Ragged cuts with my MORSO - (newbie) HELP!

Alzibiff · Post by **Alzibiff** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 5:32 pm

Hello
Can anyone suggest what adjustments I need to make on my MORSO in order to get a clean cut all of the way through a moulding, eliminating the ragged edges as shown on the photographs below?
Some background .... I purchased my MORSO second hand along with a set of spare blades - which I immediately got professionally sharpened as I did not know what condition they were in to start with.
Cuts were fine and dandy - then I decided to replace the blades with the ones which had come back from sharpening.
With fear and trepidation - I had read a lot of scary stories and this was my first time - I removed the blades which were on the machine when I bought it and fastened on the sharpened ones - according to the MORSO manual. As far as I can see, the blades meet without any overlap at the front. there is no perceptable gaps when the blades run past the fixed cast iron table - yet I get this ragged edge.
All help as ever, gratefully received.

Alan

Alzibiff · Post by **Alzibiff** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 5:39 pm

Just thought I would mention - to get the moulding into this state, I didn't use the rebate supports. However, when I do use the rebate supports, the problem is still there - but not so bad as I have shown here.
Alan

Coxby · Post by **Coxby** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 5:59 pm

I find I get the same results when cutting soft wood like pine regardless of how sharp the blades are. One contributing factor to this is that there is a little sideways play in the rebate supports. I find by resting my figer on the top of the rebate spindle and pulling it to the side when making the first cut enables the rebate support to be fully in touch with the moulding and reduces this effect.

These 'quicks' can be removed by turning the cut moulding over and bending the quick back onto itself before cutting it off with a sharp stanley knife. Do you get the same results with harder woods like Ash or Ramin?

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 6:11 pm

Alan, you say professionally sharpened. Morso blades should be hollow ground and not flat ground.

Like Coxby, we get the same results with soft wood and use the technique that he uses when this happens.

The rebate supports, whilst quite adequate for most moulding, they do not get close enough to the blades to provide full support, so on barefaced soft woods we use 5mm square wood stock instead of the rebate supports. This provides a good clean cut.

Alzibiff · Post by **Alzibiff** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 6:35 pm

Thanks chaps - I had a sneaky feeling that I wasn't the only one. I really appreciate your replies - one of the benefits of t'internet is being able to discuss things like this with others who use the same tackle. This is simply not possible when working on your own.
Thanks again,
Alan

Post by **John** » Fri 03 Jun, 2005 7:22 pm

Nice, clear, pictures Alan.

Actually on the examples you show, its not that big a deal, and a daily occurrence. You can expect to see something like this with a large percentage of mouldings. As Coxby said, trim with a sharp knife, you will, like us, just get into the habit of doing this with just about every moulding, and certainly with all of the mouldings which will be supporting glass. If you join these just as they are, a high point will be created in the corner which will probably cause the glass to break when you are fitting the back.

Even on a moulding which has cut cleanly, the groove created by trimming the underside edge of the rebate with a knife will usually prevent excess glue from protruding and again leaving a high point at the corner over which the glass can be easily broken.

I know that this is often a grey area, but I have taken the liberty of moving your topic from General Discussion as I thought it clearly fell under the category of "Share Your Picture Framing Related Tips or Seek Advice."