BoleynWorkshop

Inside the Boleyn 2021

Jan 2nd

Happy New Year to anyone and everyone who's found the way to this maroon tainted website dedicated to the Coronet Tool Company's woodworking machinery. I'm going to start this year off by posting a pdf of the Coronet Imp radius (circle) cutting attachment below. I am not going to charge people for downloading this for their own use but ask them to voluntarily donate a few £s to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital using the link here https://justgiving.com/fundraising/sotonpicu

The pdf was created by a goodhearted Boleyn Workshop contributor using CAD from the genuine Coronet attachment that I sent him recently. Disclaimer: if you injure yourself either fabricating or using this useful bit of kit I am not responsible. But do send a video of it if you have one as I could always do with a good laugh.

Coronet Imp circle cutting attachment.pdf
Size : 628.083 Kb
Type : pdf

Before Christmas I posted up some pictures of a very early Coronet Major (an unbadged version) and to my surprise another one showed up shortly afterwards on the usual online auction site at a very reasonable £175. I missed my chance to lift the photos so if either of the new owners have the good taste to read this page could they send in some photos? Might even give it it's own page. The first one was in Stoke (or was it Grimsby?) and the second was in Leicestershire so they are getting within nabbing distance for me. And another Coronet Hobby Lathe has appeared this time with it's stickers intact so pics of those can now be found with the others. I was contacted yesterday by a chap who found Coronet Minor parts in the attic of his new house can you believe it. All I found in mine was a manky old mattress, a severely gnawed mens overcoat and a redundant header tank. I look forward to finding out just what parts there were left and how complete a machine they make (the Coronet bits that is obviously). Today I heard from my workshop buddy Mike who traded me the Walker Turner DP900 drill press in approx 2018 BC (Before Covid). It was good to catch up after so long and he has promised to send photos of his Coronet Major that now has the belt sander rigged up at the far end of the lathe bed running off another motor. Sounds interesting. In other Coronet news the Capitol planer that I delivered to it's new home in Southampton recently is now up and running and match fit already. The new owner has been creative judging by the photos he sent me and which I will post up next week. Thanks Niall.

I'm always looking for more contributions to Readers Machines so if you would like your machine to feature on the website then please send in some photos of your machine.

Jan 7th

I have posted Niall Mason's adapted Capitol in the gallery below. It's good to know that this classic planer is both match fit and back in action which demonstrates the Boleyn Workshop's transfer policy is working well. Niall decided not to use the factory cabinet to reduce the machine's footprint in the workshop and built his own cabinet instead. This gave him good stability, a cubby hole for bits and pieces and seperate storage for shavings. The piece of stud bar protruding below the planer drive shaft pulley is to attach a belt guard when fabricated. Thanks for the photos and for the offer to visit and try out the planer myself in better times in the future.

See below: A warning courtesy of Niall showing why you should always inspect the insides of a 1960s motor that comes into your possession before firing it up. In case it literally does fire up in spontaneous combustion.

Jan 9th

Pat Brindley's stand alone Coronet Major lathe is now live on the Boleyn. Thanks Pat an interesting contribution. http://www.boleynworkshop.com/yet-more-readers-machines.php

And thanks to Boleyn reader Paul Taylor who rescued the missing photos I forgot to save of that unbadged Major and sent them to me I can now post them below. Nice one Paul thankyou.

Work on the old Major is progressing slowly but positively. I used a metal polishing conversion kit on my bench grinder to clean up some general chucks and pulleys as I needed a sit down job. I am leaving the final polish until before assembly. It was FA Cup 3rd round day so I enjoyed a traditional Saturday afternoon session with respite as the Hammers play Stockport away on Monday evening. Funnily enough last time we played them away in the Cup we lost 2-1 with West Ham striker Iain Dowie scoring the Hammers only goal of the game. Unfortunately it was in the wrong end.

Paul Taylor also tipped me off to another old unbadged Major which had also appeared on *bay as if by magic and is no less than the third one in as many weeks see below. This one is in Sevenoaks and seems to have a hand turned cap to the oil filler attached by a piece of string. What a great idea.

Jan 11th

Whilst going through a workshop cabinet I found an old Allen West SCIS switch which I removed from a Majorette that had arrived at the Boleyn some time ago. I decided to clean it up as an indoors project during some cold weather and looking through my paperwork I located the wiring diagram. I had it scanned and decided to post it as a resource for anyone interested as the Brook Gryphon motor diagram has always been reguarly requested. As usual I am not responsible for burnt fingers or hurt pride.

Allen West SCIS diagram.pdf
Size : 127.048 Kb
Type : pdf

Jan 25th

The old war wound has kept me out the workshop for quite a few days over the last fortnight. But I did remove the spindle and bearings from the old Major and inspect them for wear and tear after going over the procedure again with Derek Pyatt on the phone. It has been a long while since the last time on a Major and I simply did not want to mess it up and damage anything that would be very hard to replace. The good news is that they are all in very good condition if a little grubby which apart from the bronze phosphor bearing a session on the wire wheel soon sorted out. Other parts including the wobble saw and moulding block saw table inserts were sent for an early (paraffin) bath along with something else I can't remember so I'd better check on them tomorrow. All in all three banjos were cleaned up ready for repainting and any threaded bits were spruced up and polished before being wrapped up and stored for the rebuild.

