Richards horizontal borer

Hi im interested in richards boring machine history and pictures and web sites if anyone
can help. Having worked HBs for 26 years i still
think the old richards are the best and would like to know others opinions.

HBnumber7 --

You'll be interested in this website:

http://www.qsmachinetoolservice.co.uk/new_page_1.htm

John

I can furnish some information about Richards, thanks largely to a book called ‘Broadheath 1885 – 1985’ by Frank Bamford (cover of book shown below). Broadheath, near Manchester, became a big manufacturing centre, with George Richards being the first to set up shop there in 1885.

Richards came from the USA via Sweden (where he’d worked for Kopings, woodworking machinery makers). Richards & Co was taken over by an American firm, Tilghman, in 1896. Tilghman’s set up a big factory in Broadheath to make ‘sand’ blasting machinery, which included big steam-driven compressors.

Later on, Richards was to merge with another Broadheath machine tools maker, Kearns. Just to confuse things, Richards was also making machines for another company, Pearns.

Yet another machine tool maker became established in Broadheath, namely Churchill, who specialised in grinding machines. Charles Churchill was another American, of English parents, and he came to the UK to install machines made by his father's firm in Connecticut for braiding steel wires to support crinolines!
Many of the castings for Churchill’s machines were made by Richards.

Richards and Kearns were taken over by Staveley industries in the 1950s and 1960s respectively, and the usual story of lack of investment and decline followed. Kearns-Richards relocated to occupy part of the old Nasmyth works site in nearby Patricroft, but didn’t survive for long.

Richards also made some massive vertical boring mills, apparently up to 50 feet diameter. The book has an interesting, though fuzzy photo of several hundred employees festooned on a massive vertical boring mill destined for John Brown’s in Glasgow (see below). Another photo on the book cover shows some smart horses outside the Kearns works, with a trailer carrying a Kearns horizontal borer. There’s a picture in the book of an early vertical boring mill which is unusual in having an overhung arm projecting from the main bridge, thus providing three machining heads instead of the usual two.



Here’s a Richards HBM looking smart in mourning black in the workshops of the Brecon Mountain Railway, old South Wales:-

Look at those NICE (newly machined?) driving boxes! You don't see that every day!

Thanks for your input john and asquith.
Where i work there is a large richards vertical
borer that also has an extra arm that can be put
on if needed. the borer has 24 ft turning diameter and 10 ft under the bridge quite
a large machine.

Wow great pictures & a nice link from John.It seems as though they had it all figured out back in those days.

Identifying Richards Horizontal Borer

Im new to the forum. I need some help with identifying a Richards Horizontal Borer.
The machine I purchased came from the British Motor Corporation (BMC) plant
in Zetland N.S.W (near Sydney). The company was to later become Leyland Australia.
The plant closed, I believe in 1971.

The machine I have only has a BMC Plant identification plate, the original
Richards plaste I assume has been removed. The plate was attached
at the left hand end of the bed plate.

Do the Richards machines have any other places on the machine that
may identify the model and/or any possible web sites that have
data on these machines.

Regards to All

TUg BOAT

TUG BOAT said:

Im new to the forum. I need some help with identifying a Richards Horizontal Borer.
The machine I purchased came from the British Motor Corporation (BMC) plant
in Zetland N.S.W (near Sydney). The company was to later become Leyland Australia.
The plant closed, I believe in 1971.

The machine I have only has a BMC Plant identification plate, the original
Richards plaste I assume has been removed. The plate was attached
at the left hand end of the bed plate.

Do the Richards machines have any other places on the machine that
may identify the model and/or any possible web sites that have
data on these machines.

Regards to All

TUg BOAT

Click to expand...

Some pictures and measurements ,particularly of the spindle diameter are your best bet ,Mr Shoelaces will then be able to tell you what you have ,any information you need he will probably know, he will likely be along tomorrow morning.(well later this morning actually,it is now nearly 1 am)

TUG BOAT said:

Im new to the forum. I need some help with identifying a Richards Horizontal Borer.
The machine I purchased came from the British Motor Corporation (BMC) plant
in Zetland N.S.W (near Sydney). The company was to later become Leyland Australia.
The plant closed, I believe in 1971.

The machine I have only has a BMC Plant identification plate, the original
Richards plaste I assume has been removed. The plate was attached
at the left hand end of the bed plate.

Do the Richards machines have any other places on the machine that
may identify the model and/or any possible web sites that have
data on these machines.

Regards to All

TUg BOAT

Click to expand...

We need PICTURES!!!!!! We *love* tool porn.

Got a Kearns OA HBM myself. Nice little toy, be even better if I had time to work on it.

PDW

Identifying Richard Horizontal Borer...more information and photos

sable said:

Some pictures and measurements ,particularly of the spindle diameter are your best bet ,Mr Shoelaces will then be able to tell you what you have ,any information you need he will probably know, he will likely be along tomorrow morning.(well later this morning actually,it is now nearly 1 am)

Click to expand...

