Should I buy this Casesse?

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Puppyraiser

PFG, Picture Framing God
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I have been offered a chance to buy a 3 year old Casesse CS299M Ultra for $2600. It has, says the guy, all the accessories. He also says it sells new for $4680. Does this sound like a good deal? I know nothing of this machine. Right now we are underpinning with a NoName Underpinner. The company went belly-up soon after we got it. It is about 8 or 10 years old, and works OK, but not great.

I looked at a show at one that has what I would call a two-step process. Step one would lock the moulding in place and Step two would shoot the pin. I thought that a good idea, but I was just wandering and have no idea if that is the one I looked at.

Does anyone have this machine and whaddaya think of it?

Oh, yeah, he is getting out of his space on Saturday so I need to decide relatively quickly...
 
Ellen a machine that has two stops in the Mitre Mite v anilers. Not sure what other ones. The cassese stuff is suppossed to be good.

Good Luck


Pl
 
I have a Cassese 299M and love it ... highly recommended ... if you want details call me or send me an email.
 
You might want to check previous threads in the archives.
If you're in the market for a new underpinning machine, I respectfully suggest that you can probably get a brand new Fletcher/Pilm machine for about the same price. They're made in Italy, like the popular Amp/Putnam/Alphamacchine/Miter Mite machines.

Trade show special deals from Fletcher distributors usually offer the model 5700 for around $2600 including some goodies. I'm guessing you might have $2800 in it after you buy the stand, air filter/lubricator ($145 list price; bolts to the back of the machine), and a selection of fasteners. At DecorExpo-Baltimore, Fletcher was offering a free air filter lubricator with purchase of the machine from any distributor, and their deals were in the $2500 range for the model 5700.

The Fletcher/Pilm 5700 is the only machine in its price class that has two vertical clamps, and I believe that is a life-changing feature for a framer. No more troubles with wide or radical profile mouldings turning in the machine, no more resetting clamps between fastener insertions. I love mine and would not consider any other machine for my purposes.

All of the other machines with double clamps are at least twice the price of the 5700 -- they're the ones that are made to work with optional computers.

By the way, if you do not already have an air filter/lubricator within five feet of the machine's air intake port, I recommend you get one with your new machine. The life of anything pneumatic may be determined by the quality of the air that drives it.

All makers recommend putting a few drops of pneumatic oil in the air weekly. You can do it manually (if you remember it) or get the accessory that does it automatically. Since debris can accumulate and moisture can condense in just a few feet of compressed air line, the best maintenance strategy is to filter and lubricate the air at the machine, and not several feet away at the compressor.
 
We still haven't decided... Questions such as "How do you support big frames?" and others spring to mind, but Dermot, your links to the websites were most illuminating. And of course, Jim, your input is always informative. Any others of you have this machine and can give weight to our ultimate decision? I hate to buy a 'pig in a poke'...
 
Ellen,

I have one of these machines if you want to come up and try it out. We were at this shop yesterday. We bought some stuff. The equipment that I saw was well cared for. I told the guy to call you because a little while ago you said that you were considering a new underpinner. Give me a call if you want. We'll be in the shop tonight. We have a new used Fletcher 3000 to set up.

Bob Shirk, I'm posting under Maryann's login.
 
A couple of things that make a Cassese my preferred choice of underpinner are the fact that you can quickly and easily change wedges with the cartridge system, rather than needing multiple (and easy to loose) spacer bars and a magnetic retrieval tool. This feature makes it easy to be able to quickly put a 7mm in the front and a 12mm in the back of a join, without actually unclamping the join. Secondly, the patented clamping system on the "ultra" series truely offers you a "What you see is what you get" confidence when firing a wedge - which removes the uncertaintly of how the join will look after the wedges have been fired through. Even at full list price, I believe a CS299M is worth it!

Cheers,

Jared Davis CPF, GCF
 
Another benefit of this machine is that LJ uses it (and I think Roma does too) so if you have an otherwise challenging moulding to join (e.g. one with an exaggerated scoop at the back) you can call their tech services and ask them to tell you just how they join them!

Mouldings that my friends have difficulty with on their VN-42s are no problem at all on my 299M.

Also we get really great service from both LJ and Active Sales.

And echoing Jared's comment it's a breeze to use mixed sizes ... e.g. when joining something like LJ's 686114

It also stacks even three deep with ease.
 
Cassese vee nailers join mouldings better than other brands because of many exclusive features!

Buying anything based on price alone is fraught with danger. I always make decisons on what to buy based on quality, benefits and whether it does the job it's supposed to do better than others.

Before I bought my Cassese 3099 Ultra, last year, I tried many brands and nothing else comes even close!
 
EllenAtHowards said:
We still haven't decided... Questions such as "How do you support big frames?"
I hate to buy a 'pig in a poke'...
Click to expand...

I made a round table from MDF which can rotate. This sits in front of the machine and supports 98% of the frames I make. For larger frames I use three, height adjustable work support stand that are used in wood machining workshops to support them.

It will not be a "pig in a poke" unless it has been used for about a hundred years or has been abused.
 
I think you would love it too. I use one just like it every day.

The best moulding support is a level table even with the surface of the machine where the moulding rests.

I'm forever learning something new though. A week or so ago somebody on the G recommended using a leather covered weight (the kind used to hold art down that is filled with lead shot) to pad intricate areas on mouldings so they don't get crushed.
 
question for cassese users

I bought a used 299m. Having used two of them in the past, I knew it was the one I wanted. The one I got is newer than the ones I've used in the past and they've changed the design a bit. It seems that every time I find a product that I like, they find out about it and change it just to drive me nuts. I'd like to know if any of you are using a 299 that has the presser with the adjuster holes in it. The older models I've used and loved have a set screw with a little finger grip that you loosen to remove the presser and change it, or remove it to get it out of the way of a tall moulding after it's joined. This makes it a snap to switch pressers mid-join if needed on a particular profile. On my 299, the presser has been made much longer and has holes in it with the presser held in place by a pin. I assumed it was to allow for taller profiles or was in some way an improvement on the old design. I've found that this thing is so long, you can't remove it if you have a frame in the machine. You also can't remove it if you have no frame in the machine, until you remove the rubber part from the end to make it short enough to get it out. This is very disappointing to put it politely.

Am I not getting it? Anyone who has one of these please share your tips. I'm strongly considering buying the necessary parts to retrofit it to be like the previous version. Thanks
 
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