Wadkin lathe restoration

[sawtooth-9]

Having searched far and wide to find a Wadkin BZL lathe unsuccessfully, was lucky enough to find a Wadkin RS 6 which was up for auction within an hours drive from home in Sydney Australia.
The lathe is Pre 1956 and suspect it may be around 1945 - 1950
It was part of the pattern makers shop in a foundry which had ceased trading.
The lathe has had almost no use and showed no signs of wear. Looks like it has just sat there for the past 40 years gathering dust. The grease in the bearings had solidified and I suspect the bearings had been run dry so she sounded a bit grumbly. Someone had painted it sky blue with "house paint" !
Anyway, placed a number of bids and picked this little beauty up for a very fair price.
So far, it has been dismantled and the original Wadkin 3 phase motor rebuilt and fitted with new bearings.
Next job is to remove the spindle and replace the bearings.Whilst the spindle is out, will remove the speed change arms and re paint the headstock.
I have managed to find an epoxy enamel almost identical to the original Wadkin green
If there is any interest in the progress, I will learn how to post some progress reports and pictures.

 

[cedarwood]

Any interest oohhh we love a good WIP here with lots of pics of the progress so get that camera going and learn how to post the results

 

[sawtooth-9]

Thanks Cedarwood.
Nice to know there is interest, and will keep progress updated.
Thanks to Wallace for his great work in restoration. He really is an inspiration to do better.

 

[wallace]

Everyone likes a restoration thread. Why did you get the motor rewound? did you change the voltage or was it damaged. I have only had to have one motor rewound and that was only because someone had added new wires to the ones coming out of the windings and not insulated them properly, so it burnt out. These old motors are so over engineered and good quality. I don't think I've had to replace bearings on a wadkin machine yet either. Has your lathe got any of the extras, carriage etc.

 

[sawtooth-9]

Hi Wallace, did not rewind motor, windings are perfect. Each phase showed balanced resistance and all tested well with mega. Only replaced bearings because they had been run dry and might as well do it while motor was open.
Yes, came with carriage and a couple of tool rests and face plates.
Only part I am looking for is the tool rest for when the gap is removed.Daltons were unable to help, so may have to make one. Will need to ask the forum if anyone can measure up a genuine part.
At the rear of the carriage, there are three adjusting screws which position the carriage on the bed - do you know if there should be a gib strip between these bolts and the bed ?

 

[wallace]

Have you got the outboard freestanding tool rest, they are hard to find and make decent money. I know a dealer with 2 of gap bed tool rests, problem is he wont sell them. The three bolts at the back of the carriage just ride against the bed side, they don't have a bar.

 

[sawtooth-9]

No, I did not get an outboard tool rest, but that is ok because the largest diameter we will turn will fit over the gap.
I need up the end caps on the spindle bearings today and the outboard bearing looks ok but the inboard bearing looks like it has collapsed or is very worn. As suspected, the grease had solidified and the bearing has been run dry so I will replace both bearings.
Looks like one has to remove a collar and the split lock nut from the inboard end and tap the spindle out towards the outboard side. Does this sound right ?
Have taken some photos and will attempt to post these tomorrow.

 

[merlin]

I have got a gap bed tool post holder if you need some dims, my lathe is a 10" but I think the holder is from an 8" still works ok.

I just looked at the 3 bolts on the back of the carriage and there is a "gib" strip on mine - from memory one bolt locates into an indent to stop it moving about and the other 2 bear up against it.

I'm still looking for a steady rest - I might as well be looking for the Holy Grail !

Cheers, Merlin

 

[wallace]

Merlin is that the rest for doing long work? I too have been looking for one. Its nice to know about the gib strip, I've had a couple of the carriages and none of them have had one.

 

[merlin]

Hello Wallace,

Yes the steady rest is for the longer work and seems to be rarer than rocking horse teeth.
when I bought mine I got a steady with it that was made by the previous owner - it is a work of art with the biggest bearing I have seen but it would be good to get an original one.
if you need any dims for the gib strip let me know.

Merlin

 

[sawtooth-9]

I have included a couple of pics of the RS6, as bought at auction, and a couple dismantled ready to be transported home for stripping and painting.
Aside from the bearings, the machine appears in remarkably good condition.
Typo on the comment about manufacturing date, should read 1945

 

[wallace]

That looks to be in nice condition. That nut that holds the spindle in is sometimes hard to get loose. Check which way the threads go before trying. Sometimes you can get some stilsons to grip sideways. I don't know what tool is supposed to slacken that type of nut. Generally you find them knocked around with a cole chisel.

 

[wallace]

Yes the spindle comes out the outboard side, on mine there was a grub bolt on the pulley that bears down on a gib key. I used a piece of wood inside the morse taper so as not to damage the spindle threads and the gave it a good wack

 

[sawtooth-9]

Have to delay progress on this project due to second cataract surgery.
One eye is great, the other .......
Made a couple of mistakes which I would like to put down to poor vision, but the truth is that I should have not rushed in. One needs to understand the mind set of Wadkin and how they engineer their machines

 

[wallace]

It helps to have a couple of eyes, what mistakes did you make? Im trying to get my restoration finished in the next couple of weeks because im having surgery to remove calcium deposits and un freeze my shoulder joint. Its a 6 week recovery

 

[sawtooth-9]

Hi Wallace, one silly mistake was in the removal of the pulley from the motor shaft. Did not see the taper pin that goes through the collar and assumed the collar would come off with the pulley. When you use a hydraulic puller you don't get any real feel for the applied force, and I broke off a section of the small end of the cast iron pulley. Also, being new to this site, I did not see that your post had several pages, so did not see that you had shown this taper pin. It was suggested that the broken section could be welded back on, but I think the break is too close to the key way and a high risk of cracking the whole pulley. So will machine off this end of the pulley flange and fit a new section. Will add photo of repair once complete. I now check this site carefully before doing each job and is why I asked the question about the spindle removal ! Thanks for all your help so far. Cheers

 

[sawtooth-9]

Finally recovered from the second cataract removal and can see again !
Thanks to the advice from Wallace, the removal of the spindle went very smoothly. Simply a matter of removing the collar, held in place with a set screw and removing the split lock nut ( right hand thread ). A series of gentle taps with a Thor hammer and, presto, the spindle removed. I did go to the trouble of making a special spinner to remove the split lock nut, as this is too deeply set into the casting to get any means to tap it loose. Once removed, it looks like Wadkin must have had a special pin spanner, as there are three holes positioned in the edge opposite the split. I used a cruder design of spanner, but it worked a treat.

In fact the spindle removal is so quick and easy, I will be using a continuous belt with no joiner as this is much smoother and quieter when running.

The motor has been re assembled and painted and the motor base plate painted.
Am now trying to resolve and locate a suitable bearing grease EP grade, suitable for spindle speeds of 3000 rpm
Would be interested in knowing if anyone has some expertise in this area.

The headstock has been stripped and the speed change mechanism removed for cleaning and painting.

I thought I had the paint matched close to original, but I am finding several different greens as parts are cleaned. So have just decided to use a colour that suits the machine. Having test painted a couple of small parts, the colour looked good, but when applied to a bigger area needed darkening quite a bit. Anyway, should look good when picked out in the red and black.

I will attach a few pics and you will see the two spanners made for the split lock nuts on the spindle and motor shaft

 

[sawtooth-9]

Spindle spanner

 

[sawtooth-9]

Applying spanner to spindle lock nut

 

[sawtooth-9]

Spanner to remove and apply the split lock nut to the motor shaft