Wadkin

[Chris Hall]

I'm back from vacation now, and while I was away I managed to acquire a table saw from the UK:

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It's a Wadkin PP 450mm dimension saw, probably made in the 1960's. The long table is supposed to have a couple of support legs, included with the saw, but they left them out for the photo shoot. This is a traditional joiner's/pattern-makers saw, and has a tilting fence with micro-adjustment. So, the blade tilts, the rip fence tilts, and the miter fence can be angled, making it quite versatile.

I was not heading in a direction towards buying an older saw, however this is where I ended up. I'll post more on the Carpentry Way blog in a few days about the process and rationale behind the purchase.

Another photos - this machine has the extra long sliding table and extra long main table. The arbor is 1.25" and it can accept up to an 18" (450mm) blade. It has a max depth of cut of 5.5" and no scoring since it is not intended for sheet goods:

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I am expecting that it will work decently upon arrival, and plan to do a bit of refurbishment when time allows. At long last I have a table saw!

[Brian]

Nice! Looking forward to the blog post.

[Chris Pyle]

I look forward to seeing your refurb and I'm interested in hearing why you chose this one. It looks like a great saw, I wish they could be sourced in the states.

[Chris Hall]

I look forward to seeing your refurb and I'm interested in hearing why you chose this one. It looks like a great saw, I wish they could be sourced in the states.

Well, i'll explain more in my upcoming blog post, but these machines were exported to the US and Canada, though not in large numbers it would appear. I actually became more aware of this machine after one was posted up for sale in Indiana a few weeks back. I decided to pass on that machine as it was not in the best condition. Anyway, these machines are out there, and in any case, the issues involved in getting one from Britain (they are not exactly abundant there mind you) to the US are not insurmountable by any means.

[Yxoc]

Be careful - you're going to exceed your recommended daily allowance of iron.

[Chris Hall]

Yes, it's getting close to the max line. in fact, I've run out of room in my portion of the shop space, and have negotiated with my shop neighbor Joe to put the saw in his space in exchange for letting him use the saw.

[Chris Hall]

Wadkin 450 Dimension saw is crated and will be shipped from the UK on the 14th. Arrives in New York on the 22nd, and Boston on the 28th. Hoping to have it in my shop shortly after that.

I have been impressed with the seller, Scott and Sargeant Woodworking machines, based in or around London. By all accounts they've done a thorough job getting the machine ready to ship.

[Chris Hall]

I wrote on my blog the other day about how the Wadkin has a mix of fasteners:


-metric
-BSW (Whitworth)
-BSF (fine thread)

And now I have unearthed another type:

-BA (British Association) threads

These appear in one place only, which is the electrical box on the front of the machine.

They are tiny fasteners, about 3/16" diameter and fine thread. They are not exactly 3/16" though, coming it at 0.1850".

The BA thread pattern (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_A ... ew_threads), created in the mid-1800's, still sees use in a few places in our modern world - like the thread connecting the head of a dart to the stock holding the flight. It was apparently based on the logic of the metric system, converting to inches, and has 47.5˚ thread angle.

Just another fastener to for me locate, and the US is not the best place to find them it would appear. I found a company in the US that can supply these various uncommon British fasteners (http://www.metricmcc.com/) however they charge an absolute fortune for them. Little 3/16"x1/2" BSW screws for $4.60/each, for example. I think I'll be contacting some suppliers in the UK...

[Chris Pyle]

I'm sorry to hear that Chris, seems like you've already encountered a fair share of headaches with this saw. I hope it gets evened out shortly. Can the various tool dealers in the UK help provide any leads? Scott+Sargent or the people you bought the high speed mill?

[Chris Hall]

I'm sorry to hear that Chris, seems like you've already encountered a fair share of headaches with this saw. I hope it gets evened out shortly. Can the various tool dealers in the UK help provide any leads? Scott+Sargent or the people you bought the high speed mill?

Scott and Sargeant seem to be one of those companies that are helpful to the customer up to the point at which they are paid, and then after that, not so much.

The folks in Germany wouldn't know anything about British Standard fasteners.

There are plenty of fastener dealers in the UK however. In the age of the google search and cheap international dialing, it is not hard to track down a supplier.

The saw was in better shape and more complete than nearly every other one I looked at. When you buy an older machine, there are going to be issues. Part of that too is that I notice what the issues are fairly soon, having been down this road before with a few machines. A less fussy person than, I suspect, might not even notice the issues like the bowed sliding table, or would assume that the cut quality was 'as good as things get' and couldn't be improved upon. I cling to the notion that the machine can be made to cut with high accuracy, and hope that reaching that destination does not cost and arm and a leg. I'm not terribly surprised to find that the sliding table casting is slightly bowed. It's common to find bowed and warped castings on old machines - at least that's what I have found.

The Wadkin cost £3000, versus $35,000 for a new Martin, so if I have to spend another few thousand to get the Wadkin into tip-top shape it is still a good deal by comparison. Parts for an old Wadkin are not really available, however truth be told, a lot of the parts for other makes of equipment can be hard to source once the machine is 10 years old or more. Martin wouldn't have many parts for a 1970's vintage sliding saw beyond, say, the bearings and belts.

There are no fasteners *needed* to keep the saw running, these are just fasteners I'm choosing to obtain to replace the originals, many of which are in poor condition -- and because I don't care for slotted-head machine screws. So it is more a 'want' than a 'need' sort of thing.

The ruler on the saw top looks to possibly be from a Wadkin PP with the regular size table, as the point at which it is broken, a screw hole, is a point at which the cast top has no provision for a screw. I received two quotes for a custom made metal table rule, one at $700 and the other nearly $1500, so I have decided a cheaper option will suffice, namely a 72" Starrett rule designed for mounting on a regular tablesaw rip fence (the type attached down with adhesive). At $18, it should do the trick.

~C