Herbert Charles Reddrop
Herbert Charles Reddrop (1895-1940)
1940 Obituary [1]
HERBERT CHARLES REDDROP was for twenty years actively concerned with development of machinery for crushing, grinding, screening, and mixing powdered materials, in connection with which he invented several new types of apparatus, and held a number of patents.
He was born in London in 1895 and received his technical education at Finsbury Technical College, where he took a full course in mechanical engineering. In 1914 he became an apprentice in the Maidstone works of Messrs. Tillings-Stevens, Ltd., where he was engaged on the construction of petrol-electric vehicles, but at the close of 1915 he enlisted as a private in the Royal Army Service Corps. A few months later he gained a commission and was sent to Salonika as officer in charge of mechanical transport workshops, a position which he held for nearly three years. He was then placed in command of a mechanical transport unit, and in 1919 took charge of a large mechanical transport workshop in Istanbul.
Returning to England in December 1919 he joined the Sturtevant Engineering Company, Ltd., and was concerned with various important contracts for the erection of pulverized fuel plants for power stations, including that at Hammersmith. He also designed a new type of grinding mill for powdered coal, which was installed at H.M. Fuel Research Station, Greenwich. In 1927 he joined the Buell Combustion Company, Ltd., and was engaged on the design and sale of plant for powdered coal firing. This developed into the sale of the "Kek" grinding and blending mill. The marketing of this machine was taken over by the makers, the Buffoline Noiseless Gear Company, Ltd., of Manchester, in 1928, and Mr. Reddrop then became responsible for the design of several of that firm's products, including the large conveyers installed at the Brentford works of the Gas Light and Coke Company, and the Battersea power station of the London Power Company.
In 1931 he formed his own business, which was known as The Hershaw Engineering Company, for marketing machinery produced by a number of different firms; the products included the "Kek" grinding mill, and the Pascall turbine sifter, on both of which Mr. Reddrop carried out considerable research, and improvements in design. In 1934 the firm was merged into the Pascall Engineering Company, and Mr. Reddrop became a director. For the remainder of his career he was engaged on the manufacture and sale of grinding and sifting plant, the design of which he continued to improve. He invented the "Reddrop-Perifio" grinding, blending, and emulsifying mill, and developed a wet-mixing machine of the turbine type, and a turbine air-separator.
Mr. Reddrop was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1926, and was transferred to Membership in 1937. His death occurred on 2nd July 1940.