Adcock & Shipley 1AD

[Stuart Giles]

An update on this project:

I'm taking a bit of time off from the Top Hat at present and thought I'd get on with the milling machine. I had previously fitted a single phase 2HP motor that I was given but found that it didn't have enough torque to start the machine turning. It was a single capacitor motor, which are good for fans and low torque applications but not enough "grunt" to spin this machine up. It was however free  

That should be a really useful machine for A7 engineering work. I too discovered the hard way how tiny the Horses are in those cap start induction run Clarke motors. As a replacement for a burnt out 3HP motor, I fitted a 3HP version to an Ingersoll Rand Vee twin compressor -utterly useless.  I came to the conclusion that  the Clarke horses were actually Shetland Ponies. After quite a lot of argy bargy, Machine Mart gave me my money back and I bought a proper electric motor for the compressor.

I'm sure that you'll find it very useful, especially with the vertical head. All these millers built to a strict standard - no Chinese-type thin-walled castings and short-life bearings for Adcock and Shipley - and they often went to the military or Government, where inspection standards were severe.

I have seen Adcock and Shipley mills with what looks like a factory fitted Bridgeport 'J' head. My Bridgeport has an Adcock and Shipley commissioning plate on it. Don't know if this was badge engineering, UK assembly of US parts or a complete UK build.