Picador Circular Saw Attachment

[WingoParticipant @wingo]

Due to the unexpected death of Son in Law, much to young at 35, I have started looking at his garage contents.

He had inherited a selection of woodworking tools from his grandfather, and this is the first item of interest I found.

I was not aware that Picador made these sorts of items, I remember their pulleys etc.

Just wondering if anyone knew anything about this attachment and when it may have been made. I would guess late 1950s early 1960s?

 

Would it have any value in this day and age?

 

Other items and questions to follow.

 

Michael

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

Yep, sure they did have a whole range of flakey Wallace and Gromit style tooling for the impecunious shed dweller in the 1960s, not least of which was the infamous ‘poor mans’ Picador Pup lathe (rather aptly named as in ‘a right pup’) and all its various ‘attachments’.

Also on offer was a dangerous looking ‘high speed’ spindle, adjustable motor mount, snapable die cast ‘tallboy’ bearing mounts. No doubt there are other hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered.

Does it have any value other than curiosity to some esoteric collector of the useless and obscure? No. Well look at it… maybe you could use it for cutting up bits of balsa, but it is more likely to remove your thumb than produce useful output.

Amusingly, some benighted geezer has been trying to flog a rusty Picador pup for £300 on the bay for at least the last 3 years. Clearly a slow learner, a couple of years ago I offered him £15 then immediately regretted it in case he agreed, fortunately I never got a response.

NB I say this as the owner of a ‘Pup’ that is occasionally used for small scale model boat/aircraft work, primarily for sanding/drilling/grinding/cutting but I remember turning a couple of capstan parts in boxwood once. I found the best tools to use were bits of old small drills ground to desired shape, held in a large  pin vice.

‘Its a lathe Jim, but not as we know it…’

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

You can still buy similar items today on the net – not built to the same standards as Picador, but doing essentially the same job. Here’s one for use with an angle ginder –

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

Anyone sufficiently inexperienced or brave enough to use that device should be a dead cert for a Darwin award!

 

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

These things were produced in the “Good Old Days”, 50/60,s along with a whole string of add-ons which were claimed to turn your simple 1/4 ” drill into a complete woodwork shop, just like that !

Needless to say, that did not happen. What did happen was that the poor drill packed up not knowing what it was supposed to be doing, between trying to drive a saw, a sander, a lathe and anything else that came along.

Dont even ask how I know ! However I did learn one useful lesson from the experience, and that was that there is no such thing as an “All round machine” I believe the old saying, “Horses for courses” and have never been tempted since.

Just my tuppence worth.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Had one many years back fitted on a B&D drill managed to get me through my limit wood cutting requirements, still have it top left hand comer in the shed

H

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

However, not all Picador products were “Pups”.  I have a 10″ disc sander table c/w faceplate and mitre fence from Picador, and with the addition of a suitable motor, NVR switch and base, has served me well for over 25 years.  It’s become a good friend in the workshop.

[File HandleParticipant @filehandle]

I still use one of the picador drive shafts. Have a 1/2″ chuck on it to attach buffing, small grinding, sanding and wire brush wheels. Served me well for 4o years. I even have a spare I picked up a few years ago for when its bearings give out. I originally used it as a bench grinder. In theory I could add a saw blade to it.

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