Thank you for your prompt reply, and
assistance.

I believe this machine at the BMC Zetland plant was for the
the machining of the Leyland truck engine blocks, specifically
line boring the mains.
A few happy snaps attached.


Spindle Dia........2 5/8`` 4MT
Bed Width..........25``
Bed Length.........83``
Steady Bar Dia....4``
Table.................30 x 30``
Motor HP.............7.5
Original Colour.....Grey (it appears)

Regards

TUG BOAT

Mm, I can't say I've seen one of those before. It's very small for a " Richards " machine. It appears to be the " Richards " version of the " Kearns " Type O but specifically designed with line boring in mind.

Normally the serial number will be stamped onto the column front way ( facing the operator station ) right at the top, most machines also had the serial number stamped on top of the front way at the outboard support end.

There's a good view of the the " Richards " revolving table locking mechanism. The bellows lead screw cover is non standard and a recent addition I would suspect.

Regards Tyrone.

Thank you Tyrone for your reply. I have not had a chance to get back to
the machine but shall be checking the locations you mentioned for stampings.
I was also wondering if maybe Kearns/Richards made ``specials`` for the automotive
manufacturing industry?.

Shall report on my search for numbers in a few days. (Shipping calls now)

Regards TUG BOAT

Hi Tugboat, I remember going to an auction a while ago. It was at a big bus repair shed that was closing down. They had two Hor bores there that had been made specifically for engine re-boring. I think they were " Kearns " machines. It's a while ago now so I can't be sure.

Regards Tyrone.

There is a picture of a Richards line boring cylinders in "Workshop Technology Part 2" by WAJ Chapman ,it looks longer than normal and has a small vertical travel but doesn't have the provision for an overarm bar like the one you show. I think it is almost certain Richards would have made specials to order but given that this application would be commonplace this was probably a standard machine that Tyrone has just not come across in his travels ,could have been rows of them in engine factories for instance.

I don't know if this is your machine or if you are thinking of buying it but it looks nice ,it will be less versatile than a "normal Richards as it has no facing head ,it appears to have all the other usual features.

It is not the only one in AU...

I found this picture awhile back on one of the countries more popular online auction house.. I think it sold for a couple of hundred or something



While I am int he mood...

Another Richards borer coming up for auction in Brisbane late this month... And a Kearns..



And an old old Kearns..



And why is the forum picture handling software so hell bent on resizing my pictures to extremely small when they are already small to begin with?

Found the first one.... $509 it sold for...click the picture int he link for bigger ones http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0105...r-table-710-x-710-travel-length-ways-1600mm-x

Here is one nearly identical to the one I found in Bundaberg.... If I did not have the G&L I would have bought it.. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Richards-and-co-Horizontal-borer-cnc-xyz-/331501958678 The one in Bundaberg did threading the one on ebay.uk does not..

Either of the " Kearns " or the " Richards " you say are coming up for auction would be decent machines. I'd probably plump for the " Kearns " going off the photographs although my usual preference is for " Richards " machines. That's a nice late model " Kearns " D-3 I think.

I didn't come across many of those specialist line boring machines. They were usually in the motor trade and I was in the medium to heavy engineering field.

I wouldn't be looking to buy one unless that was the line of machining I was planning to go into. They're quite limited for ordinary shop work.

Regards Tyrone.

Could someone please say a word about the function of the tapered toothed table locking mechanism? Thanks.
-Marty-

What do you want to know ? It's a tapered toothed locking mechanism. Seriously, it's the method " Richards " used to lock and square the revolving table. You moved it in and out with that little rack on the end of the long tapered wedge. Unfortunately heavy handed bastards used to wallop the little lever that engages the wedge with hammers and snap the support brackets off or break the teeth off the gears or the rack. You were supposed to use " Moderate Hand Pressure " on the lever.

"Kearns " had an entirely different system. They had an hardened and tapered block that fitted into hardened and tapered sockets that were fitted into each of the four faces of the revolving table. If you look carefully at the photo of that " Kearns " D-3 in RC 99's photos you can see the squaring block between the two clamps that are holding the revolving table down. This system worked very well and was much less prone to operator abuse than the " Richards " " sword ".

Significantly when the companies were combined in the late 1960's a variation on the " Kearns " system was adopted for the new combined " Kearns-Richards " range of Hor bores.

Regards Tyrone.

It came with the facing head and a 4 jaw. Its part of a collection I bought
to keep me entertained in my eventual retirement. The plan is to restore
old farm and earthmoving machinery, to keep the hands and the mind active.

Regards TUG BOAT

TUG BOAT said:

It came with the facing head and a 4 jaw. Its part of a collection I bought
to keep me entertained in my eventual retirement. The plan is to restore
old farm and earthmoving machinery, to keep the hands and the mind active.

Regards TUG BOAT

Click to expand...

I think you are going to fit in well around here ! horizontal borer ,old farm and earth moving equipment ,just the kind of things we like ,looking forward to more pictures.