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Thread: Wadkin RB Buzzer
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2nd April 2017, 01:38 PM #16
Loving this rundown series, nice work!
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12th April 2017, 09:24 AM #17
Summary 4: Fences
Looking through my collection of Wadkin RB photographs, I find four significant different arrangements of fence.
The first is a short(ish) fence with a single gate.
RB63.jpg RB 117
RB62.jpg RB 183
Note that the fence is locked vertically (or at 45°) by a sliding tee handle clamping two mild steel slotted links, approx 10-12" apart.
The second version is that shown in the cattledogs.
RB77.jpg 1936(ish) catalogue
RB78.jpg 1941(ish) catalogue
The fence looks to be the same length, again with a single gate. However, the fence is now locked using just a single cast iron link - a distictive feature of the "standard" Wadkin RB.
Note that the rear view of the fence in the 1941ish cattledog shows two more bosses than shown in the 1936ish cattledog, yet the first version of fence already had the two extra bosses - as shown in the photo of RB 183's fence (above). Never trust a cattledog cut - the marketing department may have photoshopped it .
RB64.jpg RB 512
RB65.jpg RB 563
RB68.jpg RB 830
The third version is a little odd. It's out of chronological order, and may be a user modification to replace a "version 2" fence. The fence may be a little longer, still with a single gate. But it has returned to the twin link locking system.
RB66.jpg RB67.jpg RB 745
Note that the bottom edge of the fence is very close to the cutterhead, and the cut-out has a 90° corner (not rounded) suggesting to me that it's been modified to fit - and therefore is not original to this machine.
The fourth version adopts the RD buzzer fence (also found on the RM buzzer/thicknesser and other machines), but not the rack and pinion of the RD fence arrangement. It is longer than previous RB fences, has two gates, and is locked using twin links.
RB69.jpg RB 876
RB70.jpg RB 886
RB74.jpg RB73.jpg RB 921
And finally, the full RD fence - complete with rack and pinion.
RB75.jpg RB76.jpg RB 1010
Cheers, Vann.Last edited by Vann; 12th April 2017 at 03:26 PM. Reason: Adjusting date of second cattledog.
Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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2nd May 2017, 10:00 PM #18
A Yet Another...
I've just returned from holiday in the South Island (and had a rough crossing of Cook Strait on the way back ). At the Ferrymead Historic Park in Christchurch I came across yet another Wadkin RB.
RB 113a.jpg RB 113t.jpg RB 113, test 4367, pre-1937.
This one is also missing a base casting.
Originally Posted by Vann
RB 113b.jpg RB 113c.jpg RB 113d.jpg RB 113e.jpg
Originally Posted by Vann
RB 113g.jpg
The motor is rated at 1½ hp, whereas later Wadkin RB buzzers have 2 hp motors.
RB 113mt.jpg
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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2nd May 2017, 10:32 PM #19
Wadin RB List
The following is a list of known RB buzzers;
RB 109, test 4359, pre-1937 - New Zealand (RIP in 1987);
RB 113, test 4367, pre-1937 - New Zealand;
RB 117, test 4375, pre-1937 - New Zealand;
RBA 183, test 9335, of 1937 - United Kingdom;
RB 512, (test no. unknown) - United Kingdom;
RB 563, test 29408, of 1947 - United Kingdom;
RB 734, test 35301, of 1949 - New Zealand;
RB 745, test 35560, of 1950 - United Kingdom;
RB 830, test 39773, of 1951 - United Kingdom;
RB 876, test 42337, of 1952 - New Zealand;
RB 886, test 42636, of 1952 - New Zealand;
RB 921, test 45225, of 1953 - New Zealand;
RB 1010, test 50380, of 1954 - United Kingdom.
Jack has information that Wadkin serial numbers for most models started at 105, so of the first 13 RBs off the production line, at least 3 went to New Zealand
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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3rd May 2017, 07:51 AM #20
Wadkin RBs Anonymous - 1
There are other RB's out there, missing tags, and so their owners can't date them via the test number system.
Take this Canadian one for instance:
RB wryanddry1a.jpg
Listed by "wryanddry" on CWW - https://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...another-wadkin
RB w&d7.jpg RB w&d5.jpg RB w&d2.jpg
Looking at it's features, particularly the infeed table (3rd type) and the fence (RD type - but without rack & pinion) this machine was made after RB 830 of 1951, but before RB 1010 of 1954.
