Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

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Not your average framer
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Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

Post by Not your average framer »

I planning on raising my game a lot with some nicely shaped oak mouldings. These are much more shapely mouldings and these are not always the ones which necessarily cut the best on the Morso. My blades are nice and sharp, but Oak can be pretty hard stuff at times and cutting and joining Oak particularly smaller moulding can sometimes be less easy. I have chosen a small number of Oak mouldings which have a little bit of an Arts and crafts influence about them as there are a few local customers who are really into the arts and crafts sort of thing.

Maybe I can pick up some useful business by doing this, but these are very fussy customers and everything needs to be spectacular quality and first rate workmanship. Any slight gaps in the corners, will not be easy to hide or correct, as I intend to make the most of the natural Oak wood grain as a major part of the intended appeal. Do I really need to hand cut these mitred corners instead of cutting these of my Morso. There's not anything wrong with my Morso, but mitres cut in oak always look much more special to me when cut by hand with a very fine tooth saw.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Fruitini
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Re: Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

Post by Fruitini »

Sharp blades, small slices, cut square stuff upside down, colormatched carefully applied wood filler (or sawdust and wood glue mix) when you do need a touch up. Not sure there is much else to it? Oh yeh…. get a double mitre saw….
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Re: Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

Post by fusionframer »

I agree with above and that a morso will get a better cut than hand saw. I use Japanese saws mainly and they have much thinner blades than equivalent tenon saw, but i would go with morso every time.

Nick
www.fusionframing.co.uk

Never trust a dog with orange eyebrows.
Not your average framer
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Re: Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

Post by Not your average framer »

Thanks, part of the difficulties can sometimes happen when the wood grain develops an angle to the dirrection of the mouling and a bit chips away at the sight edge. Far too often, getting access to sand a moulded sight edge can make filling and sanding very difficult indeed. Added to that, since these mouldings are Oak and I wish to use stain colours to highlight the wood grain, any little bits of filler will be visually quite obvious to see! I have chosen six different Oak mouldings,which are two ribbed mouldings, two flat Oak mouldings, one hockey Oak moulding and one Oak cushion moulding. I buy quite large quantities of some helpfully priced Pine mounldings and I like Pine moulding with classic shapes a proportions, the wood grain in these Pine mouldings varies quite a lot, but I can often select some length which are quarter sawn and have that classic narrow straight grain appearance. These just look amazing when used for stained, washed, or stained and washed finishes.

There are times, when I also buy Tulipwood mouldings, but usually in much more limited qualitities. I some times can select some pieces which also have some of the classic quarter sawn staight grain appearance, but it is not always full lengths of moulding, so therefore less useful, although it cuts much easier on the Morso. I generally prefer to avoid Ash as it has a much less consistent grain pattern and it's not very easily matching pieces of Ash which have a similar matching wood grain. It is often necessary to use a pre-stain conditioning technique before staining Tulipwood before staining to avoid blotches in the grain. Over time I have developed a technique for staining, or washing Obeche, withot getting those annoying little flecks showing through. Personally, I don't much like Obeche as a wood type for staining, or washings as it often looks bland and boring. However there are some Obeche mouldings, with some more interesting machined profiles which can be made to look more interesting with stain, followed with a subtile distressed wash and I do a few of these as well.

I've never been much of a fan of minimalist, or bland finishes, and consequently try to avoid them, very largely. By definition, minimalist mouldings and finishes just lack any wow factor for me and I'm looking to the wow factor to make thing sell. Esentially I tend to think that no wow factor, means that it is not only not so interesting, but it not solikely to sell at all. My shop is in a sleepy little town, where if you don't produce things, which have a degree of visual interest, it is very hard to get any worthwhile sales at all.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Getting the absolute best cut mitres when cutting oak on a Morso.

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Nick,

To some degree, I agree with what you are saying, in so far as I cut flat Oak mouldings upside down on the Morso and generally don't experience and problems when cutting them like this, but if the mouldings do not have a flat front face then I cannot do this at all.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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