Wadkin DN Bandsaw Restoration

[Charlie_6ft]

Hi everyone, I've recently started restoring my Wadkin DN - see the following for the story:

I am looking for some help from people who own an early model Wadkin DN. I pulled my saw apart about 4 years ago and am pretty clear on everything except how the top wheel assembly goes in for adjusting up and down.

Can I ask owners to post pictures of the parts on their machine in the 2nd photo please?

The below I believe are all the parts required for this to go together - just want to understand if I am missing something and in what order it goes together vertically when it's put together.

● Wheel assembly
● The hand wheel & shaft
● A large nut (in my hand)
● Spring for tensioning

 

[deema]

Looks great

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes it does look super, can’t imagine there are many different ways for those bits to go together, I would think the spring has a washer between it and any other moving part, I would think that the bit in your hand goes against the two webs on the casting to stop it turning.
I imagine that it was so obvious at the time and that’s why you didn’t take a pic of it lol.
Are there no manuals online?

 

[Charlie_6ft]

Yes it does look super, can’t imagine there are many different ways for those bits to go together, I would think the spring has a washer between it and any other moving part, I would think that the bit in your hand goes against the two webs on the casting to stop it turning.
I imagine that it was so obvious at the time and that’s why you didn’t take a pic of it lol.
Are there no manuals online?

I think your fairly well right although how you see that wheel assembly it's actually upside down because of gravity (as you see it the bottom part is heavier). So those two webs on the casting doesn't make sense for this giant nut casting to contact it.

So the spring in my mind can only go between the top of the wheel assembly and the cone head/bell housing casting from what I can gather & yes with some over sized washers.

 

[Charlie_6ft]

BTW - those washers in the pic are not large enough for the spring and are actually for the wheel safety covers. I'll have to try and source some bigger washers or make something up out of scrap metal.

 

[Beau]

Looks a beauty. there used to be chap I think called Wallace on here who knew most thing Wadkin. Might be worth a search

 

[heimlaga]

To me it looks like the screw goes through the mount vertically with the handwheel at it's lower end. The nut should have it's flaw face towards the frame and towards tha back of the saw. The vertical channel in the mount casting seems to provide just enough room for the nut and the spring on top of it. The tensioning spring mounted around the screw on top of the nut pushing against the wheel mount.

Logically it must be something like that.

 

[Keith 66]

Very similar to my old one, long gone now. The adjusting wheel goes at the bottom, the photos dont show the wheel tilt & axle casting, there should also be a heavy square section spring that goes below the top wheel mount to allow tensioning. The top axle mount has a transverse trunnion mount with the top wheel axle sticking out of it. It allows the top wheel tilt to be adjusted for tracking.
When i closed my yard down i had the old DNA in a lock up up the farm & scrappies nicked it. Bloody shame as it was a magnificent machine. I still have the two 30" spoked wheels for it with good polyurethane tyres.
If anyone wants them for a restoration?

 

[Charlie_6ft]

Looks a beauty. there used to be chap I think called Wallace on here who knew most thing Wadkin. Might be worth a search

Thanks Beau, he did reply on the FB Wadkin Appreciation Group post but didn't have the specific knowledge on this machine unfortunately.

 

[Charlie_6ft]

Very similar to my old one, long gone now. The adjusting wheel goes at the bottom, the photos dont show the wheel tilt & axle casting, there should also be a heavy square section spring that goes below the top wheel mount to allow tensioning. The top axle mount has a transverse trunnion mount with the top wheel axle sticking out of it. It allows the top wheel tilt to be adjusted for tracking.
When i closed my yard down i had the old DNA in a lock up up the farm & scrappies nicked it. Bloody shame as it was a magnificent machine. I still have the two 30" spoked wheels for it with good polyurethane tyres.
If anyone wants them for a restoration?

Thanks Keith, I took a video of the machine 4 years ago which I dug up and was able to take take screen shots. This gives away some more clues regarding:

1) The spring above the wheel tilt & axle casting
2) There is nothing below the wheel tilt & axle casting that all of this rests on which logically tells me that big black nut must go between the top and bottom of the wheel tilt & axle casting???

 

[Keith 66]

Going to edit this, Looking at the photo with the wheel assembly & you holding the black nut,
The black nut goes at the bottom, red spring on top of that, threaded lift rod goes through the middle with adjusting wheel at the bottom. The swinging yoke that carries the top wheel stub axle is supported by the big red spring allowing different tension to be set for different blades.
Your wheels are different to mine being cast rim & spokes, Mine are rod spokes welded into a steel bar rim & spokes threaded into the cast hub.
The bearings in these are absolutely huge & i suspect you would want to be sitting down if you enquired the price of new ones!
When i got my bandsaw it was laying on its front in a sea of mud on a building site. Two weeks later it was running & ran faultlessly for 18 years. I was gutted when the scrappies had it away. Though i had nowhere to use it again I had wanted to put it in our extension which has a long open plan kitchen & dining space, The vision was to have the bandsaw standing to one side with its table covered with a bigger glass top breakfast bar, all painted & polished up. My wife was quite in favour! Alas it wasnt to be.

 

[Charlie_6ft]

Thanks Keith, closing this out. Visually you can see everything in these pics. The black nut as assumed and suggested buts up against that top part of the casting which controls the rise and & fall.