Joiners, Underpinners

Ken Z

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Posts
4
Loc
Nova Scotia
I'm looking for a foot operated joiner without air compression. So far I've found Pistorius VN-M, ITWAMP Alpha 1/M, and two from Cassese - CS79 and CS88. I'm new to this search. I currently purchase my moulding joined - about 10 a week. Any feed back on these machines or others in this class?
 
Thank you. I may have confused the companies. ITWAMP also seems to go by Mitre-Mite. They seem to have 2 manual foot operated underpinners, the VN Manual and the Alpha 1/M. The Alpha 1/M may be a newer model.

I've also found the Fletcher F-5500 CornerPro. Has anyone used the Fletcher? It was made by Pilm.
 
Ken, you might want to investigate other joining machines before you settle on an underpinner. No one machine will do all profile mouldings and the manual underpinners are limited even more because of their lack of pneumatic clamping mechanisms.
I recently added a Hoffmann dovetail machine to my various joining machine arsenal, and it is rapidly replacing the underpinner as my machine of choice. I have a Casesse 830 underpinner which is pneumatic, but has no clamping mechanism, and find that I can't hold many profiles tight enough with my hands to get a good joint. The manual Hoffmann runs about $1100.00, comparable to the manual underpinners. You might also look at the Thumbnailer as an alternative to v-nails.
 
Hi Ken,

We recently sold our Cassese CS 80 and bought a Thumbnailer. It is great! With the underpinner, you have a really hard time correcting any joining problems (or at least I did) whereas with the Thumbnailer, you first rout the moulding and then hammer in the plastic inserts. You can hammer in the insert halfway, check the front of the joined frame pieces, make any corrections (before the glue dries) and then finish hammering in the plastic inserts. I've found that it is soooo much easier to correct mistakes, misaligned joints with the Thumbnailer than it is with the underpinner...any underpinner. I'm joining frames like crazy and they're looking really good!
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Is C&H's Thumbnail Master the Thumbnailer or are there others? Are there limitations or types of moulding to be avoided with the Thumbnailer? I don't mind letting my chop service join a few frames that would otherwise drive me crazy. Will my customers be satisfied with their frames, assuming everything else is of excellent quality?
 
Yes Ken, C&H's Thumbnail Master is the one! Actually there is a limitation...it currently can't handle a 3 3/4" or wider moulding. We just join them by hand or order them joined. Our customers seem to be happy with the frames. We find that the thumbnailer saves us more time as we don't have nearly as much (in fact very little) "fixing" to do...puttying, etc. Your customers should be satisfied if you do a good job joining the moulding, cutting the mats, etc.

On another note, my husband grew up in Newtown Square...it sure is a small world. The next time you visit Longwood Gardens, give us a call and stop by...our current phone # is 610.388.1151; however, we're moving into the borough of Kennett the weekend of 3/12 & 3/13 and hopefully will be open the last week of March. Our grand re-opening will be April 1st, just in time for the first 1st Friday Art Stroll of the year. Our new phone # will be 610.444.0146. So stop on by.
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