New to me Wadkin LQ

[Jelly]

On that point, I spoke to a pattern maker recently - I was enquiring about casting a new table stop mechanism - he said they got rid of their LQs because they were only really used as a drill press. Everything else was done on the WX.
He said the lq was limited in its capacity and that its head doesn't rotate.

The WX is still in active demand, about 3-4 years back Dalton's lifted one out through the roof of an office block (converted from a foundry) down the road from my flat at the time, apparently they'd spent a long time tracking it down to rebuild and supply to a customer.

Anyway, anacdote aside, I suppose the LP/LQ predates the advances which made the router possible, so would have filled that niche for mass manufacture of things like stair strings for a time.

I know Wadkin were active in the production of NC overhead routers and gantry mills for the aerospace sector after the war, but with the exception of the LZ spar miller no documentation seems to be available to identify those machines (at least online), and I've used early 60's vintage overhead pin routers from Wadkin which are about the same working envelope as the LP; which probably explains their removal from the range so early.

 

[Solverson]

The WX is still in active demand, about 3-4 years back Dalton's lifted one out through the roof of an office block (converted from a foundry) down the road from my flat at the time, apparently they'd spent a long time tracking it down to rebuild and supply to a customer.

Anyway, anacdote aside, I suppose the LP/LQ predates the advances which made the router possible, so would have filled that niche for mass manufacture of things like stair strings for a time.

I know Wadkin were active in the production of NC overhead routers and gantry mills for the aerospace sector after the war, but with the exception of the LZ spar miller no documentation seems to be available to identify those machines (at least online), and I've used early 60's vintage overhead pin routers from Wadkin which are about the same working envelope as the LP; which probably explains their removal from the range so early.

That would make sense- that the LQ was essentially not big/flexible enough for the many foundries and was outdone by the overhead routers in terms of production speed in other applications. I guess its a bit of a jack of all trades machine.

 

[wallace]

My dad work for Wadkin back in the 70s

I see your just up the road, did your dad work at houghton le spring

 

[wallace]

The LQ was primarily a stair trenching and boring machine, it could be used for lots of other things. And because it could run at 6K rpm it could be used as a over head moulder. It shared some of the tooling for pattern millers