Wadkin RB resoration

[wallace]

Its been a little while since I did a resto thread, I have been busy though, I just finished an RS lathe but I've done a couple of threads on them so didn't bother again.
I was going to do a MF morticer but the courier curse struck and it ended up doing a somersault off the tail lift from a great height. I cant blame the driver too much because the seller had firstly attached it to a euro pallet which are totally unsuitable for top heavy lumps of iron, secondly he left the table wound up and motors raised.
The driver should have known better though, I never understand why they want to turn a pallet on the tail lift when it would be much easier to push it straight onto it then remove the pump truck, lower and put the truck back in from the front.
Anyway no one was hurt so that's the main thing.
I never knew 75Okg could bounce but it did, half pike double twist and back slap. This was a really nice machine amazingly no hand wheels broken

Heres the RB,

This is the first single phase wadkin I've come across and dates from 1934

I asked the seller to lie it down to save the couriers a job in dropping it. Shame he didn't take the guard off first to stop damage

They are pretty simple things to strip down and within an hour it was in bits

I maybe should have cracked the nuts whilst was on the machine.

The nuts came off without too much force and I reversed the nut and screwed it back on to check for stretched threads. They screwed on smoothly so this machine has not been manhandled

You can also remove two clam shells to run moulding irons

I've never come across split double row bearings before

 

[marcros]

can you claim from the haulier for the damage?

 

[AJB Temple]

Must admit, I would have told the driver to take it straight back.

 

[wallace]

can you claim from the haulier for the damage?

They have reimbursed my purchase price but it was worth way more than that.

 

[wallace]

To clean any machined surfaces I like to use scotchbrite and brake cleaner. I don't like using wire wheels because it can ruin the surface.

Wadkin even stamp the ways so you don't mix parts up

Everything derusted and degreased

I like to give stuff a coat of zinc primer before I do any fill work

 

[wallace]

A bit more progress, I ran out of ali filler so had to use standard bondo.

The fence looks crusty but cleaned up well

The tables look worse than they are

The steel lips have a bit pitting but the cast iron is clean

 

[wallace]

A bit more done.

That was a few hours well spent

I got the head cleaned and back in

The bridge guard got damaged in transit, so I heated it up and hit it lots of times to straighten

I was a bit more gentle with the brass bit, just a bit of heat and twisted it with stilsons, then a couple of slight bashes with a hammer

I like to use thing which came from a car boot sale in the drill to start prepping the brass

sanded to 5OOgrit

I found this inside the motors connection box

Big cast iron pulley wheel, it had partial holes drilled into the backside to balance it.

I flushed the bearings and blew the motor out. I was going to take it to bits completely but the end bells were very reluctant to come off so I left well alone.

 

[wallace]

Just about completed. I thought I'd have a play with matt paint

I needed a starter and found this cool thing in my stash. shame its only 2.8 amps so no use.

New old stock

As you can see I need to touch up some paint that's been dragged off by the masking tape. I ran out of yellow frog tape so had to use regular stuff which is horrible stuff.

And for all you wadkin geeks out their, here's a 'treat especial'.
Wadkin had an in house photographer who would do the machine photos for catalogues, he would visit work places where there machines were used. This dates from the 193O's

 

[TheTiddles]

I note that even in the 1930’s (was that the good old days?) they still had the safety features on the saw

Aidan

 

[wallace]

I note that even in the 1930’s (was that the good old days?) they still had the safety features on the saw

Aidan

Not bad for a 1925 design, riving knife, blade guard, fully adjustable fence and dust extraction. The americans still haven't caught on with their silly full length fences, no riving knives and no blade guard.

 

[Ring]

Love watching you restore these big lumps, Bet they are a joy to use when comparing them with the light weight machines that flood the markets nowadays.
Jim.

 

[Yojevol]

Can I really have it for £9.02 delivery?

 

[wallace]

If it makes enough then I will ship it free

 

[DBT85]

Dare I ask what kind of figure you would expect this to fetch? A rough guess?

Might I also suggest some more detail in the ebay listing? overall dimensions, estimated weight, that sort of thing?

 

[wallace]

Its a hard thing to predict, I did a machine and it sold for £11O which wasn't the best. It is a very useful thing with fantastic quality that cannot be gotten these days. If you bought something new from axminster you could get a 6" planer for over £1k. The cut these old machines give is really nice. I would hope around £1k.

 

[DBT85]

Sorry it didn't go for more. I was the second highest bidder but only really bid what I could afford. Sad that only one other person wanted to pay more.