Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 31 to 40 of 40
  1. #31
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.2.

    Back on Sheet #12 there was a listing for 5 No. "Drills Vertical Heavy" supplied by Frederick Town & Sons (spelt wrong on that sheet)

    1612.png From Sheet #12

    This sheet (#16) contains a further 22 machines supplied by the same company.

    16b.png

    16a.png

    Frederick Town is not a well known company, so when I bumped into a machine by this maker, at the Ferrymead Historical Park in Christchurch, I took a few pictures.

    Town1.jpg

    Town2.jpg

    Town3.jpg

    It has been repainted, and I didn't notice any identifying marks, so I have no proof that this is one of those supplied back in the late 1920s - but I think it's most likely.

    I don't believe it's one of the 12 No. "Machines girder radial drilling" to Order No. WR 6741. It's unlikely to be one of the four "Machines vertical drilling heavy 36" to Order No. WR 6676, as none of these were off-loaded in Christchurch.

    So it seems likely that it is either one of the six "Machines vertical drilling medium 30" to Order No. WR 6677, (two were landed in Christchurch @ £209 2s 7d each), or of the five "Drills vertical heavy" to Order No. WR 6430, one of which came ashore for Christchurch (£370 18s 5d).

    Anyway, it's powered by a 940rpm, 3hp, 3ph, 400v Crompton-Parkinson electric motor. Crompton-Parkinson was formed in 1927 by the merger of F&A Parkinson and Crompton & Co.

    TownCP.jpg Motor tag.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Age
    2010
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #32
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.3.

    Also on this sheet are three "Saw benches 2 spindle dimension" supplied by Thos. Robinson & Son Ltd.

    Robinson Screen Shot.png

    One went to the Hutt Workshops (Wellington) and was installed in the Pattern Shop in February, 1929 (note the Order No. W.R. 6745 and the Specfication No. 241) where it became their machine #1698.

    Rob1.jpg

    This dimension saw, marked as "Type LS", was initially lineshaft driven, but was fitted with it's own motor (2nd hand 3hp 1425rpm GEC) in March, 1950.

    Rob2.jpg


    Robinson LS1.jpg From a catalogue on the VM site.

    It's another of the machines that can be seen in this 1930 photo of the Pattern Shop.

    R14.jpg

    I don't know what happened to it when the Pattern Shop closed in 1987 - but being a twin spindle machine I would guess it would be considered obsolete, and therefore would be scrapped.

    Cheers, Vann.

    Robinson LS2.jpg
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  4. #33
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    uk
    Posts
    456

    Default

    I cant imagine a tilting top machine would of survived that long when health and safety got started. Its very similar to the wadkin GW I have

  5. #34
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.3b.

    Quote Originally Posted by wallace1973 View Post
    I cant imagine a tilting top machine would of survived that long when health and safety got started...
    I forgot about the tilting table . That would definitely make it "considered obsolete".

    I managed to get a better resolution copy of the early Pattern Shop photo. So this...



    ...can become this (now the "Robinson & Sons" cast on the side is legible).

    Robinson LS.jpg

    Wallace, you must post more pictures of your Wadkin GW some time.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Last edited by Vann; 2nd May 2020 at 09:16 AM. Reason: Pictures added.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  6. #35
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.4.

    Further machines supplied by Thos. Robinson & Son Ltd are four "Machines H.D. boring & recessing" (H.D. = Heavy Duty)

    Robinson Screen Shot.png

    One went to each of the four workshops. The Hutt Workshops machine went to the Pattern Shop and was allocated the number #1701 and the Hillside Workshops (Dunedin/Port Chalmers) one was installed in their Pattern Shop, where it became their machine #1605. Both machines were line-shaft driven. Neither Otahuhu (Auckland) nor Addington (Christchurch/Lyttleton) had pattern shops, nor foundries.

    These recessors were Thos. Robinson model "PF".

    Robinson_PF.jpg Cattledog cut thanks to Melbourne Matty.

    The Hutt Workshops machine is another that can be seen in this 1930 photo of the Pattern Shop.

    R14.jpg Rob22.jpg

    It was sold to a railway employee on 5th March, 1987 - 17 days after the Pattern Shop was closed.

    The Hillside Workshops recessor survived until the the sale of the Foundry and Pattern Shop to Bradken (Australia) in 2013. Bradken consolidated the railway machines and machines from Wilkinson Callon Ltd's pattern shop to the one site, and the recessor (among other machines, including my Wadkin RB buzzer) was declared surplus to requirements and sold.

    HS 1605 Recessor.jpg Sellers photo.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  7. #36
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.5.

    And again from Thos. Robinson & Son Ltd are four "Machines planing, jointing & surfacing".

    Robinson Screen Shot.png

    One went to Auckland for the Otahuhu Workshops, the other three to Lyttleton for the Addington Workshops.

    At leat one survived the closure of Addington Workshops in 1990, being sold to the Tramway Historical Society which is based at the Ferrymead Historical Park in Christchurch. I don't think the THS ever set it up for use, and some years later sold it to a joiner who works from the site. That's where I spotted it in January, 2019.

    Rob1.jpg

    Rob4.jpg

    It is a big machine - the tables are 6ft and 4ft long (totalling 10’ 2½”); 18½” wide; and 34” off the ground.

