Wadkin Lathes

[tony]

Hi folks , im going to have quite a few questions about the above lathes , cant tell you what models just yet , but here goes . How do you get the drive centres out as i dont think you can push them out with a rod , as you can on the hobby lathes that im used to using . These lathes are at work & ive only just started using them , ones a monster & the other is a bit smaller , i know the details are sketchy at the moment but ill get more info posted. Just thought of another question , can you buy chucks to suit these old machines , cheers Tony

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Tony

I have A Wadkin RS8:

They have, as you spotted, a soild headstock. The way I remove centres is to lock the spindle with the pin and use grips to hold the drive and twist and pull it out. This is fine to do but it does rather mark your drive centres !! I did buy a pair of soft grips with plastic inserts on the jaws but they won't grip hard enough. Every so often I will touch a file to the centre while it's running to smooth it off. Not ideal I know, but the only way I have found to do it.

They don't make chucks with 1 3/8 x 6 thread that is on the RS these days, so I bought a chuck with a blank back plate which I then had threaded by a local engineering company. You could try The Toolpost, I think they are the best source of this type of chuck. I had one of the last Axminster Super Precisions in the old style that you can do this with.

HTH

If you need more help with the Wadkins, just ask.

Richard

 

[dennisk]

I used a Bl150 for a while and I think it had 1 1/2" by 6 BSW and Oneway had an adapter for that, actually it was threaded both ways so it could be used outboard as well. I am fairly sure they will make an adapter for nearly any thread and then it mounts into the Stronghold chuck. Hope that helps, it worked great on the Wadkin and when I went to the Titan all I had to do was buy a new adapter and got to keep the chuck. I left the old adapter with the lathe and new owner bought a new Stronghold and its ready to go as well. DK

 

[tony]

Thank you both for replying with helpful advice , im sure ill be able to sort a chuck out from what you have both told me. Richard , the lathe in the photo looks very much like the monster one i mentioned , but for all i know they could all look similar. Today i tried to get the live centre out of the tailstock without success , does this just pop out when you back the wheel off like a normal lathe , it may have just been in there since 1865 !!! Next question is , should i take the tension off the belt when not in use , we have been pressing down on the pedal & putting timber underneath , is this correct ? cheers for now, Tony

 

[wallace]

I have a RS lathe as well. I got a patriot chuck for my first Chinese lathe years ago and have just got new adaptors for each lathe as I've upgraded. To get one for the RS was quite expensive. The centre should just pop out when you wind the handwheel in, its a morse 2 taper. I wouldn't worry about releasing the tension on the drive belt, is it the original leather one or a modern one.
Mark

 

[tony]

Hi Mark , the belt thats on the lathe is a leather one , whether its the original or a modern one i wouldnt know , are the modern ones made of a different material ? The smaller of the two lathes still has its plate on which says RS2101 , the bigger one is missing its plate but i would say its roughly 63inches between centres if thats any help in identifying it , cheers for now , Tony

 

[wallace]

The belt sounds like the original type, I find it makes the lathe more noisy. Apparantly you can get replacement belts made from rubber and they reduce the noise quite abit.