Joshua Bigwood & Son Limited

Rotary Corrugating Machines and Tube Mill


The press type corrugating machine

 The press type corrugating machine was particularly useful where it was desired to produce different types of corrugation. It used inexpensive dies which could be quickly changed and easily machined when worn. The construction of the machine was substantially constructed and could be driven from a belt or motor.

The sheets could be up to 12 feet long. The power required to drive the machine at its maximum capacity was 12hp.

A Bigwood press type corrugating machine in operation. The women in the background are stacking the corrugated sheets. Courtesy of Andy Nickless.
The Bigwood rotary corrugating machine produced a corrugated sheet of steel at every revolution and could be operated by unskilled labour. The machine could corrugate continuously and could be operated from a belt or motor drive.


The rotary corrugating machine


The tube mill for butt weld conduit 

 The Bigwood tube mill could produce butt weld pipe up to 2 inches diameter. It consisted of a high speed hot drawbench with totally enclosed gear drive for direct coupling to a motor. There was a receiving trough for the welded tubes and a cooling rack for slowly rotating the tubes during cooling and transferring them to a storage table ready for cutting off the tags and passing them directly through a straightener.
 
Tim Hunt has kindly sent the two photographs above of a Bigwood rotary corrugating machine that he has recently acquired. The machine still works and has recently been used. It is believed to date from around 1900.
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