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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3rd May 2017, 12:58 PM #21
Wadkin RBs Anonymous - 2
Then there's this sad bastard, err, forlorn example I found in a museum here in New Zealand.
RB 111.jpg
As can be seen, it's missing the motor, pulley cover, electrics, guards, fence (except the mounting bracket), and of course the maker's tag.
Looking at the infeed table, it has the 2nd type, which puts it between RBA 183 of 1937, and RB 876 of 1952 (15 years - quite a big range).
The "Brookhirst" switchgear door is the smaller one, which puts it before RB 830 of 1951 (reducing the range by just one year).
RB 112.jpg
And the handwheels are spoked which makes it later than RB 512 of about 1946-47. The handwheels are 5-spoke cast-iron, which I believe changed to 3-spoke aluminium in 1949.
RB 110.jpg
So now this RB has gone from a dateless machine to one that was almost certainly manufactured between 1947 and 1949 - although the period of use of cast-iron spoked handwheels is a little vague and may vary a year or two at each end of the range.
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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10th May 2017, 10:40 AM #22
Wadkin RBs Anonymous - 3
Back to Canada. Here's one found in posts on CWW, and on the French language forum La Mortaise
https://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...dkin-rb-manual
LaMortaise.com - LaMortaise.com - La référence en ébénisterie - Ma saga Wadkin (1/7)
RB 120.jpg
This is the only photo I can find of this machine. It shows an unusual extension off the table to support a "pork chop" guard. I have no way of knowing whether this is a Wadkin feature for the North American market, or a user mod. However Bursgreen (pre-Wadkin) did make "pork chop" adapters for that market.
https://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...quot-surfacer=
Anyway, this buzzer has 3-spoke aluminium handwheels - which make it post-1957 (probably 1959 on). Also the 2nd type of fence (and presumably therefore the second type of infeed table) which makes it pre-1952.
Cheers Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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10th May 2017, 12:51 PM #23
A Still Another...
It never rains but it pours!
Today I received photos of another early Wadkin RB.
RB 121.jpg RB 122.jpg
RB 116 (test 4374), another pre-1937 machine, and the previous number (both serial and test numbers) to the machine that started this thread.
The following is an updated list of known RB buzzers;
RB 109, test 4359, pre-1937 - New Zealand (RIP in 1987);
RB 113, test 4367, pre-1937 - New Zealand;
RB 116, test 4374, pre-1937 - New Zealand;
RB 117, test 4375, pre-1937 - New Zealand;
RBA 183, test 9335, of 1937 - United Kingdom;
RB 512, (test no. unknown) - United Kingdom;
RB 563, test 29408, of 1947 - United Kingdom;
RB 734, test 35301, of 1949 - New Zealand;
RB 745, test 35560, of 1950 - United Kingdom;
RB 830, test 39773, of 1951 - United Kingdom;
RB 876, test 42337, of 1952 - New Zealand;
RB 886, test 42636, of 1952 - New Zealand;
RB 921, test 45225, of 1953 - New Zealand;
RB 1010, test 50380, of 1954 - United Kingdom.
Of the first 13 RBs off the production line, at least 4 went to New Zealand.
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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12th May 2017, 10:36 PM #24
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15th May 2017, 07:55 PM #25
A Happy Ending
Actually, this isn't the ending, just the beginning of a new chapter.
Today I paid for Wadkin buzzer RB 116 .
It came from the Pattern Shop at the Hillside Railway Workshop in Dunedin (South Island). In 2013 the workshops was closed but the Foundry & Pattern Shop was sold to an Australian firm as a going concern. They didn't need the buzzer, but it failed to sell. So several months ago it was put outside in the weather.
RB 121.jpg
As per my 1st post, I've been keen to get an RB for a while, and missed out on RB 117 by a whisker. So when I heard about this one last week, I expressed an interest. It will take a while to get here - after the Kaikoura earthquake last November, SH1 is still closed, so the machine will have to cross the Alps to get to Picton, to cross Cook Strait. Then, after ensuring the all rust has been well oiled, it will go into my rat hole, at least until next summer (I've a PK to get up a running first).
