Wadkin BGS10…The rarest table saw Wadkin made. Full Restoration

[Zacharyhope]

Hi @deema
Can you describe the process for blade changing on the BGS please? I've got an AGS 10 and removing the fingerplate provides plenty of room for the bar to hold the spindle. I've been to view a BGS (serial started 60-) and could see the same holes in the spindle but no way of accessing them apart from going underneath or very close to the blade from the back! Some saws appear to have an extra hole in the fixed table, I assume for this purpose, I wonder if this was a later modification or a DIY mod?
Many thanks, Zac

 

[deema]

@Zacharyhope The saw has the same spindle as the AGS10, however there is no way of accessing the spindle lock hole. This is a good thing, as excess force in this hole distorts the flange which is why we always skim the flanges on AGS10. To get the blade off, you use the old timers trick. Just place a piece of wood on the surface of the table stuck into the teeth of the blade, this will stop it rotating. To tighten, same trick, but it doesn’t need to be much more than hand tight, the nut self tightens.

These are lovely saws, buy it. They are as rare as hens teeth. Perfect fir a small shop.

 

[Zacharyhope]

@Zacharyhope The saw has the same spindle as the AGS10, however there is no way of accessing the spindle lock hole. This is a good thing, as excess force in this hole distorts the flange which is why we always skim the flanges on AGS10. To get the blade off, you use the old timers trick. Just place a piece of wood on the surface of the table stuck into the teeth of the blade, this will stop it rotating. To tighten, same trick, but it doesn’t need to be much more than hand tight, the nut self tightens.

These are lovely saws, buy it. They are as rare as hens teeth. Perfect fir a small shop.

Brilliant, thank you! Had a slight scare when the nut undid itself while testing it...the blade kept spinning on the arbour for an unbelievably long time! I can see why brakes were introduced!

Is it possible to mill or grind the fixed table? This one has a noticeable hump in it next to the blade, the other side of the mitre slot seems dead level though and the sliding table is perfectly flat. I'd like to make sure there are options if it became an issue later.
Thanks for the help, Zac

 

[deema]

Generally you would have a table milled, it has a ‘rougher’ surface than ground. This is good, it’s less friction when putting stuff th rough the saw and it helps to hold a bit if wax. It’s only metalwork machine tables you’d generally consider for grinding.
Getting a table machined needs fairly big mill, not something I fit instance can do on my Bridgeport clone mill, it’s too small. I’m not in touch with the latest machining costs, but about five years ago I’d expect to pay around £250 to get a table machined up.

I have read of people in here simply sanding away humps and bumps, using a straight edge ti guide them. Cast iron is ‘easy’ to remove material from by hand, so this is an option, but not one I’ve tried myself,

 

[Zacharyhope]

Pleased to say that @ezhope and I are now the proud owners of BGS 60151. Is it ok to keep posting on this thread or shall I start a new one? We're likely to have some questions about setting it up properly, the blade isn't perpendicular to the sliding table and upon taking both tables off have discovered a gap between the trunnion and frame (the photo of the restored one doesn't have this gap). Excuse the caked on sawdust, does anyone have any tips for removing it?!

 

[MilesH]

I've updated my list of extant BGS10 dimension saws, to include Zachary's.

 

[Zacharyhope]

Thanks @MilesH, we briefly met up in London a couple of years back while collecting the 1959 AGS 10, it's exciting to join the BGS club!
I've cleaned up the insides a bit and have got the sliding table as square to the blade as I can, just need to level the fixed table to it now and fit the new DOL starter.

One thing I'm slightly confused about is the tilting part of the frame. It looks like a later style casting with the bosses for both the rise/fall riving knife which are not used and the fixed knife, which are in use. Not sure how to describe this but there is a piece of the tilt mechanism on this frame which protrudes past the channel in the tub when tilted to 45° and this stops the table from sliding, is this normal? It'll slide if it's drawn out by 15mm or so.
I've attached a photo with an arrow pointing to the part but will take some more later.
Thanks

 

[MilesH]

Yes, I remember well now!

On the BGS10 the end of this part is truncated to avoid the conflict. The parts you show in your first picture also seem to be later than the origin date of your saw. It seems that most of the internal parts have been replaced with those of an AGS from post 1962.

 

[MilesH]

Look forward to following your progress with this, Zachary!

 

[Zacharyhope]

Yes it seems to align very well now I've closed the gap. I did wonder if the innards had been replaced as they didn't look age specific to the date on the plate. We might end up carefully sawing off those bits as using the slider to cut mitres is something I'd like to do. If it's already been messed with I'm not so worried about modifying to make it more usable

 

[Stegmann]

I’m sure very few people will know of or have seen a Wadkin BGS 10 table saw. What’s so special? Well, the BGS10 is basically the much loved Wadkin AGS10 with a sliding table, a genuine cast iron slider that sits right up against the blade. This makes it far more versatile than the AGS10 which it is based on. Wadkin also made a Wadkin BGS12, which is its big brother, and also has a sliding table, however, the mechanism for the 12 is far different to the 10. The BGS12 is more common to find, but is still rare compared the the AGS10. They usual command a significant price premium compared to the AGS10 or AGS12.
There is not a manual in existence for this saw as far as I know, and there are less than 10 of these saws known to exist. There used to be a member in this forum, I’m not sure if he still visits who had created a register of all know saws. I have had the pleasure of owning one of these saws before, which I reluctantly sold for a larger saw a number of years back. I have been lucky enough to find another of these jewels, however it is at the moment in need of a lot of TLC to bring it back to its former glory.
The link below to the Wadkin library provides the sales literature for this saw, which is the only printed material I know of that does exist.

https://www.wadkin.com/archive pdfs/Wadkin BGS Panel Saw.pdf
Will I be keeping this saw? Unfortunately not, it will be sold when it’s completed, as a hobby, another member of this site and I keep our grey matter chugging by restoring old machines as we are both retired engineers.

So, if there is any interest in seeing how this saw was put together, I will document the full restoration process.

Hi Deema. I live in South Africa and recently joined the workshop. I was looking for information on the Wadkin BGS 10 saw and stumbled on your posts. I am also busy refurbishing a BGS 10 saw en I was astounded to hear how rare they are. Here is a photo of the machine no. Hope to hear from you.

 

[deema]

hi @Stegmann you have a wonderful saw, they are really nice machines and the slider gives it much more versatility. I’m sure your serial number will be added to @MilesH register of a very small club of owners.