Dominion Combo Saw - Old but serviceable? Woodworking Equipment

[Trudice]

Hi there, thanks to admin for letting me join, i‘m in need of some advice - I do hope this post is ok?

I have taken over an art studio in an old carpentry workshop on a Suffolk Estate and there is some wood working machinery in there taking up valuable space. It belongs to the now owner of the Estate and he has said he would happily let the machinery go - ie; sell, to buyers who would collect, move, dismantle etc (he doesn’t want the bother as he is very busy farming). I believe the huge thing is a Dominion Combination Saw/Planer/Rebater/Cross cutter/Spindle Moulder (a chap on facebook told me that!) wether all the bits are there i’m not sure! Then there is a Mortise drill & a dust harvester... plus some other smaller items like a sander, band saw (i think?)
So i know about art, but not about this kind of thing so any advice is welcome especially on best place to advertise for sale and possible price??? i have put on facebook market place and already had 14 people interested, help! Please, thank you in advance...

 

[Cabinetman]

Hi Trudice, no problem and thank you for bringing it to us I have no doubt it will raise a lot of interest on here. The problem with the big Dominion is that it’s big and extremely heavy. The mortising machine looks particularly tasty and I’m sure somebody will fancy the dust harvester. The information that we really need and I couldn’t see it at a quick glance is whether the individual machines use single or three phase electricity , 3 phase is 450 V and single phase is what you have at home, it will say on a plate on the electric motors.
Didn’t see a picture of a bandsaw which you said you thought there was one, that will be of interest on here as well. Best of luck with that Ian
Edit, Yes you have given us that for a couple of the pieces, thanks

 

[Trudice]

Hi Trudice, no problem and thank you for bringing it to us I have no doubt it will raise a lot of interest on here. The problem with the big Dominion is that it’s big and extremely heavy. The mortising machine looks particularly tasty and I’m sure somebody will fancy the dust harvester. The information that we really need and I couldn’t see it at a quick glance is whether the individual machines use single or three phase electricity , 3 phase is 450 V and single phase is what you have at home, it will say on a plate on the electric motors.
Didn’t see a picture of a bandsaw which you said you thought there was one, that will be of interest on here as well. Best of luck with that Ian
Edit, Yes you have given us that for a couple of the pieces, thanks

Hi Ian, thank you for your prompt reply. I am going over to the workshop so will take some more photos, as I am not sure about the phase- i‘m pretty sure it’s power supply is the industrial type not household - the switches and clunky & wires etc are in metal tubes and cemented in to the floor!!! Hella of a job removing it i’m sure... but someone will want to make the effort, if they can geit for a song - and i think the owner will just like it removed asap!
Have a good day, T

 

[Droogs]

@AndyT @toolsntat perhaps you guys or taths could help here

 

[Cabinetman]

I am just pumping this up to the top again as there is some good quality equipment here going begging!

 

[AndyT]

@AndyT @toolsntat perhaps you guys or taths could help here

Sorry, but my knowledge of machinery is pretty near non-existent. TATHS is only interested in hand tools.

 

[Trevanion]

I've seen those Dominion machines before, I've always thought they looked like absolute death traps. I've never been quite sure how the cross-cut function worked. Even though there's a lot of good old iron in one of those quality machines they're not worth particularly much because of the sheer size and footprint of them being combined which is a travesty really. In my opinion, you might get around £600-800 for it if you were very lucky as only a select few people would have any interest in a machine of that calibre. There's more a little more information on them here: Dominion Supreme Universal Woodworker

The Morticer is a Multico Model K, realistically worth maybe around £300 for a single-phase machine (240V) and around £100 for a three-phase machine. It would be worth a bit more if it had a comprehensive collection of bits to go with it.

 

[toolsntat]

@AndyT @toolsntat perhaps you guys or taths could help here

As above really ^^.
Seriously heavy duty those Dominions.
Had a play once, if I remember right the saw bed rises past the blade?
Also think the crosscut is swung 90° to use the planer bed or saw bed ?
@TFrench
Cheers Andy

 

[Droogs]

If I had the cash and a big enough rucksack then ...

 

[toolsntat]

@wallace

Also something to consider, was the planer almost a stand alone unit?
Cheers Andy

 

[wallace]

Them Dominions are probably just as good as wadkin. The problem is like already mentioned is there size, about 2 tonne. Very versatile for a one man band. Most things dont put me off but thats a bit big for me to play with.
It should be worth a decent amount of money because they have great capacity but youll be lucky to get £5OO

 

[Cabinetman]

Thanks for your input guys, I think the smaller things like the dust extractor and hopefully soon to come a picture of the bandsaw might be of more interest to the members on here. Many many years ago, my brother-in-law and I acquired a Dominion planer and saw combination from a local college as it could not be guarded sufficiently to be used there and we cut the two apart and then it just sort of sat there, a real shame as it was a well-made solid dependable last forever bit of British engineering. But just not what people want unfortunately. Ian

 

[toolsntat]

Ah ha! It was a "super".....

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/scrap-or-sell.48170/post-559084

 

[RobinBHM]

I love the phone number on the Dominion machine:

Halifax 22258

its all a bit sherlock holmes

 

[Cabinetman]

When I was a boy, Robin, our phone number was the town followed by 3166. And of course the phone was in the hallway, mind you we were posh we had a white one, lol. There was a shop in town that had a phone in the window with a Union Jack pattern all over it. To a 12-year-old boy that was the biz. Ian

 

[Jamesc]

My Father has this exact machine. We found it at a saw mill about 40 years ago and I cleaned it up, repaired it and it has been going trouble free ever since.
The cross cut saw is fantastic, it is heavy and you will need to make a better blade guard ad the stock one leave half the blade completly exposed. But the weight, rigidity and power mean that we have found it a very useable piece of kit. His version only has one motor which is switched over to drive each function. This is the delux version with a separate motor for the planer/thickenesser.
When we first got it we got in touch with Dominion (or whatever they had become then) They offered us £1000 site unseen as they were taking the machines into their factory and refitting them to modern standards.

 

[Trevanion]

I think Calder Brook Machinery are ex-Dominion employees or something like that.

 

[Trudice]

@wallace

Also something to consider, was the planer almost a stand alone unit?
Cheers Andy

I think not, it seems to all be connected to the very substantial base! Thank you for your input though

 

[Trudice]

My Father has this exact machine. We found it at a saw mill about 40 years ago and I cleaned it up, repaired it and it has been going trouble free ever since.
The cross cut saw is fantastic, it is heavy and you will need to make a better blade guard ad the stock one leave half the blade completly exposed. But the weight, rigidity and power mean that we have found it a very useable piece of kit. His version only has one motor which is switched over to drive each function. This is the delux version with a separate motor for the planer/thickenesser.
When we first got it we got in touch with Dominion (or whatever they had become then) They offered us £1000 site unseen as they were taking the machines into their factory and refitting them to modern standards.

Thank you for your post, very interesting

 

[Trudice]

I've seen those Dominion machines before, I've always thought they looked like absolute death traps. I've never been quite sure how the cross-cut function worked. Even though there's a lot of good old iron in one of those quality machines they're not worth particularly much because of the sheer size and footprint of them being combined which is a travesty really. In my opinion, you might get around £600-800 for it if you were very lucky as only a select few people would have any interest in a machine of that calibre. There's more a little more information on them here: Dominion Supreme Universal Woodworker

The Morticer is a Multico Model K, realistically worth maybe around £300 for a single-phase machine (240V) and around £100 for a three-phase machine. It would be worth a bit more if it had a comprehensive collection of bits to go with it.

Thank you for this, much appreciate your input.