Thread: Wadkin Moulder in Melton Vic on Facebook Marketplace

Hi Vann,
I have a couple of old Wadkin machines which I am planning to refurbish. The first project is a Wadkin rip saw manufactured in 1918. Cast nameplate says RFC 2192, No 296, Wadkin & Co, TYPE HR. I haven't seen any references to a Wadkin saw of this type on-line and so was wondering if anyone had heard of an HR model rip saw?
It has an outrigger post that supports the driveshaft and would have been driven by leather belts from overhead line shafting. At some point in time it has been converted to a vee belt drive with a floor mounted 3 phase motor.
I'm also wondering what sort of grease I should use for the bearings in the old plummer blocks under the table and the outrigger bearing housing? Do you have a recommendation?

My other Wadkin is an RU lathe which I bought from the closing down auction of John Valves in Ballarat in 2010. I had worked at John Valves and knew that they had a bunch of equipment in the patternshop and at he auction I won RU360 Test, No 51522 as well as a 12" Jointer manufactured by E. G Lacey of Sackville St, Collingwood in 1937.
Cheers,
Richard

Cast Tag on the Wadkin HR rip saw

Can you post photos of your RU.
There was one at Garden Island where I served my time.
Pics of the HR would be interesting also.
Its too early to research this but in 1918 there were two Wadkin manufacturers in operation as far as I know.
H.

Hi Richard .
A 1918 Wadkin Rip Saw ! That's early . Love to see it . I looked for one in my 1928 catalogue and its not there .

Also like to see a pic of the amazing RU . How did you get that home ? Have you turned much on it ?

And a Lacey picture as well if you can. Don't think Ive seen one .
I have a Lacey belt sander. Seen a few of those.
I saw a Lacey board jointer years ago . like a buzzer but very narrow . It'd probably only do 50mm wide at most . It sort of looks like a buzzer from the side but you look from the end and its a strange sight .

Rob

Originally Posted by RG62

...The first project is a Wadkin rip saw manufactured in 1918. Cast nameplate says RFC 2192, No 296, Wadkin & Co, TYPE HR...

Hi Richard. Welcome to the forum.

That style of tag is unfamiliar to me. I doubt there's any other way of dating it, but I guess you're safe to run with 1918.

Originally Posted by RG62

...I'm also wondering what sort of grease I should use for the bearings in the old plummer blocks under the table and the outrigger bearing housing? Do you have a recommendation?...

I'm assuming the plummer blocks are roller bearing?

Like Auscab, I'd like to see photos of your machine (including the plummer blocks) before commenting too much.

Originally Posted by RG62

...My other Wadkin is an RU lathe...

Test 51522 was carried out in 1955 - so that's quite a bit newer than the HR saw! And like Auscab and Clear Out, I'd love to see photos of that machine too - including one of the tag please?

Cheers, Vann.

Hi Vann,

Here are some images of the two plummer blocks under the table and the outrigger housing from the third bearing as well as one of one of the self aligning bearings.
The driveshaft is 1.5" for most of its length and the two plummer blocks under the table house bearings with an external diameter of 85 mm (3 11/32" ?) and are 3/4" wide. The shaft steps down to 1.375" just before the outrigger bearing which has an external diameter of 3.125" and is 7/8" wide.
The middle of the 3 bearings is shot but the others seem OK so I want to regrease them.
Interestingly the middle plummer block is mounted on a piece of U Channel bolted to the frame so I'm not actually sure if it is original. It seems with 3 bearings that the shaft could be over constrained and that may be why the middle bearing failed? Both plummer blocks under the table had been shimmed up with pieces of hacksaw blade which seems pretty sketchy.

Pics attached. Interested in your thoughts.
Will post the Lacey Jointer and RU pics in a separate post.

Responding to Vann and Auscab's posts with pictures of the Lacey Jointer.
I purchased this at the John Valves auction of their Patternshop equipment after that company closed down. I think that this was in late 2009 or late 2010.
The John Valves ID tag is a bit hard to read but says 1937 so I assume that they bought it that year and put the tag on when they installed in their factory.
RU lathe pics to follow.

Here are some pictures of my RU lathe. It is RU 360 and from the test number Vann says it was made in 1955.
Auscab asked how I moved it home. That was a bit of an exercise for sure. You can see from two of the pictures that I marked up with red circles where the bolts are so that my friend who stored it in his shed for 10 years could spray WD40 on it before I arrived home from the US to dismantle the lathe and bring it from Ballarat to Melbourne spread across a trailer and a mate's ute. They'd dismantled it before I got there and hadn't taken any pictures or made any notes so it was a bit of a puzzle to get it back together! Fortunately Wadkin designed it with different diameter screws in most locations so the puzzle wasn't too hard and the quality of the machining made reassembly a joy. The dowel pins on the headstock slide in under finger pressure but push back from the air cushion captured below!
There was a lot of rigging and juggling with the engine hoist to get everything lined up and reassembled as well.
I've rewired it as it had been roughly decommissioned and turned a couple of small handles for tools so far.
As I wasn't actually at the auction I think that the guy who got the second RU in the auction made of with all the faceplates so I didn't get any faceplates with the lathe. I recently had a friend 3D print a pattern for a small 6" faceplate and I had a casting made. My friend cleaned up the casting and tapped the 2" BSW thread as he has a big engine lathe. Today I took a skim cut across the face and matched the faceplate to the lathe spindle (Runout was 30 thou and is now 0.0005 thou) so I'm set up for bowl turning but the first thing I plan to do is make a larger pattern for a 12" faceplate!
Enjoy the pics, I'll post more when I can get far enough away from the lathe to fit the image in one shot but things are a bit congested in the workshop at the moment!

