-dealers so am trying out ideas to extend the work surface further in front of the blade ... it isn't even level at this stage.

I'd like to get some sort of rolling "table" or sub-table happening ... but that's longer term.

All this got me thinking about how things usually work out - so I have adopted this motto: "Adepto is rectus secundo" ... Get it right the second time

Cheers,
Paul McGee

Originally Posted by lightwood

Because it was behind the factory...we had to strip it down and get it out through this lane way.


Regards,
Peter

I read the words before loading the pictures.

When I saw your photo of the 'laneway' I laughed and laughed and laughed.


The test of the true tool looney

Pete, I thought everyone would benefit from a little history trip, and some general knowledge on Barker machines, hope I'm not stealing the lime light too much, Its an epic post, some stuff pulled from the net but most from information I have collected along with machines I have owned over the years.
Here goes.......
Thomas McPherson was born in 1822 in Kingussie, in Inverness, Scotland. Like many Scotsmen of the period, McPherson decided to immigrate to Australia to try his luck in the newly established colony. McPherson arrived in Melbourne in 1852. McPherson launched his own business on Collins Street west, acting as a supplier for pig iron to the local foundry industry. The pig iron stock was brought in by trading ships coming to Australia to bring back wool and wheat to the United Kingdom. McPherson's dealings with foundries led him to develop other trade streams, such as supplying equipment and machinery and parts for workshops, machine tools, steam engines, and the like. By 1860, McPherson's business had evolved into a general hardware wholesaler and retailer. In that year, McPherson renamed his business as Thomas McPherson & Sons.
McPherson continued building the business into the latter half of the century, while becoming a prominent citizen in his own right--becoming a council member in the 1860s, and even serving a brief stint as mayor in 1870 before going on to become a member of the Australian parliament. The company grew in stature as well, and in 1881, son Hunter McPherson opened the company's first branch in Sydney at 51-65 Bathurst Street.
Thomas McPherson died in 1888 and left William, his brother Edward and Hunter in charge, after Edward's death (1896) William became sole proprietor.

The company continued to operate as a wholesale and retail merchant to the hardware, building, and industrial trade. But the company also began a transition into becoming an industrial company in its own right. Indeed, McPherson's willingness to reinvent itself remained a company hallmark into the 21st century. The company marked this change by reincorporating in 1913 as a proprietary company, McPherson's Pty. Ltd. The company remained based in the state of Victoria, but increasingly began to focus on sales throughout Australia.
By 1930 McPherson’s had outlets in most capital city 536-566 Collins St. Melbourne, 116-130 Waymouth St Adelaide, 532 Murry St Perth and Sydney as mentioned.
By the early years of the 20th century, McPherson's had emerged as leading manufacturer and supplier of metal fasteners, fittings, and components. As such, the company participated in a number of landmark public works projects, including the building of the Transcontinental Railway--the company produced the entire dog spikes needed for the 1,200-mile railroad, completed in 1917, which connected the country's coasts and made possible the formation of the Australian Commonwealth. McPherson's also manufactured the five million rivets needed to build the Sydney Harbor Bridge, a project launched in 1926 and completed in 1932.
McPherson's also became an important contributor to the Australian war effort in World War II, converting much of its production to the manufacture of machine tools.
In 1937 McPherson’s acquired an interest in Patience & Nicholson Ltd, makers of engineers' cutting tools, and provided the base capital for production of twist drills. Along with next year sponsoring the project and McPherson's supplying the capital, the Wiltshire File Co. Pty Ltd was launched in association with (Sir) Frederick Wiltshire.
On 5 December 1944 McPherson's converted to a public company, McPherson's Ltd, and in 1948 the Ajax pump foundry opened at Kyneton, Victoria.
McPherson’s manufactured their own woodworking and metal working machinery originally under the McPherson’s name and then in 1930’s onward under the Macson brand.


McPherson’s at some stage added the Barker name to their woodworking machinery division becoming Macson/Barker retaining the Macson name for their metal working machinery. Later the Macson name was dropped altogether and became just Barker and later in the 1940’s changed to L.S.Barker woodworking machinery.

#
McPherson Machine Tool Works were located in 392 Macaulay Road , Kensington,where Macson Metal lathes were made here in Melbourne and also castings were made at the McPherson’s M.T.W. Foundry in 217 Sunshine Road Tottenham.
McPherson’s Ajax bolt works were located at 27-45 Burnley Street. Richmond.
It is not clear though whether McPherson’s still owned L.S.Barker beyond the 1940’s, but a 1951 McPhersons catalogue does list L.S.Barker in their agencies, with a North Melbourne address.
The two known locations of L.S.Barker woodworking machinery were in North Melbourne and later 660 Waterdale Rd West Heidelberg.
McPherson’s were distributers of Barker woodworking machinery as reflected in their catalogues’ from 1940 to 1970 and their McPherson’s Black and Brass badge stating “Agents for Macson and L.S.Barker” found riveted on to many L.S.Barker machines.


Other identifiable forms on Barker machines were raised letters in the casting, very early McPherson’s machines had just a plain brass badge with nothing in the casting, 1930’s onward was the large letters stating MACSON on machines starting to appear, some early Macson/Barker machines had no raised lettering. The earliest L.S.Barker raised lettering was a lovely cursive scroll with a “L” in the front “S” at the Rear and “Barker” surrounded in the Middle and appeared around the 1940.

1950’s L.S.Barker was cast into machines in small plain letters running horizontally across and later in the 1960’s Larger lettering running vertically from top to bottom.


L.S Barker later in the 1970’s became very well known for their wide belt sanders, some were branded as Barker/Sparrow after a merger or acquisition from Barker of R & EH Sparrow of Westgarth St Fitzroy, Sparrow also had a good reputation for their wide belt and drum sanders.
Barker Woodwork Engineering 43 Mologa Rd Heidelberg West Victoria, are the last reminisce of L.S.Barker and still a good source for parts and repairs for barker and other woodworking machines, they specialize in servicing Barker wide belt sanders and sell second hand machinery.

Melbourne Matty.
Everyone Still awake....

Hi Lightwood,

Thanks for posting, I just love old machines. Thanks Matty for the history lesson, did I say I love old machines.

Cheers
Pops