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Post by jonnyd on May 20, 2008 22:00:21 GMT
Hi I have just bought a wadkin LM drill cheap as it didnt come with any switchgear or controls. Does anyone know how these were originally wired up ie were they single or multiple speed forward and reverse etc. I have tried the wadkin site but they dont seem to have a manual online for it.
Jon
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Post by Scrit on May 21, 2008 19:23:04 GMT
The Wadkin LM borer was a single-speed vertical boring machine manufactured in Leicester from the 1930s to the late 1950s (although later examples are seen from time to time) and thereafter at the Bursgreen factory in Houghton-le-Spring, whern it is called a "BLM". Production `probably ceased sometime in the late 1960s as it was not included in catalogues from the mid 1970s and later. The machine has a single speed, 3,000 rpm and was normally supplied with a 2HP motor (3HP optional) although I am informed that Wadkin did sometimes make machines to run at specific speeds (e.g. 1,500 rpm) on request. The major advantage of a vertical borer over a conventional drill press is that the rise and fall are controlled by the right foot leaving one's hands free to hold the work in place. A very substantial machine, this, weighing some 5-1/2 cwt or 620 lbs (circa 280kg). BTW the DoL starter would have been mounted to the left side of the swan neck
Scrit
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Post by jonnyd on May 21, 2008 19:47:22 GMT
Thanks Scrit for the information i will leave it in the hands of the sparky to sort out. There are tapped holes on the left hand side so i presume there used to be an isolator and dol starter on there. For a machine that is probably a minimum of fifty years old the mechanical components work superbly. The colour is also dark grey/blue not the usual wadkin green.
Jon
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Post by Scrit on May 23, 2008 19:51:24 GMT
The colour is also dark grey/blue not the usual wadkin green. It's actually dark grey. Almost all woodworking machinery was painted dark grey until the 1960s. This colour was a basic lead-based paint which can degrade to various shades of lighter grey or blue, even as far as almost white pale blue dependinmg on conditrions. I believe that some time in the 1950s Startrite werer the first to use green when they adopted a snazzy metallic green for their machines (in a tone never quite available in Hammerite). Wadkin stuck to grey until at least 1965. Thus earlier Burs green machines were grey......... The story often recounted is that green was adopted on the insistence of the Hannover show (Ligna) to differentiate woodworking machinery from engineering stuff (apparently Germans need everything to be colour coded, or is that colour co-ordinated?). The resulting colour was nicknamed Brunswick green, although every single manufacturer has their own interpretation of it. Scrit |
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Post by 9fingers on May 24, 2008 12:36:29 GMT
The story often recounted is that green was adopted on the insistence of the Hannover show (Ligna) to differentiate woodworking machinery from engineering stuff Scrit Curious that Myford engineering products- ML7 etc, changed from dark grey to green in mid to late 70s. Maybe they want to disguise their smaller lathes in amongst the woodworking kit? Not sure if the woodturning lathe ML8 ever made it from grey to green. Are they still sold new? I've only ever seen grey ones but then I'm a relative newcomer to wood butchering! Bob |
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