Wadkin Relics

[Edd84]

Hello!

Im after some advice. I had a workshop in France sometime ago and sold up and returned back to the UK. Now looking and setting up another. I have a neighbour who has some Wadkin machines that have been sat in a open sided barn, solid roof above, but open to the elements and a bit of side rain.
Theres a Wadkin SR 32″ Ripsaw with a 12" cut
A Wadkin chain/chisel MA morticer.
and a Wadkin RM 24" planer thicknesser.
They were taken out of a Alcan factory about 10 years ago. He has no time to do anything with them now and was going to scrap them!

Ive some photos below so you can see the condition of them.

Has anyone had any experience in restoring these? Are they too far gone or a viable project?
Would it be worth it?
any advice appreciated.

Many thanks

Edd

 

[memzey]

By no means do they look too far gone to my eye. I've restored some Wadkin in the past but a couple of guys on this board, namely Wallace, has restored several such machines and will no doubt be along shortly. The best reference for this stuff I found was the Canadian woodworking and home improvement website. Ask for Jack he knows as much about Wadkin stuff as anybody!

 

[RobinBHM]

Wadkin machines are so well made they can most likely be returned to full working condition.

These machines can work in production environments for years without wearing out.

These particular machines are suited to joinery or heavy woodwork, not very fine work.

 

[toolsntat]

Absolutely, beasts of machines, tame them and get them performing for you.
Cheers
Andy

 

[Keith 66]

Years ago i bought three scrap machines from a demolished timber yard in Billericay, A big 30" Wadkin bandsaw, A Chain chisel morticer & a Dankaert circular saw, The bandsaw was laying on its front in the mud & the saw had had its table ripped off & broken in half by a digger. That got fabricated mounts & the broken table was fishplated back together. The bandsaw needed guides from another scrap machine as its own had gone missing.
All were as bad as those & i had them running in a few weeks. Solid engineering that never wears out. I got 15 years of hard use from them & the old Dankaert 's motor burned out the very last time i used it the day before i moved out! I wish i still had the bandsaw!

 

[heimlaga]

I think the rip saw may be a bit on the large side for furniture making and doors and windows and such. To me it seems like a suitable machine for heavy joinery.
On the other hand a bit of extra capacity never hurts....... so whether you take it on or not shuld depend on what sort of work you intend to do.
Personally I would pass it on to someone else. There are certainly people who need it and there are two more important machines for you to focus your effort on.

The mortiser should be pretty much ideal for general furnituremaking and joinery. It will certainly require a thorough rebuild but when considering the cost of a new mortiser of industrial quality I am certain that your hours spent on the rebuild will be well rewarded.
Personally I would take it on but it should be rather cheap in that condition.

My experience is that a 24" planer/thicknesser saves a lot of time and effort when making furniture and doors and windows semi-professionally. The ability to plane wide panels and other glueups flat and to equal thickness after glueing saves a lot of time and frustration. I would never ever think about selling my 24" Stenberg combination except if I was replacing it with a separate planer and a separate thicknesser of at least equal size or if I was replacing it with a slightly superrior Wadkin RM. The Wadkin RM has a reputation for being a very good design. Except the cutterhead which may or may not be a bit outdated. Wallace should know whether the cutterhead is good or not.
Personally I would take it on. Nu doubt.

The questuion whether a machine is worth rebuilding boils down to ete eternal question time versus money.
Some have a rick full of money rotting from below and preciously little time.
Some have a bit of time and barely money enough to stay afloat.
If the supply of money is limited then buying and rebuilding machines like this it a good way of making the money go further. Especially if you have spare time or surplus time you can spend for instance during a slow season or between jobs.
A hobbyist or one man business whose rebuild hours count only at a tax free netto pay rate get a far more favourable conversion rate from time to money than a business using hired labour.

 

[dcmguy]

Thanks ...seems like a pretty good vote for using time to refurb a Wadkin...I might have a go at that RS lathe on ebay

 

[Edd84]

Hello again,

Many thanks for all the advice. Im going to go ahead with them. Have always dreamed of having a Wadkin of any shape or variety!

I agree with heimlaga that the rip saw is a bit on the large side. Saying that it would still be great to have it for doing what it was intended for. Along side a more refined tablesaw. Fortunately space isn't an issue. Though it will be the last to get going.

A 24" thicknesses would be quite the luxury and will probably be the first machine to get the full works.

Noticed a lot of the refurbed machines are painted in different greens and blues. Should one day I come to sell them. May one day return to NZ. . . Does the colour choice make any difference in value?

Any ideas of a sensible offer for their current state?

Many thanks

Edd

 

[RobinBHM]

Dealers seem to like the blue tone since that was the most recent Wadkin colour

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wadki ... SYFtg165OM:

RAL5021 water blue (same colour as Martin machines, I think).

I would guess at the machines being worth only a touch more than scrap value.

Once youve got them cleaned up and working, you will have 3 sought after machines, which will be worth a fair bit. Ive got an MA morticer that I paid £2,500 for 8 years ago. Its used every day. The model with the chain is worth more. The RM and SR are both similar money.

 

[heimlaga]

When a machine is painted in the colour of it's much later decendants I consider the paint a warning sign. Just like overspray on the windows of a car is a warning sign tetting that there is some carelessly repaired rust damage somewhere.
When somebody tries to paint a machine to make it look newer he probably did it in order to sell the machine. People who "rebuild" machines in order to sell them don't usually bother to repair parts that aren't visible on the outside and they often use all sorts of dirty tricks to disguise damage.


If I had a properly rebuilt 24" Wadkin RM and was moving to New Zealand I would be prepaired to pay quite a significant amount of money for shipping it.
Maybe that's just me but once I have a good tool or a good machine I want to keep it.

 

[Keith 66]

Regarding prices, It should be remembered that old machines like this will often not conform to modern safety regs, not a problem for those of us who are one man bands or hobbyists but if you are employing people its a big consideration. There are a lot of old machines around & the market is not good for them. To be brutally honest they are worth their weight in iron little more no matter what make they are.
I was asked if i was interested in buying a metalworking workshop contents recently, Big Herbert lathe, Denbigh mills, Pillar drills, Guillotines surface grinders the lot, I think the lathe was 1940's the rest was pre WW2 some was pre WW1 , most of it were literally museum pieces.
The owner didnt want to hear £60 a ton. Add the cost of a hiab lorry & the days it would have taken to clear it all.

 

[Edd84]

Turns out its a 20" not a 24! but still be the biggest planer I've ever owned.

Have been watching some of jacks you tube videos, and love the idea of restoring it to something near that sort of condition. Though my impatience of wanting to get it going and using it may be the downfall.

Would want to restore them as faithfully as possible, but the old grey is exactly that and the green looks so much nicer . . .

Haven't really looked into shipping costs, but I know a container is roughly 2k to get there, not including the cost of transporting them to the docks and from the docks. Would be something to look into in the future but thats a distant dream.

Already looking at sand blasters and other useful tools for the projects. Better start welding up a frame for the hoist!