The Framers Forum

Hi all

Please, please help before we throw in the towel here! We just can't get the Morso to cut a true 45 degree without spending a good half hour per moulding monkeying about with the left fence. Can't tell you how much stock is ending up in the bin due to open inner then outer edges We know the u/p is absolutely square so the problem is definately the Morso.

Should it really be this difficult and should the Morso fence always have to be adjusted with each new moulding we show it? Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Any words of wisdom or magic formulae would be extremely welcome - failing that, extra framing business anyone??

Many thanks in advance

Amanda (BigBazza's boss/wife)

Have you checked your blades? If they have not been hollow ground they wont cut properly.

Hi Amanda.

have you been cutting moulding with a rock-hard compo coating? That stuff will dull you blades very quickly which will produce exactly the result you are getting.

Hey Prospero

We have been working with quite a lot of the foiled Minerva's and painted woods that do produce quite a crunch when they're being cut so, once again, maybe a blade change is in order. Hey, I'd cut it hopping on one leg and singing to the Morso if I thought it would help hehe.

Thanks

Amanda

Don't think I've cut any poly moulding that brand. Some cut nicely while some sound like you are murdering a crunchie bar. If you are getting fragments flying off it is breaking though rather than cutting. Can't think that does the blade edge any good.

btw. The poly moulding that I find most resembles wood is the Simons stuff. I even got a splinter off a sample.

But some of the Far-Eastern ornate mouldings have really hard compo and will dull a set of blades in a couple of cuts. After that you are half-squashing, half cutting the moulding and the blades won't follow a true track. Hence the huge gaps.

I found that out the hard way.

Hi BigBazza,
Ring me after 7.30 tonight or tommorrow and I will talk you through it.



Tel 07854 728840

"Happy to help"

Kind Regards

MItreman
Jan Stanlick GCF

Hi Amanda

Sorry to hear about the problems and glad its not the UP!!

I am starting to get this on my Morso at the moment and I KNOW its the blades need changing. After cutting this afternoon and seeing the corners starting to open up, I used a few expletives and made a lous=d aid memoire to change the blades in the morning.

The guys are right, it will be the blades need sharpening.

Steve

Hey chaps

Thanks for all your words of wisdom. Barry had a lengthy chat with Jan tonight and I think we're on the road to recovery - thanks very much Jan! Not 100% yet but from my short career in framing so far I've come to realise nothing is Going to get the blades re-sharpened and get round to the local timber merchant for some practice material too. Here's to some decent corners shortly!!

Cheers

Amanda

Hi BigBazza,
Did you sort it and are you up and running again?

Ring if you still have problems

Kind Regards

Mitreman

Hey Jan

Sorry, first time I've been back on the forum this week. We're pretty much sorted although suspected the blades still weren't the cleverest so I've sent a set off to Peter to check out and sharpen. Managed to get a couple of really nice frames out with the spares mind you. I have a feeling that I'm trying a little too hard to be millimetre perfect with joins sometimes hehe.

Couple of days back a local artist who's just started using us brought a frame in to be resealed, made by one of the other 2 local framers last year. It was awful!! Gaps in all the corners, canvas 'glued' in place and the stacked frames glued together too - and they're not exactly a cheap establishment. Another reframe job had used bubble wrap inside the frame and some cardboard in place of foamboard. Both had sellotaped the mountboard to the glass. I know we're novices in the framing world but I'm pretty sure those methods aren't mentioned in the GCF study guides!

Thanks for all your help and we'll hopefully get down soon for a bit of hands-on training.

Cheers

Amanda

BigBazza wrote: Both had sellotaped the mountboard to the glass. I know we're novices in the framing world but I'm pretty sure those methods aren't mentioned in the GCF study guides!

If by 'sellotaped the mountboard to the glass' you mean that they'd used tape to seal the edges of the glass/mount/backingboard sandwich, then isn't that a requirement of conservation standard framing?

Just checkin' for my own information.....

It's not in the FATG conservation standards that you to seal the glass / mount / undermount, just good practice.

I don't think sellotape is the best tape to use regardless of the level of framing!

Paul
Framed in Alvechurch

Nope, they weren't trying to keep the mountboard from coming into contact with the frame material, they'd actually used sellotape to fix the mountboard onto the glass to stop it from moving! Little bits all round so you couldn't see it behind the rebate. The bubble wrap and cardboard had sellotape on them too - just for good measure. Classy.

Hi Bigbazza and Tim,

Glad your mitres are improving, just remember to do the same test each time you change the blades.

Cellelotape like masking tape should not be used inside the frame package, making sure your tolerance are correct when cutting the inside componates of the frames avoids bodging with such materials to stop thinks moving, this would not be a acceptable GCF practice.

Tim if you require to make a sealed framing package with tape I prefer to use Gummed Archival Paper Tape applied with de-ionised water via a sponge, this is quick and can be removed or trimmed with ease and as huntvambo said its good practice.

Sealing in a package before framing (glass, mount, picture and backing mount) keeps out bugs, bits, and pollutants and is ideal for conservation work and also saves time when putting artworks and componants back into an old frames.

Mitreman

If I'm sealing the glass 'sandwich' I want it to be quick and convenient with no risk of moisture seeping anywhere and no drying time (not to mention wet fingers just when I least need them) - de-ionized water on a gummed tape is pointless if not in contact with artwork, it's only activating chemicals and you may as well use tap water.

The 'best' tape for this is s/adhesive foil tape such as Lineco's.