Wadkin AGS set up

[LJM]

I previously picked your brains over the dismantling of a Wadkin AGS saw, and gleaned a lot of useful information besides.

I now have the machine sitting in my workshop, waiting to be wired up (got grand plans for it…) and meanwhile I’ve been cleaning and lubing, and figuring out what size blade it will take.

The previous discussion had lead me to believe that it would take a 10” blade, but a 12” could be fitted with the restriction that it would not drop beneath the table.

Measurements suggest that a 12” blade would remain 1 1/8” above the table. However, looking at the rise-fall mechanism, it appears that there is scope to increase the fall, bringing the 12” blade right down.

As it is currently set up, the blade stops falling at the point that the last tooth of the quadrant has fully engaged with the worm gear. However, it stops rising with teeth yet to engage (the adjustable stop preventing contact with the table).

Therefore, it seems that it may be possible to adjust the mechanism such that that potential extra travel becomes available at the lower end of the movement.

Any insight is welcome before I start taking the thing apart!

Cheers,

Lawrence

 

[deema]

Hi Lawrence,
there are two bump stops for the rise and fall, caution needs to applied when changing either. If the rise bump is increased too much the top of the belts will rub against the underside of the table. The lowering bump is the most critical. If your saw has a riving knife that moves with the blade, the limit of far down the blade will go is set by the this. The cast plate the riving knife attaches to has two slots, each captive a bolt. If you allow the blade to retract too far the slot and bolt come into contact and you can apply sufficient pressure on the hand wheel to crack the casting. There are a number of saws with cracked castings when this has happened. It’s not possible to retract a 12” blade fully into the saw with his type of riving knife. Anyway, the photo shows the where the two bump stops are are the highlighted one is the depth adjuster.

the photo shows the plate and the two retained bolts you have to be wary of. The blue line indicates where the bump is located, it’s directly under the spindle.

 

[LJM]

Thanks Deena,

That’s certainly given me some things to keep in mind. Mine does have some differences to yours, not least the Irving knife arrangement; mine has a ”slide bar” arrangement, instead of the slots on yours. The rise is currently correctly set, being halted by the bump stop before anything can contact the table. I don’t have a 12” blade to hand at the moment (I’m still moving in), so I can’t be sure yet. But there’s unused travel on the quadrant, and travel left along the guide plate at the rear of the rise and fall slide; this is what’s sparked my curiosity.

Of course, I’d typically only need the 12” blade in for the deepest cuts, so the only issue with a 12” blade not falling beneath the table is the need to have more blades! I don’t actually have a problem with that; each one will last longer. However, the possibility has intrigued me. So, with appropriate caution, I’ll see what adjustment I can get.