morso chopper questions

[mitermark49]

I recently purchased a used morso chopper. I am having problems using it. I have heard that it does not do well with some types of profiles. Are hard woods such a cherry beyond its capacity? What other types of profiles are difficult to use with this device?

[RoboFramer]

Search the Grumble archives for Morso if you have a day or two to read the results!

It can handle any wood as long as you bite into it a bit at a time - profiles that it does not like - back edge with a scoop, bottom edge curving under. Anything that can be 'crushed' from above.

But search and ye will find!

[Baer Charlton]

mitermark49, I chop a boat load of cherry, walnut, and maple on my 1951 Morso... with no problems.

It's the snotwood you need to look out for.:fire::vomit:

[Val]

It's the snotwood you need to look out for.:fire::vomit:

Okay Baer, I pretended to be a newbie and went searching for the mysterious snotwood, just to see if it was in there....'tis. (even though I know...from experience!...what snotwood is). Boy, did I get an eyeful! No wonder Grumbling is such a time-sucker-upper....I found some verrrrry interesting stuff!

Mitermark49, welcome to the Grumble. You might find some interesting explanations here....first mention of snotwood on Bill Henry's post #16:
http://www.thegrumble.com/showthread.php?t=22797&page=2&highlight=snotwood

[Jack Cee]

We have found that the Morso will cut most woods except the really soft ones. It sounds like snotwood may be a bit soft and sticky. We have found that hardwoods are best cut with a miter saw because they dull the blades of the chopper. Any woods that don't cut a clean miter, cut with a miter; you will have to be the judge on which work and which don't.

Jack Cee

[Steph]

I hate snotwood

[Bill Henry-]

A Morso with sharp blades should cut as cleanly or more cleanly than a saw, IMHO.

At least on the front surface where the blade first contacts the moulding. The edge against the fence is another matter, since the blade cuts at a “break out” angle.

A sharp blade will help, but a tip that was mentioned on the Grumble (sorry, I can’t remember who) suggests that if you run a bead of Silicone caulk in the groove between the right and left fence and trim it flush to the fence, the back of the moulding gets a much cleaner cut. I have tried it and it works!

[Baer Charlton]

Jack, Hardwoods such as cherry, maple, and walnut should not be anymore dulling than poplar, bass, or pine. What wrecks h3ll out of chopper blades is compo, and the silica inheirent in raman and some of the "grass" woods.

What is valuable to know about what you are chopping is the percentage of hardwood & compo vs. softwoods. This can determine the most advantagous style of sharpening.

If you are chopping a marked percentage of softwood, you will benefit from a Hollow grind such as Tech Mark performs. But if you do more compo and hardwood, the fine edge of a hollowground won't stand up to the brutal blunt force trama of the chopping and will dull quickly. This is the purpose of Flat grind; to give more shock absorbing bulk directly behind the edge to radiate the shock. It also travels through the hardwood better, much the same as the difference of the duller Hardwood v-nails and the sharper grain slicing Softwood or Standard v-nails.

Also a factoid to knote, with each sharpening, a micro annealing occures, even with the cooling flood of grinding milk. Over time, this annealing takes its toll and the time between sharpenings become less and less. [this is in "Tool" steel] This has been observed for generations in the tool and machining industry and explains why you rarely ever see a short drill bit in a machine shop. About a 1/2" of grind down due to sharpening and they are amertized to zero and replaced.

We are looking at a new set of blades that are a composite, with the 1/8" of edge plate is made from A-4 with a Rockwell aquivilant of 64, bonded to a bed of ductal steel for body and shock absorbsion. They [grinders] think it will come in a few dollars less then the Tech Mark blades, but should triple or quadruple the effective cutting time between sharpenings. The advantage to A-4 is that it actually work hardens from sharpening instead of annealing.

I have A-4 blades for my wood turning, and rarely ever sharpen them... I'm really looking forward to seeing these new blades for the chopper.

Wow, talk about sticking a super charger on your dads studebaker! :D

[David N Waldmann]

if you do more compo and hardwood, the fine edge of a hollowground won't stand up to the brutal blunt force trama of the chopping andck absorbing bulk directly behind the edge to radiate the shock. My own experience is that hollow grinding when done by Techmark lasts 25-50% longer (and cuts much easier to boot) than flat ground. But then we only get an average of 1200 frames per hollow ground sharpening chopping primarily Cherry, Maple and Walnut, so maybe that's really not very good. I only have my own data to work with.

[BILL WARD]

"We are looking at a new set of blades that are a composite"

Baer-
whence commeth this minor miracle??????? and any guesstimate on when it takes place????

[Baer Charlton]

they ran into a de-lam problem on some paper shears... Untill they get that fixed.. who knows. But it is exciting to know that its coming down the pipe... now if our old blades can just hold out long enough.... but then, they ARE Swedish High Speed steel with a Rockwell 64 manufactured by Messenger Knife.... and 22 years old. ;)