    With my little Wadkin RB buzzer, I was surprised that Wadkin had gone to the bother of casting a brass plate bearing the order number (WR 4060). I was considerably more surprised to see that Robinson had cast the order number (WR 6748) into the main casting !

    Rob5.jpg Rob6.jpg Looks like it was Addington's machine #1238.

    These buzzers were Thos. Robinson & Son Ltd. model "HV" (short for "Heavy" maybe ).

    Rob HV1.jpg
    Rob HV2.jpg
    Catalogue cuts thanks to Vintage Machine.org.

    3B22.jpg
    Catalogue cut thanks to Melbourne Matty.

    There's no date to these catalogue cats, and there are some differences (especially handwheels) but I think it's the same model.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  8. #37
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.6.

    And a final note on Thos. Robinson & Sons Ltd. products - I see they supplied a "Crosscut saw bench automatic" to Specification 242.

    Machinery sheet 16d.png

    Further up the page I see Wadkin & Co. supplied 2 machines to the same specification

    Machinery sheet 16c.png

    Those supplied by Wadkin & Co. were more than £30 cheaper (£254 10s 7d vrs £224 5s 10d) which is less than 88% of the cost of Robinson's offering. I wonder how the tradesmen found them in comparison?

    I don't know what happened to any of these saws - but I suspect the Otahuhu (Auckland) Wadkin would have been damaged or destroyed in the Wood Mill fire of May, 1955.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  9. #38
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 16 - pt.7.

    Another bunch of buzzers on sheet #16 are ten "Machines planing & jointing" this time from Preston Woodworking Machinery Co. Ltd. of Ontario, Canada.


    Robinson Screen Shot.png

    Of the ten, one went to Wellington for the Hutt Workshops. This one, carrying Preston Serial No. 1188, went to the Pattern Shop where it became Hutt Workshops machine #1700. It was line-shaft driven.

    In April, 1943 it was removed and sent to a smaller workshops at East Town in Wanganui. It was replaced by a brand new (war time!) Wadkin RMA planer/thicknesser - the result of agitation by Pattern Shop staff over having to walk to the Wood Mill joinery shop each time thicknessing was required.

    I don't have the "Machinery Record" card for the Preston machine, however I did score the cards for the Wadkin machine - which lasted until sold after the closure of the Pattern Shop in 1987 - and now resides in the Wairarapa, in the hands of an enthusiastic old English machinery buff (you know, like you and me ). But that's off topic. A Workshop, a War, and a Wadkin Now back to Preston.

    Four of the other machines went to Lyttleton for the Addington Workshops. At least one survived the closure of Addington Workshops in 1990, again being bought by the Tramway Historical Society (Ferrymead Historical Park). That's where I made its acquaintance in January, 2019.

    3B10.jpg

    It was allocated machine No. 2378 by Addington Workshops and just above the branding, and below the table at the infeed end is a stamped brass plaque...

    3B18.jpg

    3B19.jpg


    ...which reads "WR 6749" and "SERIAL 1197" - confirming it is indeed one of the machines to that order

    At some point it was removed from its line-shaft and fitted with it's own electric motor.

    3B12.jpg

    These buzzers were Preston's model #143, and these were/are 12" versions.

    Preston 143.jpg Catalogue cut thanks to Vintage Machine.org.

    A little more on these and other buzzers from this thread here Three Railway Buzzers.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  10. #39
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 17 - pt.1.

    And now for the final sheet - page 17.

    Just five woodworking machines: 4 No. saw benches from Thos. Robinson & Son Ltd. and a sander from Wadkin & Co.

    Photo of original document page.

    p17.jpg

    Transcribed sheet.

    Machinery sheet 17a.png
    Machinery sheet 17b.png

    And towards the bottom of the page, 452 - Four Hundred and Fifty-Two - vices from C.J. Hampton Ltd. (Record).

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  11. #40
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Petone, NZ
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,808

    Default Sheet 17 - pt.2.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vann View Post
    ...and a sander from Wadkin & Co...
    Sheet 17c.png

    That "sander" was a Wadkin JT disc and bobbin sander - JT 141 - according to the Machinery Record card from the Hutt Workshops, where it was sent to the Pattern Shop and allocated Hutt Workshops machine No. 1707.

    JT1.jpg

    And its motor was allocated Hutt Workshops machine No. 1708.

    JT2.jpg

    It seems that rather than buy a disc press from Wadkin, they made one at the workshops ("Maker: NZR" = New Zealand Railways)

    JT3.jpg

    There was no note to say what happened to the JT when the Pattern Shop closed in February, 1987, but I'd guess it was sold at the auction in June that year.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123

Similar Threads

  1. Wood Mill - Otahuhu Railway Workshops
    By Vann in forum ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE MACHINERY
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 30th January 2022, 09:32 PM
  2. Equipping my shop with Hand Tools
    By Mooncabbage in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 162
    Last Post: 12th February 2013, 06:12 PM
  3. Workshops
    By dai sensei in forum FORUMS INFO, HELP, DISCUSSION & FEEDBACK
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 26th May 2008, 12:07 PM
  4. Ipswich Railway Workshops
    By Andy Mac in forum METALWORK FORUM
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 24th January 2007, 11:16 PM
  5. workshops
    By johnsymons in forum WOODWORK - GENERAL
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 23rd April 2005, 10:05 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •