Cannibalistic Morso

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louisesimon
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Cannibalistic Morso

Post by louisesimon »

The horizontal bar that is part of the pedal mechanism which pivots and is attached to the frame of the Morso is wearing holes in the Morso body.

Both bolt holes on the body have worn to a diameter of about 25mm. Amazingly the morso still works fine and my neighbour in the unit next door is going to repair it. I got the morso 2nd hand 3 yrs ago, it was the first one I'd ever seen so didn't inspect it too well and only paid £150 for it. Just wondering if anyone knows why it's worn gaping holes. Will attach a photo tomorrow.
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by louisesimon »

Photo of damage, you can actually see the bolt through the hole.
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ratty
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by ratty »

Hi Louise,
as you know by now the morso is a great quality machine.
The main weakness seems to be the problem you have got! :( :head:

I too had the same problem and posted previously what I did to remedy it and will quote it here as it may be of use to your neighbour;

"Just to give a heads up on the repair job, in case anyone else has similar problems.

I bought some 2mm thick mild steel sheet from ebay. Size was 100mm long X 32mm wide, cost was £1.25p including postage.

I hacksawed the 100mm length in half to give two 50mm lengths and drilled two 12mm diameter holes roughly in the middle of the pieces.

I had a friend with a lathe take 2.5mm from both ends of the horizontal bar.

I ground off the paint around where the plates would fix then clamped the plates into position and connected the lever system back together, including tightening the two bolts that hold the horizontal bar in position.

Matey came round and mig welded the plates and crack, and asked me to buy him a pint when I see him next.

Today I bought a small tin of green Hammerite (£6.99) and applied, after wire brushing the area.

I took the opportunity to change the blades, did a test cut and all is well.

I think a little reinforcement in the area wouldn't go amiss in new machines (take note Morso!) as it seems to be a not too uncommon problem.

Will update if anything further happens."

If you use this system you obviously will need different sized mild steel sheet to cover the split in your frame.
This repair worked successfully for me and was inexpensive. :clap:

Ratty
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by louisesimon »

That's brilliant Ratty, just found the original thread and had a good read, will pass on the relevant info. Anyone know what caused it to wear such a big hole?

Cheers Ratty, Happy Friday :beer:
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prospero
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by prospero »

I've seen similar wear on the pedal pivots. It's a good way of judging what sort of a hard life the machine has had.

But as ratty says, it's not catastrophic and easily fixed. :D
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by ratty »

As an after thought Simon, :idea:

make sure you inspect the "Draw bolt holders" that are connected to the springs. :D

The effect of the horizontal bar moving around in the larger diameter hole when the machine is operated, puts a higher force on the whole system.
Draw bolt holders are liable to be a weak point in the system and you do not want them to fail whilst operating the morso. :sweating:
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Mark Thornton
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by Mark Thornton »

The damage to your casing is caused by the pedal tipper frame binding on the horizontal bar, each time you press down on the pedal it is causing the horizontal shaft to rotate which in turn eats away at the case. Repairs to the case are pointless unless you first rectify the fault.
Mark
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ratty
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by ratty »

I agree with you that the horizontal shaft rotating, is the cause of the wear on the case, but surely the easiest way to find out if there are other problems in the "pedal tipper frame" is to first stop the horizontal bar from rotating? This job will have to be done anyway if the Morso is going to be used again?

A common problem causing the wear on the casing is the bolts holding the horizontal bar to the case coming loose, and because they are in a difficult position to view, can be easily overlooked. Once this happens then the bar will rotate and start to wear the casing. If Morso were to make one of the internal threads on the horizontal bar left-handed and the corresponding bolt left-handed, it could reduce this from happening so often.

Before welding the plates, I clamped the plates in position, attached the horizontal bar and reconnected the lever system, checking there was no binding of the mechanisms by pressing down on the pedal to operate the Morso as I described on a previous post on the subject. Once I was happy with the action which was straightforward in my case, the plates were then welded in place.

I would have thought damage to the pedal tipper frame would be rare, as the draw bolt holders are engineered to be the weak point in the system, and of course they should at this time be closely inspected to check for elongation or twisting.

If the inexpensive fix described does work for you, it's only cost a few pound and can be done by anyone with a little DIY knowledge (apart from the welding).

Of course if you do not feel competent enough to tackle the repair, or have the time to have the Morso out of commission, then get in a framing machine engineer to advise.
,
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Mark Thornton
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by Mark Thornton »

@ratty
I wasn't criticising your method of repair just offering advice to the original poster, the draw bar holders are not an engineered weak point as its these bolts that maintain the blades vertical position (it would be daft to have that as a weak point)

Oh and I am a framing equipment engineer :D

Mark
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by ratty »

Thanks for that advice about the draw bar holders not being an engineered weak point.

I obviously got confused by the adverts that go along with the sale of new draw bar holders; :Slap:

"Connects the bottom of the main springs to the Morso pedal mechanism.
Must be checked on a regular basis as this spring holder can wear through resulting in your blades dropping (very) suddenly if it should break." :sweating:

I did know that you were a framing equipment engineer Mark, and you have lots more experience in the area than me. 8)

I was offering my advice purely as an amateur on framing equipment, who is a qualified Mechanical Engineer, also a qualified Industrial Engineer. 8) :lol:

Some of us on the site, including myself are no longer professional framers, or are just hanging on in the business and need to keep costs down as low as possible, self maintenance is one way of achieving this, as long as it can be done competently. :rock:
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Re: Cannibalistic Morso

Post by louisesimon »

My Morso is now very happy! My neighbour only had half an hour to spare today before jetting off to South america so he decided to just drill and bolt on a reinforcement plate, no need to take any length off the cross bar, had to widen the gap by a couple of mm to fit the plates in. Feels brilliant now, and importantly the cross bar doesn't rotate so should be good. Lesson to learn is to show the morso some care and attention more often. Remember... a morso is for life, not just...oh I dont know.

Thanks for the input Ratty and Mark.
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