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This is a slightly technical question but it arises from Basset Hull's book.

Chapter XI of the Basset Hull book says on page 92 that a "new perforating machine,
gauging 12, was obtained by the Government Printer in 1884, …". (Third paragraph)

Some writers have speculated that the Government bought a perforating machine from
Walch & Sons that gauged 12 (actually 11.8 to be precise). Many collectors of Tasmania
will recall that Walch & Sons perforated a number of Chalons, Sideface and also George
& Dragon issues with this machine. (See Gibbons catalogue listing for details.) Stamps
perforated by the Government gauged 11½ (actually 11.4).

I will venture to suggest that the Government did not buy its 11.8 machine ("perf 12")
from Walch & Sons in 1884. The basis for this idea is that Walch & Sons produced an
early attempt at a lettercard circa 1885 (but they called it a "letter sheet"). Indeed,
Gibbons catalogue listed such an item in their 1886 edition but apparently no earlier.
"The Mercury" stated on 17 August 1885 that they had only seen a "letter sheet" very
recently and that the Post Office was not likely to take up the idea readily. (How
right they were! The Tasmanian post office issued its first lettercard in late 1898.)

The key point is that the perforations on the Walch & Sons letter sheets are 11.8.
I have measured the gauge on a few examples and they're all 11.8. The same is
also true of the two Walch Bros & Birchall letter sheets that I have examined.
Assuming that Walch & Sons first tested the letter sheet idea in 1885, we have
to accept that Walch & Sons still had their perforating machine as late as 1885
(and possibly later still). The ultimate fate of Walch's machine is not known.

Any thoughts?

We revisit the question of the perforating machine gauging about 12 as used
from 1884. (It's really 11.8 as measured on the Instanta perforation gauge.)
Various authors claim that the Government bought the perforation machine
gauging about 12 from Walch & sons in 1884. Even Stanley Gibbons says so
in their catalogue.

It's time to revisit Basset Hull's book. In Chapter XI of the Basset Hull book
on Tasmania, we read on page 92 that a "new perforating machine, gauging
12, was obtained by the Government Printer in 1884, …". (Third paragraph)
The word "new" in this quote means what it says. The Government bought
a new perforating machine for perforating stamps in 1884. Why should a
Government department buy a secondhand machine when a new machine in
presumably excellent working order could be obtained?

It seems that claims about Walch & Sons selling their perforating machine to
the Government around 1884 do not hold water.