Thread: Wadkin MA

Well done on getting the MA .

Unfortunately your first 8 photos aren't showing. It would be great if you could try again - before 24 hours are up and you can no longer edit. Looking forward to seeing ALL the pikkies.

Cheers, Vann.

Thanks Vann, Odd - had to delete them and reload them. All good now

Going to soak the tooling in some Evapo-rust - hope to get some good results.

I got a grinding wheel of ebay not so long ago

Wadkin Ma Mf Morticer Mortiser Chain Grinder Wheel | eBay

That part looks to be cast steel, then machined off and drilled and tapped. Relatively simple if you could borrow a part to mould off.

Thanks Wallace - I've messaged the guy selling on eBay BUT it does say he doesn't ship internationally ... grr - lets see what he come back with.

Riverbuilder - I don't think casting will see me with much change from $300 - $400? It doesn't look like a complicated part as you say though. If it is cost effective I wonder if bronze could be used - that would look cool polished up!

Hi Chas,
That’s definitely a cast iron part.
It could be made from 3 pieces of steel bolted rather than welded together.
The largest back piece may or may not need the clearance milled into it.
Depending on what it seats on.
The top piece would need to be milled.
Glad hear you now have 3 phase.
Is this a permanent move or are you still looking?
H

One other component I am missing is a set of sprockets that are fixed to the motor shaft which transmits the rotary movement to the chain. These seem to be available from India with prices ranging from $7 - $28.

50 HRC Mortising Chain Sprocket, Industrial Chain Sprocket, चेन स्प्रॉकेट - New Dashmesh Mech Engg Works, Yamuna Nagar | ID: 22935284373

MortiserSprocket02.jpg

Alloy Steel Mortising Chain Sprocket, Rs 1500 /piece New Dashmesh Mech Engg Works | ID: 22922404012

Screen Shot 2021-06-30 at 9.01.44 am.jpg

I've come across very good info on all things chain mortising here: Mortise & Slotter Chains & Parts which I'll transpose in the next post for reference.

Anatomy of a mortise chain

1. Chain pitches

The pitch is the distance between one pin in a link and the third successive one, as shown in the image below at right.


Standardised mortise or slotter chains are produced in the following three pitches:

• “A” pitch (22,6 mm or .89"). Used for routine carpentry work.
• “B” pitch (15,75 mm or .62"). Used for work requiring high levels of accuracy and precision.
• “C” pitch (13,7 mm or .54"). Used for extremely precise work.

Other variations are possible.
Choose "A" type chains for most applications of routine mortise work with North American timbers.
Choose "B" pitch chains for work of higher level of accuracy and precision. This chain is less aggressive and susceptible to breaking under duress.
Choose "C" type only for extremely precise work.

2. Guide bars



The guide bar is the part of the set on which the chain glides as it penetrates the wood.
Our guide bars are of a length that allows the mounting of chains with a standard number of links.
All guide bars come with an unique, patented bar end, which is supplied already assembled and tested.
We supply guide bars of all shapes and sizes for stationary and portable mortising machines, for special applications with 1, 2, 3 and 4 bearings, and to fit the major automatic processing centres (Hundegger, Essetre, etc.) which make use of guide bars that can make mortises 500 mm deep, or even 600 mm and more.

3. Sprockets



The sprocket is the third component part of the set. It is fixed to the motor shaft of the mortising machine and transmits the rotary movement to the chain. It is manufactured with specially formulated hardened steels.
Sprockets are available for each pitch of the chains:

• for “A” pitch with 4 and 5 teeth (mortises 1-1/2". 40 and 50 mm long);
• for “B” pitch with 6 teeth (mortises 30, 35 mm long);
• for “C” pitch with 6 teeth (mortises 20 and 25 mm long).

The inner diameter of the sprockets is typically 16 mm (5/8") on heavy-duty portable or stationary mortisers, but on (Mafell in particular) it is 14 mm.The teeth of the sprockets are arranged on one, two or three ring gear crowns, depending on the thickness of the chain with which they have to be combined.
To find out which sprocket has to be used with a specific chain, you have to know the dimensions of the mortise to be made and the inner link size of the chain. The figures show the differences between the sprockets generally used for the different chain pitches.

In Praise of Cutting Chain Technology

Unfortunately, few wood-cutting chain makers are left in the world, as industry deemed this technology obsolete. But how else do you cut mortises into timber frames or mortises for making windows and doors? Or mortises into fence posts? Or even holes into solidly frozen ice?
While routers are often used, the are noisy, and produce a lot of dust. That is why we are seeing a resurgence of cutting chain technology.
Properly sharpened mortise chains outproduce any router or milling function.

Originally Posted by clear out

Hi Chas,
That’s definitely a cast iron part.
It could be made from 3 pieces of steel bolted rather than welded together.
The largest back piece may or may not need the clearance milled into it.
Depending on what it seats on.
The top piece would need to be milled.
Glad hear you now have 3 phase.
Is this a permanent move or are you still looking?
H

Yes - here is a picture of a machine where they have had this part made up (not a great picture).

MortiserBlock.jpeg

Congratulations on the find mate. The MA is such a good looking machine and I know its one you have wanted for a while.
I'll have to check mine and see if its got that attachment for the chain, I can't remember seeing it amongst all the bits and pieces I got with the machine. Did you get any tooling with it?

Have bought a couple of things off Andrew Hill (Login • Instagram) over in the UK (thanks Wallace and Auscab for directing me to him).

Grinding wheel:

Screen Shot 2021-07-06 at 8.56.57 pm.jpg

Chain sharpener sleeve with sprocket (.89 pitch which is most popular).

20210702_174504 (1).jpg

Originally Posted by scholey&sons

Congratulations on the find mate. The MA is such a good looking machine and I know its one you have wanted for a while.
I'll have to check mine and see if its got that attachment for the chain, I can't remember seeing it amongst all the bits and pieces I got with the machine. Did you get any tooling with it?

Thanks - yes got a fair amount of stuff with the machine, I'm about to clean it all up - lots of chains and breakers, I've been really keen to getting into make traditional benches with traditional joinery methods like mortice and tenon joins so the MA will do the job nicely especially the thicker chains when using thicker stock.

20210627_095511_resized.jpg

Originally Posted by Charlie_6ft

Have bought a couple of things off Andrew Hill...]

Are they painted blue and white?

Cheers, Vann.

Ha ha ... nope - I don't mind that colour scheme but when I get around to repainting the MA I'll highly likely not go with those colours