Morphy Richards Astral....

[keymatic]

Dear All,

Well it was a glorious day yesterday to get a spot of washing done and what better to complete the cycle with a final spin in a recent acquisition, a White n Blue Morphy Richards Astral spin dryer.

This spinner dates from 1960 and work beautifully, lifting the foot pedal to starts the motor and then pressing the foot pedal cuts the power and by gently pressing the pedal applies the brake.

Nice machine which is well made !!
Keith

 

[mralex]

That's a neat looking little thing! How fast does it spin?

 

[rolls_rapide]

"That's a neat looking little thing!"

My sentiments exactly!

Nice colour scheme, and it looks quite robust too.

 

[keymatic]

Hi Alex,

It's not over fast, probably 1,88 - 2,100 rpm, but the wide drum assists with the extraction so most things come out rather dry. It is so quiet, but a ton to lift !
Cheers
Keith

 

[tomturbomatic]

Beautiful Baby!

So in a non-Automatic Washer.org household, how would this be stored and moved into position for use or would it sit someplace permanently?

 

[gyrafoam]

Fun! The tub looks like a scaled-down Maytag!Discharge looks to be gravity only. I guess people could hook-up a hose and send it to a floor drain? No doubt, the thing weighs a lot to keep it from becoming a missile during brake application!I would love to have one of those!

 

[keymatic]

Hi Steven,

Yep it is gravity drain so unless you had a floor drain (not common in the UK) or a large bowl/bucket whatever went in ran straight out.
It was heavy but at the same time very well balanced and rarely wobbled excessively. I think it does have wheels at the back but are seized.
It is in fab condition for a machine at is nearly 60years old.
Keith

 

[realvanman]

Centrifuges

The one time I have been to Europe was with my parents, in 1987. I distinctly remember that the laundromats had centrifuges for use after the automatic washers and before the dryers. I thought that was so cool!

Not that I have been to many laundromats here, but I have never seen them here.

Keith

 

[gyrafoam]

Coin laundries here in the US used to have extractors. (Well, not the Frigidaire laundries). Usually the brand was Bock. They did come in handy especially if you had three or four loads you could pack into it. (Would save some significant drying time especially if the washers in the laundry were bad at extraction. The old Bendix "diving-bell" comes to mind.)
I know there are a lot of them in institutional use.
Last time I saw a large commercial one was at Jeff and Cal's. They have a lot of cool stuff.

it would be cool to have something more portable such as Keith has.

 

[keymatic3203]

Hi keith

looks a great example, I had one as a student in halls back in 1990, I remember it spun clothes very dry, I suppose the name astral went along with the wide diameter drum. I'd guess it is very similar to the acme spin dryers of the same time, though they didn't have the foot brake.

I upgraded mine to a rinsing model by drilling a hole in the lid and screwing a brass watering rose on, along with an electric cooker simmer stat to pulse the spinning on and off, and a large bowl it did a good job of rinsing from what I remember, this was all play stuff really, and when I found a hoovermatic on a nearby curb, out it went .

Surprising more haven't come along over the years, great that you have found this one.

Mathew