Wadkin UR pin router

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:45 pm

I recently became interested in overhead pin routers and promptly had a Wadkin UR fall into my lap. It is a very compact machine as pin routers go.

I drove to Rochester yesterday to pick-up the Wadkin. What a trip! It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky- except over Syracuse where it was completely grey!

I pulled in around 10:30 and promptly got the tour of Richards shop. Will showed up and after some freight elevator confusion we loaded the wadkin into my truck with a pallet jack, some blocking under my wheels and a steel plate. It went smoothly and it was no time at all that it was strapped down and we headed a couple blocks over to check out Will's shop. It is not often that you get to see one shop of that caliber let alone two. Amazing tours. Thanks guys.

The best part was our 2.5 hour lunch. Great conversation!

So here are some pics

Will contemplates the load....

Blocking under the tires to get a bit closer to dock height.

Will takes the gutsy position while a freight train rumbles by in the background.

I didn't get home until 8:30, so unloading took place this morning. The Frequency converter is enormous!

I was working solo, but I had some assets.

My Crown lift has no problem lifting the router, but it cannot put it on the ground because it has two legs which are in the way of the pallet. I lower it down old school

The plate

Here I sling it to get it off the pallet. I built a small skid to hold the router and freq and allow me to pallet jack them about the shop.

Here it is almost in position. I was working on the wiring this afternoon. I tidied up the bx cable which had broken a bit as it entered the fittings and reattached the freq.

Condition is good, although there are a couple of missing knobs- easy to make. I priced up bearings to be on the safe side and my first source on the web says $360 for the pair if I need them, which is not bad.

It is a super compact machine. I'm pretty darn happy to have it in the shop and am looking forward to getting some experience on it.

Thanks again to Richard and to Will for his help.

Pete

chathamworkshop · Post by **chathamworkshop** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:30 pm

Nice looking machine, Pete. I am sure you are happy with the condition. I have had no experience with pin routers, but there has been a time or two that I wish I had one. With CNC routers flooding the market , you see a lot of pin routers going for tempting prices, but I lack for space.
You are right about the size of the frequency converter. Is it for speed control?

Bill

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:52 pm

Bill, This one seems to be as small as they run which is nice in terms of fitting it into the shop. But something about buying it makes me want to be more cnc savvy.

The freq is old school technology to do what modern VFD's do. It takes 60hz and turns it into 420hz! That is 7 times the hz. That seems to translate into 25,000 rpm if you trust the manual. There is a second speed as well- upping it to 300hz which translates to 18,000 rpm.

It is nice to own a Wadkin! but ever since buying it, I have been having the urge to drive on the wrong side of the road......

Pete

chathamworkshop · Post by **chathamworkshop** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:23 pm

Wadkin ranks right up there with the best USA made machinery. If you do find yourself driving on the wrong side of the road, beware of the roundabouts!

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:31 pm

Today I had a few minutes to work on the router. The top housing for the motor had one tab broken off. This negated the two set-screws which lock it in place. Somewhere along the line, someone used duct tape to hold the cover in place, I was hoping for a slightly more elegant repair.

First step was to mill away the bottom of the broken tab

Then I added a bit of aluminum which I tapped and rounded the section which mates with the motor. On the outside of the cover is a buttonhead cap screw holding it in place. Works like a charm.