Need a Wadkin Technician

[Babyje]

Hi guys
Am starting my carpentry workshop and bought couple of old wadkin machines on ebay.
Can anyone recommend me a woodworking technician who is familiar with repairing and servicing wadkin machineries such as:
1. Table saw
2. Planer
3. Spindle moulder
4. Bandsaw
5. Drill
6. Sander

Many thanks

 

[Keith 66]

If you are starting your own workshop & have the space & three phase power Wadkin are great machines, the best.
But i have to ask why you need a "Woodworking technician" familiar with such machines. Such a person or company will cost you when it is easy to do yourself.
Wadkin gear if old is cast iron heavy & doesnt wear out, Its designed to be able to be repaired indefinately. The only thing that does machines like this in is lack of regular cleaning & lubrication. Drive belts are easily changed, Bearings are usually oversized & last lifetimes. Vacumn all the dust out of everywhere.
I started in 84 with a 30"Wadkin bandsaw, A Wadkin morticer & a similar quality Dankaert 24" circular saw, All were built in the 1930's & came from a building site in Billericay that had been a timber yard. When we went to pick them up the bandsaw was laying face down in 2ft of mud & the Circ saw was still bolted to the section of floor the digger had ripped up, Unfortunately they had broken the saw table in two & ripped its mounting lugs off lifting it.
We got them home & I fishplated the broken table & fabricated new lags to mount it. The bandsaw was cleaned down re tired & greased, A week later they were all running & served me handsomely for 15 years.
The weird thing was when i packed the yard in in 98 I sold the Dankaert saw to a guy for £60 & he was going to pick it up on the saturday.
Friday i had one last job for it ripping up some long lengths of timber, Started her up got halfway through & the motor suddenly started slowing & made some large 3 phase pops, all its magic smoke came out out & it expired. That was the end of that.
Guy turned up the next day & I told him that the motor went pop. We decided it must have known. I gave him the machine for nowt & he put another secondhand motor on it.
If you really havent got time & have spare money to splash ask your nearest Saw sharpener who they would recomend. But be sitting down when they give you a price

 

[Brad93]

Your gonna be looking at £450-600 a day easily for any machine tool maintenance guys.

 

[frank horton]

my attitude is if u can fix a bycycle u can fix a Wadkin, and many others.....apart from the elec's but they are simple enough to get fixed by a sparks.....or advice from here....

when I moved here had to sell my whole Wadkin workshop.....a very sad day.......
everything is heavy so a strong helper is often needed ......if mine needed heavy maintainence I had a forklift and engine crane.....hahaha....
my 20" planer thicknesser always had a slightly warm bearing on the drive side of the head.....other side was cool.....
took it to bits and there's a huge self centering ball bearing, could'nt find fault with it.....so just greased it up and refitted....making sure the lube oil hole / cover was clear....
mine was lubed with a few drops of engine oil before and after use....a factory fitted dropper with a spring loaded lid.....
anyway dread to think of the cost of a replacement bearing if needed....£200 would not surprise , if u could find one.....
it ran like that for the 12-14 years I worked it......and man did that machine work had.....

Just bought n shipped a Wadkin medium bed RS wood lathe, nearly a ton.....ps it was made and first factory test run in 1939.....
all original bearings .....no faults found.....
good luck with ur new venture....

 

[mark roberts]

Like already said wadkins dont really die, even when neglected. Most stuff is pretty basic except maybe overhead router which have bearings that need to be 'run in'.

 

[Agroshield]

Please state your rough location with a little more precision. London is quite large.

Please say exactly what you think is required to be done on the machines. Is it merely a once over of a machine new in your possession, that appeared good when viewed working at its previous location? Is it a rusty heap of scrap dragged out of a wet barn, that has not operated for 20 years, with parts missing, broken and seized?

Are you a one-person shop or will you have employees? If you are the only one ever to use the machines, many of the H&S regulations do not apply to your situation. Otherwise, you have to consider the latest requirements for guarding, spin down time, etc. That takes a different skillset to someone who can blow out the dust and tighten a belt.

Please throw into the mix your own mechanical competence, describe the tools you have available (on a scale from pressed 10mm spanner from Ikea wardrobe to 24 fully-loaded Snap-On cabinets) and quantity of input you wish to make in the process.

As industrial machiens will likely be three phase, you may also need the services of an industrial electrician.

Many manuals for old machines are now online. Locating those and having a printed copy available will assist.

 

[TEO]

Setting the machines up first time with help might save some time but engineers who know these machines are now few and far between.
Over the years of use you're going to have to invest a lot of time setting up and servicing your machines and the rest of the time mincing around trying not to disturb the settings that you've sweated blood to achieve.

May as well get stuck in.

With help now if necessary but learn them now so that in the future when your back's against the wall and something goes ping you have a good chance at fixing it.

Best of luck with the new venture

 

[winchman]

Having spent 5 years in a Timber Processing plant with plenty of Wadlkin stuff any basic engineer / HGV mechanic should be able to do the majority of the work as its just basic nuts and bolts, as Brad says it would cost a fortune for a machine specific engineer, I would talk to your local Saw Doctor as they would know who other use.