john redmond

Thanks lads, much appreciated.

Hi all, first of all sorry for yet another topic on the planer front! So I recently purchased a Wadkin Tradesmen planer thicknesser. I have up and running and all is good bar one or two small issues which I need a bit of advice on. The main issue is that the machine is not drawing the workpiece into the thicknesser properly. It isn't far off being right but it needs some attention to get it running smoothly. I understand that a number of things contribute to this but I am unsure what order in which to eliminate them from the list! I am presuming that cleaning and waxing the thicknesser bed is probably the best place to start but from looking at the machine it could also be and issue with, the setting of the knives( only 0.5mm off across the 310 block though), the rubbers on the feed rollers, the springs that ensure downward pressure of the feed rollers on the piece or maybe some issue with chain tension etc on the drive chain. Any advice or experiences you have would be greatly appreciated, even in relation to degreasers, waxes etc. I know it's only something small but you learn a lot on your first rodeo!

I bet any money that as soon as I have it all cleaned up and ready to go I'm going to run into that issue. It will be in my workshop which isn't on a separate fuse board to the house. Why can't anything be simple!

Thanks for the advice lads. It turns out the guy selling it is a bit of genius, he has replaced the motor (3 phase) wired it up to the vfd and added a keyed switch all encased in a cabinet for an extra E50, all brand new! Sounds to good to be true but randomly enough he is a friend of friend and wanted to have it running perfectly before selling it. There seems to be a small issue with the feed rollers but more than likely just a setting issue or maybe the bed needs to be cleaned up and waxed. I will probably be back to you for advice on that at some stage.

Hi all, I have a deal almost done on this planer thicknesser. Pretty sure it's a Wadkin Tradesmen RM300. I can't seem to find the manual for it online, any ideas? Also any advice re running it off a VFD vs sourcing a 220V equivalent motor would be welcome. 12" wadkin planer thicknesser for sale in Limerick for €1300 on DoneDeal WWW.DONEDEAL.IE Wadkin tradesman 3ph planer thicknesser. 1.5KW motor with soft start. This unit is in immaculate condition. Included in...

First question asked on ebay!

Spotted that, email sent. Well worth the money, not to mention it will pay for itself within a matter of months.

Now we're talking, exactly what I'm after...streets ahead of all the modern crap.

That was my gut feeling on the motors front as well. For some reason I'm drawn to the Wadkin baos, appears to tick all the boxes. Thanks for the advice.

Has anybody ever heard of people swapping out three phase motors for the single phase equivalent? I have a dealer in Ireland who is offering to do this on a dominion for me for 2k euro. Too good to be true?

I'll get the hang of it alright, can't be rocket science. I'm VAT registered so would hope to be home and hosed for around the 2k mark ex vat or private sale. I don't want to be messing around with electricians etc so really hoping to get a plug it in and go machine. Any suggestions on the dealer front? When buying from Ireland the piece of mind a dealer gives is probably not bad route to go.

Thanks for the reply. They seem to be excellent from the few reviews etc I've seen. If budget wasn't an issue an out of the box Sedgwick tersa block would be ideal.. pity about the 7/8k price tag! I haven't a huge amount of experience setting the knives in the traditional blocks but I've a feeling I'm going to have to learn.

Thanks for the reply. I am actually in Ireland, there is some of these older machines around but all 3 phase and the condition appears to be much better in the UK. Companies who offer used machinery are also thin on the ground. If you could ask in that forum that would be great. I'm no expert but the older single phase machines seem to be rare enough and very sought after. Good advice on the triple cutter block, had a feeling the self setting block would be like finding a unicorn!!

Hi all, Firstly apologies in advance as I'm sure this discussion has been covered previously. I am currently researching planer thicknessers for my home workshop, the usual dilemma's such as budget, space and single phase supply are all in play. I am looking for a used/old 12" or possibly 16" cast iron construction machine(Wadkin, Wilson, Sedgwick etc).My questions are as follows: 1) Is there any model that lends itself particularly well to running from a VFD (Single motor for block on rollers) and are there companies who supply these set up and ready to go? 2)Is swapping out a 3phase motor for a single phase equivalent successful? (A seller has offered this) 3)Is it possible to retrofit a block that takes modern self setting double edged knives? In simple terms I want a good solid machine with basic parts(no Aluminium!) that can operate from single phase supply without compromising on performance. Any advice or past experiences would be greatly appreciated as a small bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing! Thanks.