Ground top tables of a Wadkin FM

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Oh, this thing about “seasoning” castings… well, people used to have to do that because they couldn’t model the stresses from the casting process, in fact a lot of old machines are a terrible design for staying flat, it’s 1st year course stuff now to avoid the way they were designed, long transverse ribs connected to flanged edges etc… they’re a shrinkage nightmare.

You can make a perfectly strong and flat surface with a lot less metal if you design it right, so they now do. The first British jet engines had to use huge billets of steel to get a small central section that was uniform, because metallurgy just wasn’t what it is now, the Germans did a much better job in many respects. In a way it’s similar to cast cannon barrels, everyone made them with reinforcing hoops around to make them stronger, just like they built up barrels made from staves, in fact it did the opposite, but that’s how it was always done, so they carried on doing it… for literally centuries.
 
I am doing the rebuild and the picture after initial cleaning makes it look worse than it is. Their is very little pitting, but their is alot of staining. I've approached two places who didnt have a machine big enough and one place that did.
One thing that concerned me was the ability to jig these like already mentioned by scott&sergeant.
This FM has the pattern makers infeed table which tilts which is going to make it harder to jig.
 
if its just staining i really wouldnt worry about it, run a sander over it with 120 & then 240 grit, then scrub in line with a red scotchbrite with WD40, it will come up a treat. The wood running over it will do the rest.
 
Save the cost of getting it reground (y)you're going to need the cash for shipping that big beauty all the way to Aussie land :eek:
 
Well, if it’s Wallace doing it… give him a roll of Emery cloth and straight edge, he loves that kinda thing!
 

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