McSpud & Mattinker,
glad to see you both have one of these nice old machines, They are pretty substantial and better machine tools than some of the far east crap which is now plagueing our markets, The logo of the figure of eight rope design, came legend has it that many years ago the Staffordshire hangman was asked to hang three offenders at the one go, And legend says, on the one drop! Being a most ingenious individual, he came up with the knot whereby each offenders little head was placed in the three nooses, One drop, A most expeditious method devised, The guy became famous, And Staffordshire got its emblem
There is nothing to equal a good methodical craftsmans approach to his work, Give the man a resounding cheer!
However frivolities aside, and back to the drilling machines, A friend of mine, up here in Scotland, whose firm, were machine tool dealers, supplied these machines, And, used to purchase, this pattern of Denbighs in batches of 20 at a time, well into the mid 1960/s, Denbigh also manufactured, a nice old horizontal milling machine, again three cone flat belt /back gear drive, Pretty bombproof machines also, And at one stage i also had a floor standing Denbigh pillar drill 1/2" capacity, This machine was a 4 step vee belt machine, self contained motor, Usual vertical mounted motor at the rear, something like the modern drilling machines, This old machine was totally clapped out, and finally was disposed off, by me in 1990, The drilling machines our two members have obtained are always No 3 Morse taper (1- 1/4"drill capacity,) They will go on for ever if looked after.
Denbighs strength, i would hazhard a guess, Would no doubt be a good self contained iron foundry, As Tipton, where they were based was in the heart of the black country iron foundry industry, of England One only had to look at the castings on these machines, to realise they were nice & smooth and a good quality Whilst i remember, Denbigh also manufactured a simple hand powered squeeze moulding machine, for turning out light green sand castings, for some time many years ago, i used on occasion operate a sister machine to the Denbigh, from the same area of England, this was called a Hilltop, & was manufactured in Wednesbury also Staffordshire How i could expeditiously & easily turn out moulds for my light castings on occasions, from a pattern plate to a high finish & accuracy
Could our members check, if by any chance there is a dealers plate on your drilling machines, Many of these machines were factored by two English firms One being Thos. P. Headland & Co of Liverpool, and the other by Thos W. Ward Albion Works Sheffield, And in Scotland, P&W. MacLellan Structural engineers & machine tool dealers, whose works were Clutha Works Scotland Street Glasgow, and their machine tool factoring office was situated in The Trongate near Glasgow Cross, I can remember it as an imposing large shop front, with gold lettering inside the plate glass windows, proclaiming proudly P&W, Maclellan Machine tool dealers suppliers of lathes ,tools etc etc, It was a most artistically designed frontage now sadly modernised to todays simplistic tastes, And of course also,being my friends firm in Paisley the next large town to Glasgow.
Denbigh Engineering Co. sadly ceased trading in nine-teen seventy.
