Wadkin RS restoration

[Phil Pascoe]

What sort of dilution is the acid used at?

 

[Ttrees]

Great work Wallace !
That's gonna be a thing of beauty

 

[wallace]

Phill the stuff I got was 85% and I put about 2 ltrs in one of those wine making barrels filled with water I think there 25 litre

 

[wallace]

I'm not going to make everything all shiny, some bits are getting black oxided.

But theres still plenty to make shiny, this is the handle for the cross slide

Sanded to 400 grit

Then buffed with silverline red compound

The buffalo horn handle cleaned up pretty well, I just sanded it then used some T-cut

The handwheel for the carraige went on the lathe to get sanded and buffed

 

[memzey]

Looking gorgeous as per your usual standard Mark. Can’t wait to see this one done! What condition are the bed ways in out of curiosity? They look pretty rough.

 

[wallace]

The bed is good just minor rust, no pitting which is nice

 

[fiveeyes]

wallace..what is used when cold blackening?

 

[wallace]

I use this stuff http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/black-oxide-kits/ I don't buy their degreaser or finisher, I just get their oxide solution. To degrease I use brake cleaner then into the solution afterwards a liberal spray of wd40 followed by boesheild or wax. I have found that its best to go straight from the wire wheel then do the process, if you leave a cleaned piece overnight the oxide does not work very well.

 

[wallace]

This big bolt is used as an adjustable stop for the pivoting motor mount, it was quite pitted

I cleaned it up on the disc sander and then glued various grits onto a board and went down to 400 before polishing

More blackened bits

I was surprised the tailstock was not seized

There must of been a casting cock up because this bit has been filled

 

[wallace]

I made a bit more shiny

I think the carriage is a later addition to this lathe because of the aluminium handwheel, the tailstock has and iron handwheel which takes a lot of effort to get then looking good. I just so happened to have a spare aluminium hand wheel but it will need some work to make it fit

The plan is to turn the boss of the handwheel down.

 

[wallace]

The lathe came with a banjo which is off a bigger RS and it was missing its handle. I just so happened to have the correct one in my stash, I just need to fix the handle

It put up a bit of a fight, I had to drill two tapered pins out.

I need to make a new end for this

 

[Geoff_S]

You know, there must be a TV series here. Love it

 

[wallace]

Thanks Geoff.
This is my choice of filler, I find it much better than normal car bodge. it sands really well with none of the pin holes you get with normal stuff.

I've been slowly going through every casting cleaning, filling and sanding.

This is my choice of primer, you need synthetic thinners but its pretty silly person proof to spray.

 

[wallace]

This is where all the prep work pays off, if you've tried to makes shortcuts it shows when sprayed

 

[Geoff_S]

It has gone quiet. Is it a weekend off?

 

[wallace]

Not much to report Geoff, I gave everything another quick coat the day after and then the weekend arrived so time to chill out.

 

[wallace]

I made some good progress assembling

Does any one know the purpose of the hole at the end of the banjo, maybe for holding a template?

The handle was broken on this so I made a new one out of wadkin flooring

Not that any one is going to see the underside I like to paint these red

 

[yetloh]

Looks stunning, Mark. I'll never own a Wadkin but I do love your restoration threads. There is a balance to be struck between "like new" and over the top bling practiced by some of our US friend s but I think you get it just right.

Jim

 

[toolsntat]

Looking good, very good in fact. 8)
That must be somewhat of a first in the whole world, for a Wadkin machine to not only be reunited with part of its birthplace, but then to have it incorporated within its fabrication years later.
Come to think of it, would it have ever happened for anything else at all?
Do you know Jack Forsberg https://www.instagram.com/jackenglishmachines/ ?
Cheers
Andy

 

[wallace]

Thanks Jim, Andy I've known Jack for about 6 years now, he's a nice person, his work is something to aspire to.