With the buzzer comes the electrical switchgear (I love old switchgear too) - not the original 1920s gear, but I think the Isolator dates to the 1960s or 70s, while the On/Off switch looks to be 1930s. And a spare set of knives.
But wait! There's more (I think we've covered the extra knives ). I've been in contact with the seller of RB 117 (the other RB). The buyer didn't want the 3phase motor. So now I own a second motor, gearbox, and mount.
RB54.jpg
They're also waiting in Dunedin, until I next visit my brother down that way.
Cheers, Vann.Last edited by Vann; 15th May 2017 at 09:18 PM. Reason: Damned work computer doesn't like WWF. Had to edit when I got home.
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18th May 2017, 07:36 AM #26SENIOR MEMBER
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Congrats, I've always liked the RB. They don't turn up very often here
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18th May 2017, 10:15 AM #27
And Another RB.
Thanks, It's a nice size for for my garage (an RD/RZ would be nicer, but too big). But I think I'm going to be a little disappointed - I'll swear the tables on this early model are 4' or less - not the 5' shown in the catalogue cuts. I'm also nervous of damage in transit - as the tables overhang the pallet .
RB 116h.jpg
Originally Posted by wallace1973
RB 158a.jpg RB 158b.jpg RB 158t.jpg RBA 158, test 8623, of 1937.
It looks pretty much the same as AndyRV's RBA 183 of later the same year. But there's a minor difference in the main casting, it has "Wadkin" lettering cast in to the right-hand side...
RB 158d.jpg RBA 158 with "Wadkin".
...which isn't present in previous RBs, and has gone by the time AndyRVs machine was manufactured later that year.
RB 183e.jpg RBA 183 without "Wadkin".
The rear of the casting has been altered from earlier machines. There's no provision in the main casting for bolting on a rear mounted motor shelf. I wonder if there were two versions of main casting, or whether the "Bench mounted" option was no longer available?
RB 158r.jpg Rear view of main casting - RBA 158.
Another thing that puzzles me is an apparent gap in sales of the RB buzzer. I'm almost certain that RB 109 to RB 117 were ordered (if not actually delivered) in the late 1920s (to re-equip the NZR railway workshops in New Zealand - there was a major rebuilding here, largely completed in 1929). RBA 158 has a 1937 test number - so just 40 RBs were built between ~1928 and 1937. That's an average of just 5 each year. Yet at least 26 RBs were manufactured in 1937 alone (RBA 158 to RBA 183).
More than 900 RBs were made (RB 105 to RB 1010+) over ~27 years (~1928 to ~1954) which is an average of over 33 machines each year.
So did they withdraw the model for a few years while they changed from bench-mounted to stand-mounted, and lengthened the tables? Or did the Great Depression hit so badly that sales were close to nil?
I'm working on it .
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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18th May 2017, 09:10 PM #28
RB 116h.jpg
Left Dunedin yesterday. Left Christchurch this evening, so crossing the Southern Alps via the Lewis Pass tonight.
Cheers, Vann.
p.s. Got a phone call from Toll this afternoon (Friday) - the machine is at their Wellington depot. I'll collect it on Monday.Last edited by Vann; 19th May 2017 at 08:06 PM. Reason: Delivery update.
Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
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19th May 2017, 07:05 PM #29
That will come up nice Vann . Hows the guard on it ! Ive seen a few of those here as well . I wonder what the history of that style guard is . Did small individual engineers make them up ? I would think that was where they came from . Or could they be ordered from one maker ?
Rob
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19th May 2017, 08:31 PM #30
Hi Auscab. They all appear to be similar in detail. I'd have guessed they were made at the railway workshops to the Chief Mechanical Engineer's specification and drawings. But at the guard, between the two parallel arms, is a small tag - shown here on RB 116:
RB 116h.jpg
But clearer here on RB 117:
RB 117h.jpg
Looks to me like "MANUFACTURED BY G.T. PEATxxx LTD...". Having worked at railway workshops for 9 years, and as a draughtsman in the Chief Mechanical Engineers office for 19 years, I know that the workshops would not attach their own tags to such equipment. If the tag isn't destroyed by rust I'll know more on Monday. But this looks to me like a commercial item - manufactured in small numbers to suit individual machine sizes.
Cheers, Vann.Gatherer of rustyplanestools...
Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .
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