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Wadkin RK 281 - 24" Panel Planing and Thicknessing Machine
G'day fellow Wadkin tragics,
This week I purchased an early Wadkin RK thicknesser from Millicent in South Australia. It is an interesting machine with some slight differences to that of the later models.
As far as we know at this point, the machine spent majority of its life in the Mount Burr Sawmill where they used to mill pine for packing crates in the 50's and 60's. These packing crates were used to cart vegetables and fruit around South Australia and Victoria. The mill then moved on to dealing in the paper business in the late 70's and continued all the way into the 1990's when it was finally decommissioned.
When the sawmill shut down, an ex employee purchased the RK and proceeded to take it to nearby Millicent and into his workshop. From all accounts, the machine was well looked after in the mill and rarely used, and if it was, it only saw pine and the occasional lump of Blackwood.
With help from Chris Williamson of Williamson Fine Furniture in Portland Victoria, we managed to save this old girl from the strap heap and give it a new life in New South Wales. It is missing a couple of things that you should find on this particular model, like the knife grinder, square head driver for the cutter block and the optional chip deflector or dust hood. More investigation is needed to determine if this came from the factory like this or the parts have been lost over the years. More to come on that.
Here are some photos of the machine for your view pleasure.
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