Feb 3rd

The day after posting the above I managed to cut my thumb with a ripsaw badly enough that it needed steristrips and to keep it straight for a week to heal. I've been going around like I'm so happy with the world that I'm permanently giving the thumbs up. Alright at the shops maybe but a funeral not so much. To keep busy I decided to repair an old garden trug that my grandfather made in the 1950s, a job that has been waiting for my attention for about two years. Well you can't just rush in and repair everything immediately, you have to pace these things. To cut a long story short I managed to push my index finger onto a 60 grit sanding disc while shaping a handle. I now have a nice 45 degree angle on the tip of my finger but on the bright side it will take me less time to trim the fingernails on my right hand for the forseeable future. With two digits out of action and bandaged I decided to pull a sickie and have a few days away from the workshop in the interests of self preservation.

WANTED: I have been contacted by a Consort owner who is looking for the mortising attachment which is the same one as for the Minor/Minorette. If anyone has one for sale could they let me know via dorsethammer@hotmail.co.uk and I will put you in touch with each other.

Feb 14th

Thanks to Jonathan Kirkby who recently became a Coronet Imp owner in addition to his Major, I am able to post an original Coronet Tool Co information sheet titled Hints On using Imp bandsaws. This sheet came attached to an unopened saw blade packet and was in good and readable condition. See here Coronet Imp official hints on using

Feb 20th

A week of bed rest due to an impinged nerve causing havoc to my sympathetic nervous system and typically just as several workshop projects are going well. I'm not good at doing nothing so youtube has been a godsend. There are restoration videos on just about everything you can imagine from just about everywhere you can imagine. There are workshops so pristine they may as well be carpeted and those where you have to wipe your feet when you leave. There's even some weirdo starting up his Walker Turner DP700 for the first time after restoration imagine that.

March 2nd

After a long week of recovery what better place to start the rehabilitation than the Boleyn Workshop in North Dorset. Situatued in the.. oh do shut up. Thankyou. I have given myself the target of completing the 1950s Major restoration by March 20th. To aid this I have removed the Nutool disc sander from the LH end of the workbench to allow some room for storage of all the cleaned parts most of which are awaiting painting. I attacked the 48" bed bar on Monday afternoon and four hours later it was in a presentable ie shiny condition. Forty-five years of storage had been unkind but not cruel to it and so while it was thickly rusted on the exposed parts it was not pitted or otherwise damaged. I removed the worst of it with copious 3:1 oil and a 3" cup brush mounted in a flexible shaft attached to my Walker Turner DP900 followed by hand applied 800 grit sandpaper then 1000 and finally 1200 to finish. On Tuesday it was the turn of the saddles, banjoes and tailstock. As the flexible shaft had carked it late in the game yesterday I fixed a spigot to a wire wheel from the grinder and locked it in the DP900's chuck in a change of tactics. I stripped down the spring loaded plungers from the banjoes for cleaning and afterwards bagged them up for safe keeping. Next the cap threads and the bare metal seat on the saddle for the banjoes. I stripped the tailstock down into it's individual components and gave them the same treatment. Of course I forgot all about documenting the processes with a camera but had a thought to strip them all down in the future to show the components retrospectively. Yeah that'll do. Once the tailstock was finished and bagged up it was the table saw's turn next.

May 15th

So two months later and the old Major lies on the workbench in a clean and completely restored condition but as yet still unassembled. The reason being an unexpected litter of puppies born on the Easter weekend to our vet's great delight. Funny how double bubble isn't so funny when you're the one paying it. However once the last of the furry little bastards is gone I shall be hitting the workshop with a vengeance. Since March there have been a few enquiries and lots of photos arrived from Boleyn readers none of which I've had time to post up but are in the pipeline. Next week my second post covid Boleyn Workshop visitor David is arriving to collect a Minor motor and chat about all things West Ham and hopefully later in the year Joe a keen Coronet owner/operator will also be dropping in. Pete the Hedge emailed me last week about Junna jointers and the use thereof which is an ongoing conversation of sorts. Niall who took on the Capitol planer is returning the cabinet on which I am going to fit my Imp so as to reduce it's workshop footprint. At present it is mounted on a double cabinet which could be used elsewhere. Ian Jones sent in some pictures of his planer which looks in great condition and will get posted up here soon. Andrew Warrington sent pictures of his Minorette in superb condition with some interesting modifications also due to be posted up and likewise Bob Avery's Majorette that has been very well looked after. Mick my workshop mate who did the Meddings/Walker Turner drill press swap needed a saw table part for a project which I was able to supply though we had to stand outside the front door to exchange. Can't wait until we can get back into other people's workshops and the crib games to start up again. See the gallery below for the Major awaiting reassembly.

