chop and joining systems purchasing questions

[dominoguru2]

Do you know what type underpinner (joining)and chop system that I should purchase for my small framing business? I am new at this so any information is helpful. I will basically join mouldings less than 1 1/2 inch mouldings. We are a small framing shop located in Southern California. Do you know any cheap places where I can buy these machines?

[Alan Beitz CPF MPFQ]

Don't think cheap, think good quality. We use a Morso guillotine, it seems to be the most popular . Having said that, you should be able to get a good s/hand unit at a reasonable price as there seems to be a few shops closing down. No doubt there will be other framers who will steer you in the right direction. An old mate of mine used to say "I'm not rich enough to buy cheap tools. Buy them once and look after them and good gear will last forever"
Regards from downunder Alan

[Merlin Framers]

Even over here in the UK, when I started on a limited budget, I bought a cheap underpinner. MISTAKE. I should have listened to the 'old timers'. It lasted only 6 months. I have now got a Cassesse underpinner.. It is brilliant and extremely well made..
Good Luck.

[fttom]

If you're small, and don't mind a little work, I've got a Pistorius VN-J underpinner, and I love it. I've got a small, home based shop, and that's the underpinner that I've used for the last 8-9 years. It has been faithful, never broken down, and given me much trouble. The one problem that I did have with it, I discussed with Eric Pistorius at the last Atlanta show. He went back to the engineers, told them of my problem, emailed me with a possible solution, and I ordered a part to replace the clamp pad that came on the machine. It works like a charm, now. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Yes, it's a manual machine, but, if you're small, you can get away with a manual machine. New, these puppies retail for around $1000. You should be able to find a good used one for a decent price.

[Jason Maranto]

I've used both manual and pnuematic v-nailers, and even though I've used the pnuematic first and for a much longer period of time, I by-far prefer the manual Taurus I have now... very smooth operation and it only moves when I want it to -- the time saved with a pnuematic is only really substantial if you have a tremendous volume of work to do.

Jason.

[ 02-09-2003, 09:41 AM: Message edited by: Jason Maranto ]