Hi all,
Vann and Auscab wanted images of my 1918 Wadkin saw too.

This one's a beast, my guess is that it's close to a 1,00kg in weight. It came with a 26" saw blade attached but can take a larger diameter blade!
Again good images are a bit scarce as stuff is packed in tight in my workshop and it's hard to get good angles but here's a start.
It would have originally been operated off line shafting but at some point was converted to a 3 phase motor mounted on a hinged plate sitting on the floor behind the saw with two 8" diameter 4 groove Vee belt pulleys added to the motor and saw driveshaft.
I recently rewired it to run directly on 3 phase (I used to have it running off a VFD) and I'm just going through the process of redoing the bearings as the centre one was shot. The one at the arbor seems OK as does the one in the outrigger stand.
Anyone who knows anything about the HR series of saws feel free to volunteer what you know, my web searching has found nothing so far and even Vann says that the tag plate is an unfamiliar design to him.
Enjoy!

Richard . The Lacy is great to see thanks .

The Wadkin Rip saw is amazing . Not a thing on it looked Wadkin to me , handles wheels knobs etc . Until that side shot with Wadkin & Co said it all . Some of the other guys with more knowledge of the early stuff would possibly have seen one before ? And know more about it . Great thing !

That RU though ! The king kong of wood lathes . What a Beautiful sight . How high is the center off the bed ? The website Lathes.co.uk with the info says they came with either 12 15 or 18" center height . That's got to be the 18" yeah ? Hows the size of the spacer block of iron under the tail stock ! And the added wheel on the tool carriage .
And you weren't at the auction , won the lathe and have friends good enough to handle and store it for 10 years for you . Great story and good friends you must have .

Thanks for the pictures . look forward to any more you put up. Are You planning on doing a resto on all of these one day . And have you seen the Youtube video of an RU that a guy restored and painted? Its a beautiful thing .

I have Machinery . I never seem to find enough time to paint them though . I have to be able to use them all the time. I have a Robinson Thicknesser half done atm , its waiting for me to get back to it . All my Wadkin gear is all sorts of colours . It doesn't matter though .

Rob

Fantastic machines you've got. I'm still digesting the contents of your posts.

Originally Posted by RG62

...I'm also wondering what sort of grease I should use for the bearings in the old plummer blocks under the table and the outrigger bearing housing? Do you have a recommendation?...

Wadkin specified (at least in the PK instructions available on line):
Grease: Wadkin Grade L.6. Alternative grease:
- Shell-Mex & BP Ltd - Shell NERITA GREASE 3
- Vacuum Oil Co. - GARGOYLE GREASE BRB 3
- Caltex Lubricants - REGAL STARFAK No.2 GREASE

Shell no longer operate in New Zealand, and I don't know where Vacuum ended up. A local Mobil agent (who supply industry in my area) advised that Mobil - XHP 222 is a suitable modern equivalent.

I hope you don't mind if I add your RU to this list : Wadkin by Test Number -

Canadian Woodworking and Home Improvement Forum

Cheers, Vann.

Thanks for the grease info Vann, and sure, by all means add the RU to the Wadkin by Test Number list.

Rob,

Yes, the rip saw is interestingly odd. It looks more like some of the images that I've seen of J. Sagar machines until you see the Wadkin & Co Leicester Eng cast into the side of it! It's missing part of the fence and there's a stub axle left that looks like it would fit into a laterally sliding support for when you tilt the fence but that piece is not there. Also the sheet metal of the guard is clearly non-standard and a recent fabrication although the support casting and handwheel, arms and cast fittings appear original. It would be really nice to have a cast Wadkin guard to mount on it!

You're right on the RU it is the 18" version. The spacer block is 10" high and heavy in its own right and the tailstock is 8" to the centerline. I had to move the carriage assembly and tool post in front of the tailstock yesterday to clean up the face of my new cast faceplate and as the engine hoist was a bit inconveniently placed so I shifted the tailstock and spacer block by hand by myself. I wouldn't recommend this!
The added wheel is an anomaly, it's a 24" diameter handwheel from a range of large gate valves that John manufactured for industrial and water industry pipelines. It looks like it was a reject casting (there's a crack in one spoke) and they repurposed it to assist with control on the longitudinal travel of the carriage assembly. It helps with both fine control and fast movement and it's a nice added touch given the history of the machine.
At the moment I'm just getting all of my old machines running again, mainly removing light rust and waxing beds and checking and re-greasing bearings etc. as I was living in the US before COVID hit and I'm now setting up the new workshop in Melbourne. When I retire in a couple of years I plan to do a full restoration, including repainting, on all of my older machines.
I've seen a very detailed thread on restoring an RU but not watched a video. I must look it up.
Cheers, Richard

Edit : This appears to be a 26" PD or a 32" PE.

1920s cat.jpg

I'll keep looking.

Cheers, Vann.