It's Quiz Night here in the Boleyn Workshop shortly before the mighty Irons continue making a bid for European football next season by beating Brighton in an 8pm ko. The first and only question is: after studying the image of the Major saddles in the photograph below, for what reason would the spring loaded plunger housing have been left off the saddle on the far left? The first correct answer to me at dorsethammer@hotmail.co.uk wins a worthless yet attractive 6 x 4 photo print of the Boleyn Workshop. Don't forget to include a postal address in your email with your answer. I'll post the winner here as soon as I have one.

July 30th

Work has finally begun on the rebuild of the 1950s Major. Here's some pics and text will follow.

Work has come to a grinding halt as during the four month layoff I have misplaced not just the original drive belt but also the oil filler cap that Derek Pyatt sent me. Luckily I can get replacements from him if they don't turn up soon. In the meantime I could actually crack on with the planer attachment and other bits and pieces.

August 25th

The Major rebuild is finished at last and tomorrow my daughter, a photography degree student is turning up with her box of tricks and skill set to take some proper shots showing the machine in all it's glory. Photos will be posted up here as soon as possible. The oil filler cap duly turned up and as it turned out I hadn't lost the original drive belt but merely forgotten to fit the motor platform bracket spacer which changed the distance between headstock and motor pulley which in turn meant the belt didn't fit. Once fitted though and the motor turned on the belt then decided to disintegrate so it was on the phone to Derek for a replacement. The original belt was in fact Derek informed me, an incorrect one being too narrow for the pulleys and when the new one arrived it was obvious this was the case. I took the opportunity to get a new planer drive belt at the same time. Unlike when my brother used to rebuild his British motorcycles there wasn't a box of bits left over. The decision to bag up and label every single component was a master stroke that I kept patting myself on the back for at every opportunity. I didn't lose a single nut, bolt, spring or washer.

September 10th

I picked up an interesting little Imp a couple of months ago. I was contacted by Trevor a props supplier from Somerset who wanted to shift on an old Imp that was surplus to requirements. Once I saw the photos I was intrigued. The saw table had been extensively modified and not by some drunken workshop fiend in a fit of wanton destruction but in a calculated act of engineering if these things actually do happen in real life. The fence rail had been removed entirely due to the new shape of the table which was square on the LH side and the rear but radiused on the front and RH. A smooth surface had been applied to the table top doing away with the mitre fence. The three stepped pulleys had been removed and changed for single speed ones of virtually the same size giving a more or less 1:1 ratio. An inspection hole had been cut in the top of the casting to give a view of the blade position on the wheel. The work was clearly done for the machine to be dedicated to a sole purpose and clearly a repetitive one, the question being what exactly. Have a look in the gallery below and see what you think. My plans for this machine are to adapt it for use as an attachment on the 1950s Major and sell my cabinet mounted Imp to free up some floor space.

September 28th

I've been looking through the 1950s Major photos. All 508 of them. At times like these it does not help that I am indecisive.

September 29th

This classic old 1950s Coronet Major CM500 was very kindly gifted to me for restoration by Fay and Robin Gray. The machine was bought new by Robin's father, a doctor who had furniture making as a hobby. The machine went into storage in the 1970s and was not used again. I collected the machine early last year but what with one thing and another it has taken until to now to present the complete restoration. This machine is not for sale but thanks for your interest to those who have already enquired. See below for a reminder of what it looked like at collection and then view the galleries to compare.

October 2nd

Blimey that was hard work uploading all those with a computer that's slower than an Austin Allegro in a ploughed field. I'm off on holiday now so won't be adding anything else for a while. Enjoy the pictures.

October 22nd

There's a new MILF in town..and she's exotic.

November 30th

Monday night workshop has broken out again at the request of the redoubtable RC (remember him?) who has only been kept away by the small matter of a worldwide pandemic. I'd forgotten just how much he talks.

December 29th

It looks like I forgot to do my traditional festive wishes whilest in my traditional state of unfestiveness so can I just wish everyone a belated very maroon Christmas and a Post Office Red New Year.

Not to much to report from the Boleyn Workshop this month apart from the Monday night workshop sessions which haven't achieved much apart from one very shiny Minorette extension bed bar. And the emptying of the biscuit tin obviously. My pre-Christmas card game had to be cancelled but as I'm on a two game losing streak it was probably for the best anyway. I did have two interesting emails however one of which was for the rehoming of a Coronet Capitol planer which has hopefully now happened thanks to the advert posted here. The second was from Peter in Essex who had finally acquired a Coronet Major and a substantial turning chisel collection from a vendor who in a previous life had actually been an official demonstrator for the Coronet Tool Company. I immediately wondered whether this aforementioned vendor was my beloved Spock from the official Coronet woodworking machines catalogue but realistically speaking, what are the chances? Peter sent some photos of his machine and tools which will be posted up in Readers Machines soon.

Plans for 2022 include meeting an engineer who is going to fabricate a drive pulley for me so I can mount my new Imp on the old Major and run it from the spindle. This drive pulley will of course have to be tapped to 7/8" x 16tpi. This meeting would have happened before Christmas but sadly a lack of transport on my part meant its postponement. I met this engineer quite by chance as he answered an advert for an Eclipse quick release hand magnet which I was selling.

Inside the Boleyn 2022 now up and running.