Wadkin BGS

[deema]

Rather than continue to distract on another thread I thought I would start a new one as I was asked to post pictures of the BGS I had.

The Wadkin BGS is IMO virtually identical to the AGS with the exception of having a sliding table that makes it far more versatile. The saw I had would take up to a 12” blade and the only real potential problem for some users would be that the riving knife did not rise and fall with the blade, but did tilt with it.

The sliding table would pull back from the blade by realeasing two thumb screws, one either side to give access to change the blade and remove / adjust the riving knife. The table to blade gap could be adjusted using two locking bolts. If the table wasn’t set far enough away and you tilted the blade it would chew up the sliding table.

The rise and fall as well as the tilt we’re on a worm gear arrangement which prevented any back drive just like the AGS and meant that once set the blade could not move unless the adjusting handles were turned. This makes for me the AGS saws better than say the Startrite 175/275 that operate on threaded screws requiring the adjusting handles to be locked to prevent back drive.

The saws seem to have been exceptionally rare, and apart from my own I haven’t seen another. I never found a manual for it, the Wadkin libruary has copies of the sales literature but nothing else. The other usual source, Scott Sargeant who have most manuals again didn’t have a copy. Although I’ve now sold this saw, if anyone does have a copy of the manual they could email me that would be really appreciated.

 

[memzey]

Awesome stuff deema! Here’s a picture of mine:

I’ve also got the sliding outrigger to the left of the saw as shown in this illustration:

I’ve only known two others with a BGS10 and you deema are one of them. I have never seen or known of anyone else with the outrigger though. I am missing the fence for the sliding table and mitre quadrant though (would love to find those).

 

[deema]

That’s a lovely saw, I like the paint, is that original or have you renovated it? Mine had been repainted before I got it.....but not very well. It was on the list of things to do that I never got around to!

I have never seen the outrigger, love to see a photo of the real thing. Did it come with the saw or was it a lucky find? That’s got to be super rare. I looked and looked for the quadrant and fence but never found either. So few people realised that Wadkin did a BGS10 as well as the BGS12. I bought the saw knowing what it actually was but the seller advertised it as an AGS10....which was lucky me.

 

[memzey]

Hi Deema,

Here’s my BGS including the outrigger - picture just taken.

There is another bit I have that covers the bearings to the left but I haven’t put that on. The whole machine was green before I restored it a few years ago and painted it grey. I think it’s a fantastic machine and clearly very rare - maybe the rarest slider made by Wadkin. Would love to hear from others that have one.

 

[deema]

Wow, thats brilliant, I never thought I’d see one other than the sketch in the advertising literature. That’s got to be one of the rarest Wadkin setups. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Trevanion]

Wow, thats brilliant, I never thought I’d see one other than the sketch in the advertising literature. That’s got to be one of the rarest Wadkin setups. Thanks for sharing.

I've definitely seen 4 or 5 BGS's in the past year on eBay, Bidspotter and the like (Usually put down as an AGS). I distinctly remember seeing one with outrigger and all in not too bad shape go for about £400 on Bidspotter. A good friend of mine had a one in mint condition with outrigger before selling it for a Felder, which he soon regretted. They're definitely a rarer machine compared to the AGS and fill a little strange hole between an AGS and a PK.

 

[memzey]

There are plenty of BGS12’s around including some with their version of an outrigger but very, very few BGS10’s. I’d be interested in seeing pictures of the four or five you had come up in your feed Trevanion. I did see one myself a month or so back with bits of an outrigger but not the complete mechanism- can’t remember what it went for though.

 

[MikeJhn]

Guys what is the difference between an AGS and a BGS that can be spotted from a photograph, just for us that may be looking for one on a bid site.

Mike

 

[Trevanion]

There are plenty of BGS12’s around including some with their version of an outrigger but very, very few BGS10’s.

My mistake, I hadn’t realised there was a BGS10. I suppose that’s because they are very rare!

I tried looking for the machines I saw but it seems all the eBay listings have disappeared and the bidspotter one I can’t find. They perhaps weren’t BGS10s though.

 

[deema]

The only real difference between a BGS10 and the AGS10 is the sliding table. The name plate also states it to be a BGS. However most people don’t know they exist / or like mine didn’t realise it was a BGS and advertised it as an AGS. From a photo that doesn’t show the sliding table moving on an auction site they can be spotted by four differentiating characteristics. Anyone of which highlights it’s the BGS
They don’t have an insert plate around the blade.
The sliding table creates a definitive line / joint adjacent to the blade (hope that makes sense) where as an AGS with the extension table has the joint / line about 10” away from the blade.
There are two distinct thumb wheels underneath the sliding table

The sliding table mechanism is both very simply and typical Wadkin butter proof. There’s nothing I can think of that could go wrong with them. If the sliding table has a chewed edge they can either be filed or milled straight again and the slight width you would loose isn’t worth worrying about.

The one thing that I had considered doing (but again didn’t around to it) was drilling and tapping a couple of holes into the bed and sliding table to allow me to attach two wooden strips. This would then have allowed me to have zero clearance around the blade by lifting the blade up through the two pieces and secondly act as a ‘goof’ buffer for when inevitably I had tilted the blade without thinking.

It’s very easy to make a wooden quadrant and fence (and a whole host of jigs) since the holes they bolt into are pre-existing. They produce IMO far more accurate cuts than using a mitre fence running in a slot which inevitably has to have some play for it to slide. The sliding table should have no detectable play when setup.

I now have a large SCM slider saw which made the BGS redundant.

 

[memzey]

The most obvious visual difference between the BGS and AGS to me is that the fence bar on an AGS extends all the way to the left of the table while on a BGS it only goes as far as a couple of inches past the saw blade. This is so due to the need to make room for the table to slide into. The other obvious giveaway is the lack of a table insert on the BGS as described by deema above.

 

[MikeJhn]

Thanks for the info guys.

Mike

 

[stidy]

hi all. I have a 10" BGS, super little cabinet saw. I don't have a camera though !!

 

[memzey]

Welcome to the gang stidy! Get a camera and post some photos up!!

 

[MilesH]

Does anyone know when Wadkin stopped production of the BGS 10?