Wadkin Bursgreen 12in BAO/S 300

[wizer]

A Guy over at the other place is selling a Wadkim Bursgreen 12in BAO/S 300

Any info on this model? Is it worth buying such an old machine over a newer model? What sort of price is it worth spending?

Questions Questions

Ta

[tigerturnings]

Scrit's the expert but here's something to start with:

I've had access to a BAO/S in a friend's workshop and given the choice between it and my little Scheppach 260 I'd choose the Wadkin every time. It's a nice, robust, fairly compact machine with a lot of weight due to having a lot of cast iron. There's a manual available online at the Ultracare website.

If it's in good condition and complete, I'd say there is no need to let the age put you off. If required in the future, things like drive belts and bearings are generic enough that any decent supplier should be able to source equivalents.

It's definitely worth considering the electrical supply requirements of these kinds of machines. There are two separate motors - the feed motor being two speed - so if it's a 3 phase machine, as most of them are, it's not just a case of swapping one motor to convert it to single phase.

Also, if you need any non-generic spares it'll cost you an arm and a leg - I got a rough price from Wadkin Ultracare a couple of years ago for a spare fence rail for my 12" AGS table saw, and it was something like £600, more than I paid for the saw itself.

[gazza]

Wizer,
have a search on Ebay, the 12" x 7" baos sell for anywhere between £200 - £1000, depending on condition and how many are after one at the time.
some of the secondhand machine dealers are asking upwards of two grand for them
Honestly though i wouldnt like to give much more than £500 - £600 for a really good one , unless it was a clinker

I had considered one of these, and after serious consideration, decided that the tables where not quite long enough to be of any use to me,
they are 900mm long (less than three feet) ok i suppose if you are surfacing short lengths.

As to worth buying, it depends on condition / price / Three phase / single phase (there are a few).
The beauty of these old machines as tigerturnings has mentioned is they where built to last, not like some of the sub £1000 machines made nowadays.
HTH
Cheers,
Gazza.

[wizer]

Thanks Chaps. I think this is going to be way out of my budget. One Day...

[Scrit]

tigerturnings said:

I've had access to a BAO/S in a friend's workshop and given the choice between it and my little Scheppach 260 I'd choose the Wadkin every time.

I do so agree - they're actually hefty little brutes and they'll last almost indefinitely. As TT says almost all the stuff which will ever wear out is readily replaceable

tigerturnings said:

There are two separate motors - the feed motor being two speed - so if it's a 3 phase machine, as most of them are, it's not just a case of swapping one motor to convert it to single phase.

True enough. The main motor was 3HP with a 0.25/0.5 HP 2-speed feeder motor (so a 2-/4-pole motor which won't be cheap). A better bet would be to look for a single-phase version as many of these machines were sold into training establishments where single-phase was much more common

A couple of other points to bear in mind: there was a 3-knife option available and this gives a much better surface finish. The machine has a book weight of 358kg, so it won't be easily moved nor as portable as a Scheppach or Kity in a small shop. True they're not overly long, but no British-made small combined planer/thicknesser of the 1950s to 1970s period really is. The machine is normally referred to as a BAO/S 12 or more correctly a 12 BAO/S, unttil the mid 1970s (when they metricated the name!) - but there was also a similarly named but completely different 24in planer/thicknesser, the 24 BAO/S........ As to longevity, these machines were manufactured from 1957 until at least the mid-1990s and a lot of the older ones are still knocking about after 30 to 40 years of medium-duty service. With the greatest of respect I doubt you could say that for Kity or Scheppach

Scrit