Thos. White SO "Rapid Crosscut Saw"

**Vann** · 23rd March 2022, 10:13 PM

One thing I noticed was the proliferation of ball oilers (I'm used to flip-top oilers on Wadkins). They're everywhere (not really, I only counted eight).

Bloc.jpg

Bheight.jpg Ball oiler for raise/lower handwheel shaft front.

Brotate.jpg Ball oiler for raise/lower handwheel shaft rear, and two for rotation bearing.

Bfrontlinkagebot.jpg Ball oiler for front arm (lower) and another on the other side.

Brearlinkagetop1.jpg Ball oiler for rear arm (upper) and another on the other side.

The motor has grease nipples either end, and the front arm top bearings also have grease nipples. I didn't notice what lubrication fittings (if any) were at the bottom of the rear arms.

And I forgot to mention - the blade fitted to the saw IS tungsten-carbide tipped. I brought with me a spanner off my Wadkin PK (both saws have 1 1/4" shafts), but the White SO has a larger nut, so I was unable to take off the blade.

Saw nut.jpg Note the many spacers behind the nut - I guess it's designed to take trenching heads.

I have no idea as to the age of this saw. My guess would be late 1950s - but I could easily be out a decade in either direction.

Cheers, Vann.

**auscab** · 24th March 2022, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by Vann

Bloc.jpg

That thing is a work of art! Do you know what width of board it will cross cut ?

**Vann** · 24th March 2022, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by auscab

...Do you know what width of board it will cross cut ?

According to the catalogue it'll cut 14" x 4" or 15" x 1". The bigger (No.2) SO will cut 18" x 6" or 28" x 1".
Edit: I think Alison's catalogue cut has a typo - the other two catalogues suggest the No.1 will cut 18" x 1".

By comparison, Wadkin's CC will cut 14" x 4.5" or 18" x 1".

Cheers, Vann.

**auscab** · 24th March 2022, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by Vann

According to the catalogue it'll cut 14" x 4" or 15" x 1". The bigger (No.2) SO will cut 18" x 6" or 28" x 1".
Edit: I think Alison's catalogue cut has a typo - the other two catalogues suggest the No.1 will cut 18" x 1".

By comparison, Wadkin's CC will cut 14" x 4.5" or 18" x 1".

Cheers, Vann.

15"x 1" is good. My BRA Bursgreen that gets used (Edit) is a 15" cut . Good for most boards I buy . Not the big bark to bark slabs though . Chainsaw is out for some of them .

28" x 1"on the no 2 is impressive !

**Camelot** · 24th March 2022, 08:13 AM

Hi Vann, That's an interesting saw and a good find. Cheers Nigel

**BobL** · 24th March 2022, 09:42 AM

Interesting find.
The saw mill where the logs my dad used to fall were cut up had several swinging type docking saws.
There was one with an over head swing like the one in the pics above. It had a massive (30") blade that frightened the hell out of me watching it.
There was also slightly smaller one that swung but the pivot was underneath the bench.
One of the operators of this saw had two finger missing off his right hand, I can still remember him holding his fags between his right ring and little finger

**Vann** · 9th September 2022, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by Vann

...I brought with me a spanner off my Wadkin PK (both saws have 1 1/4" shafts), but the White SO has a larger nut, so I was unable to take off the blade.

Saw nut.jpg Note the many spacers behind the nut - I guess it's designed to take trenching heads.

Ever since I've been looking for an 1 1/4"BSW spanner and one showed up on Trademe two weeks ago. It arrived today. It's MASSIVE

.

SO-91.jpg

SO-92.jpg

I sure hope it fits (the saw is still in Auckland, 700km away).

I'm very tempted to cut the 1 1/8"W end off just to lighten it.

I'll have to clean it up and paint it. But what colour? The saw is a White SO - I wonder if that's a hint

.

Cheers, Vann.

**Charlie_6ft** · 9th September 2022, 08:37 PM

Crazy big! There was one of these posted on Facebook recently...

Screenshot_20220903-145245_Facebook.jpg

**Vann** · 10th March 2023, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by Vann

...And I forgot to mention - the blade fitted to the saw IS tungsten-carbide tipped. I brought with me a spanner off my Wadkin PK (both saws have 1 1/4" shafts), but the White SO has a larger nut, so I was unable to take off the blade.

Saw nut.jpg Note the many spacers behind the nut - I guess it's designed to take trenching heads.

...

Another visit to Auckland (I still haven't taken delivery of the saw), this time with the LARGE spanner

. The nut came off with just a small fight.

White shaft.jpg That's some shaft extension, definitely designed for trenching heads.

The spacers are also massive.

White collar.jpg

Those spacers are big, and heavy.

In comparison, here is the arrangement on a Wadkin CC radial arm saw. The spacer goes between the blade flange and the nut(s).

CC1.jpg

The spacer is ~57-63mm diameter.

Whereas on the White SO the spacers go between the flange and the blade. They're ~127-140mm diameter, making them massively heavier.

And I think the SO shaft is longer than the CC shaft - so the spacers are longer too.

Cheers, Vann.

**amh_joinery** · 6th April 2023, 05:32 PM

Very nice machine

Thread: Thos. White SO "Rapid Crosscut Saw"

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