Upside-down cutting....

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cleaver
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Upside-down cutting....

Post by cleaver »

Do you ever cut flat-fronted profiles upside-down on the Morso? (I.e. flipped over, so you don't need to use the rebate supports).

I really like the results/way of working. Just wondering if i'm alone in employing this way of cutting whenever possible....and does anyone think there are any downsides to doing it?

I must say it does speed me up; not having rebate supports in play!
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Not your average framer »

For rectugular profiles it is very largely standard practice. Lots of us use this method and have been doing it for a very long time. It probably works best on bare wood mouldings with the front surface of the mouldings being completely un-radiused at the corners. It makes a lot of difference on batch jobs and very often has a useful effect of reducing moulding wastage.
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cleaver
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by cleaver »

Yes, I realise it's a commonly used technique. I just wondered whether anyone did it whenever possible, as opposed to only when forced to.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by pramsay13 »

I've never cut anything upside-down and I don't understand why you would.

My worry would be a small piece of grit etc. on the morso would end up scoring or scraping the face of the moulding.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Steve N »

pramsay13 wrote
"I've never cut anything upside-down and I don't understand why you would."


Well i do it to make deep tray frames, as i'm going to be joining them that way up as well it works better, but as a rule I don't if I'm joining the normal way up, as in this thread https://www.theframersforum.com/viewtop ... 32&t=18050

If the out side face of the moulding is not square with the bottom and the front face is not square with the outside face of the moulding, when you have finished cutting up side down, then flip it over and join it , what is the odds of getting a nice flat frame with no gaps in the corners , not high is the answer :nod: :surprised: :nerd: :thinking:
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Not your average framer »

I am not talking about doing this with factory finish mouldings, this would not be so sensible with the finish on the mounting in direct connact with the cast iron bed of the Morso. I use mostly bare wood mouldings and hand finish them myself, which means any marks resulting from cutting up side down are removed, before hand finishing.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Justintime »

Whenever possible! The rebates are a pita and slow me down most of the time. Obviously it only works with flat faced mouldings.
I have been known to do it with simple flat prefinished mouldings on occasion. You just have to be methodical, careful and keep everything clean.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by prospero »

It was a common practice with aluminium-wrapped mouldings.

Anybody use them anymore? :lol:
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by cleaver »

LOL, glad I'm not the only one, Justin! I take the points made about making sure the moulding's face doesn't get dented etc, but I really like cutting that way.

I still faff around a bit with the rebate supports, and cutting the 'other way' takes them out of the equation. That's pretty shameful to admit: but i guess that'll come with practice/volume.

Funny you should mention that, Peter; I re-watched the Renaldin video of Morso tips, where they advise putting a shim of something behind metal-covered mouldings.

Yes Steve, this started for me when I had to cut a very deep profile that the supports couldn't cope with.

:)
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Not your average framer »

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan on many different factory finished mouldings, because they are often don't have finishes that are as durable as I think that they should be. I also would be one of the first to admit that the quality of the wood under the finish is not what it used to be and does not always cut as cleanly as I would like on a Morso. This no doubt has more than a little to do with why so many framers like to cut their mitres with a mitre saw in preference to a Morso.

One of the problems with so many really stunning mouldings is that touching in less than perfect mitres is virtually impossible if you want a perfect and flawless finish and for me, that's one of the reasons why I like hand finishing so much. Frames that are perfectly finished, with the mitre joints not being visible, because they are fully hidden under the finish, look great and get you so many complements from satisfied customer, that just keep on coming back to have other things framed.

Upside down cutting really works for me, everything fits so well, I don't need to do much fiddling around getting the rebate supports just right, to get a totally blemish free cut and the front of the sight edge cannot move when being cut, because the cast iron bed of the machine leaves the sight edge no room to move. For me, quality hand finished frames are what it's all about and there are not many finishes that are that impossible to recreate and I'm not just talking about what I can do. Most experienced hand finishing framers have an amazing range of different finishes, which they can do flawlessly every time.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by cleaver »

Mark, I really envy the skills and knowledge of people like you, Dermot, Steve & Peter (to name but four).

You are proper framers, with skills I can't hope to acquire - having only taken it up in my 50s.

It must be nice not to have to sweat on mitres being perfect, as you know how to remedy any flaws.

Commercially, it's great too (as you know), because you can stock a limited range, but offer almost infinite finishes.
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by Not your average framer »

I only took up framing in my late forties, I originally was an engineer. Don't assume that you cannot do as well as us, You may even do better than us. Why should you assume otherwise? I was not even aware of the framers forum when it first started. Do you think that we are going to take all that we know with us, when we are no longer here.

Look at the sheer volume of knowledge, that is yours for the taking archived on this forum from so many framers, over so many years. None of us want this knowledge to die with us. What else is there that we can give to those left behind? Those things that we have learnt are too precious to not pass them on. Do your best to be one of the best, it's not so difficult as you think.
Mark Lacey

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cleaver
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Re: Upside-down cutting....

Post by cleaver »

Thanks for the encouragement, Mark. I'll be the first to say none of this comes naturally to me: I'm not at all artistic, and find the craft skills quite hard to master...hence my realistic view of how far I can take this.

However, people seem pleased with my choices and efforts - and I do enjoy it all - so I hope to be able to make a living. Also, when I've had cause to open up a few frames done by 'professionals', what I've found doesn't exactly scare me with the quality of work or correctness of materials.
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