Question Morso Chopper

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New Albany Framer

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I purchased a Morso Chopper several years ago. The chopper was at least 50 years old, and it was used in a school shop class. I noticed when the owned demonstrated the device to me, his joints were less than perfect. He used a sander and some gook to make them more acceptable. I assumed this was due to improper technique on his part. The Morso site indicated that this device produced perfect cuts with no need to trim or sand. I have not been getting those kind of results. Often I get gaps especially in the back. While these are not cosmetically unattractive, they weaken the joint, and sometimes do result in a gap when I apply points to hold in the glass. Sometimes, I do get small gaps in the lower end in the front-usually on only one joint. What could be causing these gaps? A defect in the machine itself, bad blades, improper technique, a bad fence, bad moulding or something else? I have noticed that when I make my initial cut on a new piece of moulding, there appears no way to hold down the moulding as there is in subsequent cuts. Could this be the problem? I have a logan sander, but sometimes this makes the matter worse. I would appreciate any adivice than you could give me on this matter.
 
do a search, here, for MANY MANY threads on this/related topics then digest the lot and come back with more queastions after you've thried some of the answers(seems there are NO simple answers/quick fixes)
 
Morso Chopper Problems

I am still using the Morso that my Dad purchased new in 1955. It is such a sturdy piece of equipment that demands so little of the user that I can't imagine what is going wrong.

PROPERLY SHARPENED BLADES ARE A MUST. FITTING FRESH BLADES CAN SOMETIMES BE A BIT FIDDLY BUT THEY MUST BE A TRUE PAIR
.
THE LEFT HAND FENCE MUST BE ALIGNED EXACTLY WITH THE LONG FIXED RIGHT HAND FENCE

tHE REBATE SUPPORTS WILL WEAR WITH USE BUT THEY MUST FIT TIGHTLY UNDER THE REBATEAND AND IF THE MOULDING IS NOT BOWED, TWISTED OR BOTH YOU SHOULD BE OK.

GOOD JOINING, Yours, Alan.
 
Also, keep in mind where and how the blades are sharpened. The average neighborhood hardware store should not be touching them.

Do a search on here and you will get a ton of info.

Bob
 
To add to what Alan said you need to have good sharp blades. If your unsure then sharpen them. If they were just sharpened you may want to look at having them sharpened anyway. 90% of any problem I've had with a morso was the sharpness of the blades.

The way I set the guides is make the right hand fence flush with the measuring part of the chopper.

Then cut a nice wide flat straight moulding, maybe 2"-3", and make a small square and join it. If the front is open nudge the left fence toward you slightly. If the back is open nudge the left fence away from you slightly.

If you're using sharp blades and can make a perfect square with no gaps then lock the fence down and threaten the life of anybody who attempts to loosen it. I've not adjusted mine in over 5 years. When my joints don't look right a nice set of sharp blades fixes it almost always.
 
JbNormandog said:
Also, keep in mind where and how the blades are sharpened. The average neighborhood hardware store should not be touching them.
Click to expand...

My sharpening guy tries to chat up his trade with me and I'm often successful at getting out the door without any serious discussion. The other day I was unsuccessful. So while he was telling about all the details of his business I remembered to ask him some questions. I've heard from people on here tell me that their blades had been ruined by bad sharpening people. I've asked how they were ruined and never gotten a clear answer.

So I asked him how they can get ruined during sharpening. He said the most common error when sharpening the blades is getting them hot by putting them to the stone to often or stopping or going to slow during the swipe. He said to look for any blue tint. That would be hot metal and would make the tips brittle. He showed me some examples where blades have had chunks knocked out of them after using them with hot spots.

No doubt fixing that would take much life from the blades and not something I'd be happy to eat. Still it wouldn't ruin the blades. You could sharpen down past the damage and be good to go - if they were tall enough. If not then they ruined the blades.

So I guess one thing to look for is hot blades. If you see em, call them to the companies attention and ask for an explanation.
 
On that initial cut, you have to be very attentive to holding the moulding straight against the left side wing. You need some sort of support for the stick, the kinds of roller supports used for table saws can be used and/or you can buy an extension table that fits on the left. On very old Morsos the table supports near the blades may be a little too slippery, try covering those table surfaces with a a foot or so of masking tape on either side WHILE CAREFULLY WATCHING YOUR FINGERS AND THE BLADES.

What Alan says, sharp blades are essential. Blades that are too dull may still give you cuts that look sorta clean, but which are not perfectly aligned because too much pressure was applied to the moulding during the cut.

And take some time to look at your Morso purely as a mechanical device, make sure there is no slop anywhere, and particularly make sure the blade support itself is tracking straight and tight-but-smooth in its dovetail guides. There are actually quite a few adjustments that can be made such as the alignment of the two wings in relation to the ruler guides on your right, and the amount the blades bite beyond the side of the moulding on the last fine chop.

Since October have hacked through over 2000 feet of moulding on a Morso and didn't have to sand a single corner. All bad joints were a result of twisted or warped moulding which I fixed easily with the Japanese saw variant of the old hacksaw trick, Baer made a nice post on this recently. No miter cutting device on Earth can save you from geometrically challenged moulding.

In addition to problems with mouldings that are curved on the bottoms, Morso's don't cut moulding with curved sides very well, especially if the tips of the curves don't line up perfectly on the vertical.
 
With an old used chopper you must have good blades. The chopper will last forever but not the blades. Start with an infeed table or roller supports that are level with the chopper table. Now take a 6 foot metal straight edge. Loosen the left and right levers that set the back fence. Lay 4 feet of the straight edge against the outfeed/measuring table. Genly bump the adjustable fences against the straight edge. Your angle is now perfectly set.

Next remove the top bolt from the blades. Slightly loosen the center and bottom bolt of each blade. Use your thumb and forefinger to grasp the blades in the upper holes and gently squeeze and lift the blades up and together. Snug the center bolts and slowly and gently depress the foot pedal. This will seat the blades. Replace and snug the top bolt in the blades. Gently depress the pedal one more time and then tighten all the bolts. Your blades are set.

Slide your moulding in place with it extending 6 inches past the blades. Hold the moulding down on the table and gently turn the supports up untill they touch but not lift the underside of the lip of the moulding. Start with the left support and raise it until it slightly raises the moulding then turn it back so the pressure releases and the moulding drops back to the table top. Repeat the process on the right side and your chopper is set to cut that moulding.

Take small bites to cut through the moulding and you will learn with time how much you can bite based on different materials. Be sure to always use the second last stop before taking a final bite to finish your cut. That second last stop can never be skipped.

If you are still getting poor results you either need to have the blades sharpened or replaced. I believe Quinn Saw which is a sponsor sharpens and sells replacements. Call Bill at Quinn by clicking on their ad banner on the Grumble or in the Memer List at the top of the page look up Triplechip. If you replace the blades you may need to raise the yoke which is done by adjusting the nuts on the vertical rod on the inside center of the chopper. The adjustment is used to account for shrinking blade height due to repeated sharpenings.
 
Everyone has wisely said to get the blades sharpened, but let me add that if you don't know how old the blades you have are then get a replacement set. The companies you'll see here that sharpen the blades also sell new ones. The reversable blades I don't use. Been tempted but they are shorter.

Sounds to me like your problem could be a poorly aligned fence. Easy remedy once you learn how.
 
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