Thread: Recommendations for Vintage Single Phase Machinery

I rewired a house once that had 1 power point in the lounge room (I think for the radio) and that was it. They didn't have any other electrical appliances. As the years progressed they added double adaptors and power boards on extension leads. Some of the leads were run under the house with a hole drilled in the corner of the room for the lead to come through. I can't remember what size fuse wire was in the one fuse but it must have been pretty big.
I will keep an eye out for old starters. Until fairly recently my job involved decommissioning old substations. We pulled some great old bits of gear from some of those.

Originally Posted by Gaza58

Here is the one I picked up a while ago for my Thornley Saw bench... when I get time to work on it..... I think I paid way too much but it was exactly what I was after..
Attachment 429231
Not for sale though

Gaza

I saw that one on fleabay. Good pick up!

Cheers stewart

Originally Posted by Gaza58

Here is the one I picked up a while ago for my Thornley Saw bench... when I get time to work on it..... I think I paid way too much but it was exactly what I was after..
Attachment 429231
Not for sale though

Gaza

I forgot to ask, can you please take a photo of the internals ? I’m curious to see inside?

Cheer stew

Here you go Stew. Never really pulled it apart....It's pretty basic and you would need a relay box of some sort to go with it.... I always thought this was actually the whole shabang... so glad you asked for a look inside.
Switch 002.jpgSwitch 003.jpg
I will have to start looking around for a relay box now.

By the way it is a ROWCO Australian Made one switch is normally open the other is normally closed.

That is awesome Gaza, a little bit scary but awesome. Wouldn't be too hard to replace those buttons with modern ones and leave the outside as is. The contactor could be mounted in a separate box in/under the machine out of view.

I will talk to my sparky about the best way to deal with it... even though I could work it out myself.. my training is with DC.. (Ex Telstra) Just have a policy to leave AC stuff to the guys trained in it. The Thornley saw that I was intending to use this on doesn't give you the option of mounting it underneath without it being a pain to get at later on.... Was thinking having the box at the back so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.... that way the wiring can but directed to the switch box via metal conduit keeping it nice an neat.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

That is awesome Gaza, a little bit scary but awesome. Wouldn't be too hard to replace those buttons with modern ones and leave the outside as is. The contactor could be mounted in a separate box in/under the machine out of view.

NCArcher

Was this common in Ye olde days , to have the contactor remote to the buttons/switch? I heard about it from another source but wasn’t sure how reliable it was? Hence I was keen to see inside Gaza’s switch.....


Cheers stew

In the old days a mechanical switch was common but these days from a safety perspective all saws (in fact all machines with exposed rotating components) should be fitted with a switch the disables the connection if the power fails, i.e. it won't start if power is restored unless you push a button.

This is normally a relay controlled by that geriatric switch and even though you are restoring an old machine to its "original" condition I think that modern safety features are not an option but are a requirement.

Originally Posted by bunya pine

NCArcher

Was this common in Ye olde days , to have the contactor remote to the buttons/switch? I heard about it from another source but wasn’t sure how reliable it was? Hence I was keen to see inside Gaza’s switch.....


Cheers stew

Machinery often has more than just the contactor in the control box/panel. It's very common to have a start/stop station located close to where the machine is operated and have everything else in a control panel.
You can use a modern stop start station in conjunction with ye olde timey pushbuttons. You can also use a 3 phase starter on single phase and still have the thermal protection by wiring it a bit differently.
Give me a yell if you want a hand Stew. I'm in Newcastle a fair bit.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

Machinery often has more than just the contactor in the control box/panel. It's very common to have a start/stop station located close to where the machine is operated and have everything else in a control panel.
You can use a modern stop start station in conjunction with ye olde timey pushbuttons. You can also use a 3 phase starter on single phase and still have the thermal protection by wiring it a bit differently.
Give me a yell if you want a hand Stew. I'm in Newcastle a fair bit.

Thanks I will keep you in mind when I am ready to wire up my next machine.

Cheers stew

Originally Posted by bunya pine

...Was this common in Ye olde days , to have the contactor remote to the buttons/switch? ...

Yup.

Here are some pikkies of WW2 era Wadkin PK saws. The On/Off buttons are located at the front of the machine (just below the table - RH side).

PK2.jpg

While the switchgear is located around the back, behind this panel.

PK1.jpg

Or on this Wadkin RD buzzer. The On/Off buttons are above and to the right of the switchgear - again behind the panel (both green - Auscab has been acquiring vintage parts to get his RD going ).

RD1.jpg

In both cases the switchgear includes a contactor with NVR (no-volt relay - which drops the contactor out when the power goes off, so the machine doesn't inadvertently turn on when the power comes back on).

Cheers, Vann.

Vann

is that your PK? If so, when are you going to make it look all shiny and give it a new coat of paint?

Cheers
Stew

Originally Posted by bunya pine

Vann

is that your PK? If so, when are you going to make it look all shiny and give it a new coat of paint?...

Hi Stew. The second photo is my PK (the grey one).

The initial plan was to forget the paint, just get it up and running. That was 30 months ago and it's still not up and running . I have repainted the double mitres, the crown guard and arm castings, the ripping fence, and most of the edge of the table - parts where the paint was damaged or overpainted with clown (I mean safety) paint. I had hoped to attempt cleaning the light grey off the base to releal the original paint - in a similar way to Auscab's Wadkin DR clean-up.

Meanwhile, over those 30 months, the table has a new coat of surface rust (I just cleared off the table last week to take a photograph).

PKA 800a.jpg

And as this thread is about vintage electricals - I've also put together a lovely old vintage MEM isolating switch, to replace the horrible modern lash-up it has on at present.

Cheers, Vann.