Question Keep or sell my chopper?

[jim_p]

Here's my moulding-cutting setup: when I started my shop I had a Makita chop saw with a Clearmount miter scale. It did an okay job but the miters were not quite up to snuff. I ended up hauling out an old miter trimmer from my woodworking days and using that to clean up the ends after sawing.

Fast-forward to last summer, and a frame shop in my state is going out of business. I scoop up their Morso chopper with visions of perfect miters dancing in my head. I start using it with gusto, and the cobwebs started forming on the chop saw.

Then one day my assistant asks me how long it takes corner putty to set. "?" I say... turns out that one moulding (silver compo) had chipped so badly that she had tried to use corner putty for what were basically structural repairs! Going back over other chopped frames I noticed that while the faces of the miters were works of beauty, the edges were... not, to say the least. Stained wood mouldings worked great in the chopper, but anything with any compo at all would chip to various extents.

Recently I moved to a new location. I set up the chop saw in the new location and started using that first, since the chopper knives needed to be sharpened. I leveled the saw with a laser level, tuned up the adjustments, put in a brand-new 100-tooth carbide blade... and whaddayaknow, the miters are coming out pretty damned good!

I've since moved the chopper to the new shop, but I haven't set it up yet.

So the question is: should I keep the chopper or not? I've told you about my problems with chipping, and I've seen other threads that talk about this as well. The upshot is that there's no general solution: no matter what you do some mouldings will chip in the chopper.

So the situation is this: I've got one tool (saw) that takes a bit longer to chop a frame on, but that is now producing near-perfect miters every time in any moulding... and I have another tool (chopper) that makes nice glass-smooth miters pretty quickly with minimal material waste... but for which the quality of the end product is a #### shoot.

Tell me why I should keep my chopper?

(I know, I know... I should get the best of both worlds and spring for a nice double miter saw, but I don't have that kind of capital at the moment...)

 

[DVieau2]

>>>Tell me why I should keep my chopper? <<<

To cut liners.

That's all I use my chopper for.

Doug

 

[j Paul]

I thought I would sell my Morso after I got a saw this year. Found that I do use it for liners, as these don't cut well on a saw at all. I also use it for fillets going inside a mat. (For fillets going inside the frame lip, I glue them to the moulding first and then cut with the saw)

I would say if you have room for both, keep both.

 

[RParrish]

Sounds too like you need your blades sharpened, also a little tape on the side of the frame helps to prevent some of the compo from chipping.

 

[more_so]

Also choppers cut most polys a lot cleaner than saws, at least for me.

 

[matage]

double is the way to go

I know you said you are not interested in a double mitre saw right now, I thought the same way, I'm just have a small one man shop and I had been using your same mitre saw/measuring arms for the past 6 years, but I was never totally satisfied with it, I was spending way too much time with sanding, putty and touch up after the cut and join. I looked around for shops going out of business (which sadly to say are not hard to find in this economy) and right away I found someone who was selling their double mitre saw, great condition, less than one year of use on it for about $4k. True, even at that price it was an investment but I couldn’t be happier. Now that I have it I kick my self for using my old saw method for so long. I can not say this clear enough...IT IS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING THE DIFFERENCE A QUALITY DOUBLE MITRE SAW MAKES. I spend less than half the time cutting that I used to and rarely have to putty or even color the ends of frames because the joints are so perfect. No question it is worth what ever you have to spend.

 

[more_so]

IS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING THE DIFFERENCE A QUALITY DOUBLE MITRE SAW MAKES.

Agreed, watched somebody using an old Pistorius double saw, the kind with the manual foot pedal. Wonderful machine and very, very fast! Compo, paint on wood, wraps, whatever, it was just one perfect, 99.5% unchipped, smooth corner after another. Maybe it's the RPM or blades or something, but my DeWalt can't seem to make cuts quite that perfect. And did I say fast? I want one. It pays to buy quality...surprising how resistant I can be to that idea.