Wadkin AGS/P setup problems

[Jean Pasnin]

Hello,
I purchased a Wadkin AGS/P yesterday and later I found out that when winding the saw blade down, the saw blade will not drop below the table surface. I can't believe this is right. I'm using a 10" blade in the table, and there is a scoring blade too.
I've read the user manual and there is no mention of this issue.
Has anyone come across the same issue?

Additional info:
I removed the cast iron table today to investigate why the saw blade won't drop below the table. When winding down the saw blade, the 'poly-vee' belt that drives the scoring saw from the main saw spindle, binds and prevents the main saw from dropping further down. And if I remove the scoring saw and its corresponding poly-vee belt, the main saw still won't drop below the table because the main saw spindle hits the trunnion assembly, leaving almost an inch of the saw blade above the table.
I'm confused!
Is it really not possible to winde down a 10" saw blade below the table on a Wadkin AGS/P?

Here is a picture of the table saw I'm referring to:

http://pasnin.com/wadkin/AGSP.jpg

Cheers
Jean

[Bob Minchin]

Jean,

I can't answer your question directly but there are Wadkin owners here
http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/
Who are bound to be able to help you

Bob
aka 9fingers on the above forum.

[Ed Griner]

My old unisaw does the same thing with Forrest blades,not so with cheaper ones.Its certainly up to you,but I learned to live with it.

Ed






Become a contributor for less than $.02 a day

[Jean Pasnin]

Jean,

I can't answer your question directly but there are Wadkin owners here
http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/
Who are bound to be able to help you

Bob
aka 9fingers on the above forum.

Thanks Bob,
I found answers to my questions on the forum you listed. And to those who might be interested:
Apparently the Wadkin AGS/P is built in such a way that when wound down, the scorer and main saw blade will not drop below the table completely. When wound down, as the depth of cut decreases, the scorer rises due to geometry of pivot and the fact that the scorer obviously is needed on thinner sheet material and rip saw only on thicker stock.
Then the only way to get a flat bed with no main blade sticking out is to remove the scorer and raise the bed enough to allow full retraction.
I think I'll try to get used to my AGS/P as it is for the time being.

So this case is closed :-)

J.

[Vijay Kumar]

I have the same issue on my 12 inch Wadkin. I dont have a scoring blade The blade will go all the way down except for about 3/16" sticking above the table surface.

I have learned to live with it.

Vijay

[Art Walker]

Vijay,

the low end of vertical travel is limited by a setscrew with locking nut on the front-to-back-casting which on a unisaw would be called the yoke - the AGS arbor housing lowers directly onto its cap.
If you remove the limit screw, or even alter the position of the locknut to lower it, you may be able to hide a 12 inch blade. I found that by removing the screw from a 12AGS I gained 11mm in downward travel.
You may find that you need to clean off old residue on the gib plate and the machined side surfaces at the back of the arbor arm, as the new range of travel requires small portions of the two to slide on one another which have not previously been in contact, and therefore subject to buildup.
You may also have to diddle with the gib plate pressure screw settings to get acceptably smooth travel in the extended range; but I wouldn't resort to this until you've ruled out impediment by old resinous material and lubed everything and worked the range of travel several times.
In the extended range, the worm will start to move beyond the quadrant gear, but even at rock bottom only around one thread turn will be hanging, leaving 3+ engaged, which to me seemed like plenty.
Worked for me. Your mileage may vary.

If your saw has the real riving knife bracket hardware mounted behind the inner blade flange, you might have a hard time getting at the bottom-limit setscrew - my saw was merkunized, so the access was easy.

Art

[Vijay Kumar]

Thank you Art I will look into it. If ut has too much associated trouble I will leave it alone as I have learned to live with it.

Vijay