Cassese CS1 Wedge Distributor Block

[fitz]

This may be a bit of a long shot. I’m looking for a wedge distributor block for my CS1 Cart underpinner. Underpinner spares are sold out. Thanks.

[Mark Thornton]

Hi Fitz
Due to the nature and recent model age of the Cs1 I would be very surprised if you needed a ds wedge block what issues are you having?

Mark

[fitz]

Hi Mark. Thanks for responding. I am having fairly frequent misfiring issues and have already changed the blade with very little difference. I have been trying to refill the cartridges with Alfamacchine wedges and these jam fairly frequently so I often need to strip down the whole block and reassemble.I now think the block itself may be damaged which is contributing to the problem. I just thought I would try a new block before making a decision to buy a new underpinner.

[Mark Thornton]

Are you using the Alfamacchine AL wedges that are for Cassese machines (10.3mm wide version) or the standard Alfamacchine version (which are 11mm wide)

If you are using the correct width of wedge then:

Ds block’s aren’t usually the cause of the issue you describe (unless it’s on a contract machine making thousands of frames a month) the main cause of the issues you have are incorrect tension on the elastic cord that pulls the wedges into the block and/or worn hammer ball catch.

The ball catches in particular need replacing once a year and the wedge block needs periodic cleaning to ensure a smooth hammer movement.

Unfortunately Cassese before they closed down had started to fit cheaper parts to their machines which were not as robust as previous models.

Mark

[fitz]

Thanks for taking the time to respond Mark. They are the 10.3mm width wedges in a glued strip. I will get a couple of the metal chutes and try these out.