The Framers Forum

Hi All, looking for abit of guidance & advise

I've recently bought some lengths of obeche barewood A19 + A165 from R&H that arrived yesterday and I'm having terrible problems trying to cut them without shredding the back edge - wondered if anyone could kindly advise how best to go about getting a good clean cut
The obeche A165 seems softer than I'm use to getting from R&H
My morso blades were sharpened by Mainline about 6wks ago and seem ok on all other mouldings I'm using.

All advise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance Debbie

Unfortunately, this happens from time to time with obeche. The machined moulding looks o.k., so it's not a problem which you will know about until you cut into it. I may not be a problem which each length which you buy and also it may not be a problem along the whole length of each length of moulding. Normally suppliers expect us to accept some degree of wastage when this occurs, but excessive levels of wasage need to be discussed with your supplier.

Many thanks for your reply Mark, I gave up trying yesterday but today is another day. I'm going to change the morso blades to see if that helps - hopefully it may - but the worry is I have another 44 lengths to be delivered and a tight deadline

I doubt if the problem is going to be the blades.

I'm afraid this is a problem with some mouldings - or more accurately some woods.
This is one reason I have migrated to hand-finished frames. If you are going to paint the joined
frame then any corner defects can be 'made good' in the finishing process. It's something you have to live with.
I use a saw for mouldings like that which does yield a few whiskers on the back edge. Again, a quick touch with
a sanding block will tidy it up.

I have had a similar issue with A165. Like prospero says, if they are to be painted making good is straightforward. An alternative is to get a thin sacrificial strip and place it against the fence. You will make an adjustment to your stop but that is easy enough. I have found that a strip will stop tear out.

Nick

As others have said this can just be an issue with the type of moulding, or even just certain parts of the moulding.
Are you sure blades are sharp?
If mine are and I'm still getting this issue I put a strip of backing board at the back and then cut to the 2nd last cut of the morso which cuts through the back of the moulding and half of the backing board.
I have to adjust the measurement by half the width of the backing.
If it's still happening I figure it is just a dodgy piece of wood and I send it back.

Obeche can vary a lot in density. You can pick up a full stick and it can be super light, not far off Balsa. Or another
stick might be quite weighty. It's the light one that will get chunks torn out. Sharp blades do help.
Ever tried to cut foam board with a dull knife blade? You'll know what I mean.

Most of the stuff I cut on the Morso is for liners. Get huge tear-outs on some sticks.
I don't care though as the back won't be seen.