Hi all - advice regarding underpinners for a new aspiring professional framer!

[HINEink]

Hi,

Just setting up a new framing business and am getting kit together.

I'm after some advice regarding underpinners that I've able to get hold of, any feedback would be great!

A cassese CS910

A cassese CS89

Although both older models they are next to new as were demonstration models. They 'look' brand new. Both come with 2 sets of hammers and a bunch of staples/loaders.

The CS910 is 800 quid, the CS89 450.

I'm not doing shed loads of framing and will hopefully build up my business slowly, hopefully to a point approaching shedloads! I will however be working with woodworking mates and sourcing local timbers, oak and ash so appreciate a bit more power might be helpful for such...?

Hivemind thoughts?

Cheers!
Tom

[Not your average framer]

You sat that you are not doing shed loads of frames, so do you really need a pmeumatic underpiiner? I don't know how much space you have, but that compressor has to go somewhere and if you are a little limited for space that not only may not help, the mains cable and the compressed air hose have to be safely routed to the underpinner and there are regulations about running compressed air hoses across the floor in your workshop.

I will freely admit the a pneumatic underpinner packs a pretty good punch when firing the wedges in, so I'm not recommending one, or the other , it's just something to take into account. The CS-89 is the pneumatic version of the CS-88 and everything is very accessible and very straight forward to maintain. It's also less money and the money that you have saved may be very useful for additional things you may need while setting up.

I use the CS-88 myself and it's a great machine. The only difference being that the CS-89 is a CS-88 adapted to be a pneumatic machine, so the reliability and great reputation will apply equally to the CS-89 as well. Best wishes for your new endevour.

[HINEink]

Thank you kindly, will take into consideration. I can obtain a jun-air silent 10L compressor. For the moment I've got good space, but that could change!

[HINEink]

...And I was only thinking pneumatic for the harder wood frames. From your experience the CS88 drives fine into oak, etc?

[Not your average framer]

It depends up on how hard the oak is, but there is a limit to how far you can expect any underpinner to successfully penetrate in to real oak. How deep are the oak mouldings that you wish to join? Oak veneered mouldings with a softer type of wood inside arequite popular with some framers.

I don't usually aim for joining deep oak mouldings relying completely on underpinning the joints, but cross nail the joints near the front face using a pneumatic 18 gauge nail gun, or even a 23 gauge headless pinner. I punch the nails below the surface of the moulding and fill the hole to hide the nail.

Nobody ever notices the where the holes have been filled.

[poliopete]

Hi Tom and welcome to the FF

I use a CS89 and would recommend it without hesitation.

With the correct range of Cassese wedges it makes light work of joining all the mouldings I use including hardwoods. With the colour coded cartridges, changing the wedges is a doddle. I've tucked my compressor just under my island workstation and find the cable and air hose do not impede in any way.

Because pneumatic underpinners are a little more complicated than manual ones, a small amount of time is required for basic maintenance. This time is well negated by the speed they join the rims. This efficiency will be appreciated as your business grows.

The figure you quote of £450 for the machine you describe would not put me off even after adding the cost of a silent compressor.

Very best wishes for your new venture.

Peter.

[Not your average framer]

I have a relatively noisy underpinner in my workshop and it's not that noisy if you've got it over the other side of the workshop at the end of a long compessed air hose. Saves money too!

[HINEink]

Thank you very much for your advice. Right I'm off on a long drive to collect one or the other!