Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

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RobM
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Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by RobM »

I'm attempting my first shadow box from scratch (the previous one I was asking about was started during training with an experienced framer) and I'm struggling badly with the cuts.

The depth of the box is 115mm, so I've adjusted the height of the blades and tried making several cuts, each time resulting in frayed edges - especially in the top half. See the bad cut picture.

It seems the top half is affected by the box being higher than the Morso fences, shown in the second pic, which are about 65mm high, and therefore it whole height isn't supported.

How do you get around this issue? I must admit, I can't remember it being an issue with the previous box, but I could be wrong. Is there anything else that I could obviously be doing wrong?
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by JFeig »

Per the Morso specification sheet the maximum cutting height is 160 mm. So, you are within that parameter.

The next parameter is cutting the moulding in several steps (nibbles) and not all at once.
Third is the sharpness of the blades and that they should be "hollow ground". The image you supplied also indicates that the blades might have reached the end of their useful life. Every time they are sharpened they loose some of their height. The blades are made from two types of steel, the base and the cutting edge which is hardened tool steel. You can seen a seam between the two types of steel that looks very close to the actual cutting edge.
Fourth is the quality of the timber(wood) being cut. If you are attempting to cut inferior wood(semi rotten), there is not much that can be done to assure success.

Are you following these parameters?
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by Justintime »

It's hard to say from the photo of the out of focus blade, but even out of focus it looks like there are notches out of it. Can you post an in focus photo of each blade face?
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by RobM »

JFeig wrote: Tue 07 Jan, 2025 2:26 pm Per the Morso specification sheet the maximum cutting height is 160 mm. So, you are within that parameter.

The next parameter is cutting the moulding in several steps (nibbles) and not all at once.
Third is the sharpness of the blades and that they should be "hollow ground". The image you supplied also indicates that the blades might have reached the end of their useful life. Every time they are sharpened they loose some of their height. The blades are made from two types of steel, the base and the cutting edge which is hardened tool steel. You can seen a seam between the two types of steel that looks very close to the actual cutting edge.
Fourth is the quality of the timber(wood) being cut. If you are attempting to cut inferior wood(semi rotten), there is not much that can be done to assure success.

Are you following these parameters?
Hi Jerome. Thanks for your thorough comments.

In response to your four points...
1. The height of the plastic guards is indeed 160mm, but the problem I see is that they're slightly offset from the metal part of the fence, so wondered how this could allow for full support up to that height.
2. I always try to do nibbles, and this had been the case with this cut too.
3. I did have the blades sharpened relatively recently (when I say this, I mean 2-and-a-half-months). That said, I'm new to this, so have to admit I don't yet have the eye for spotting the degradation so well. The seam you are referring to, would this be the hatched effect across the surface of the blades that looks apparent, or the slightly frayed edge that I've circled attached? Either way, these are old blades and I'm beginning to see just how necessary it is to get these at their optimum, so I'm going to order a new set today.
4. I think the wood is of decent quality, at least insofar as it being new, but I guess this is no guarantee of quality. It was, however, the same wood used in the prior box we did, which seemed to cut well.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by RobM »

Justintime wrote: Tue 07 Jan, 2025 10:28 pm It's hard to say from the photo of the out of focus blade, but even out of focus it looks like there are notches out of it. Can you post an in focus photo of each blade face?
Hi Justin. Sure. How about these photos?
Thanks for your help, buddy.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by Justintime »

Glad to read that you're buying new blades! They look bad. Come back to us if that doesn't sort your issues out. Remember to reset the bottom blades (as per the manual) when fitting the new ones.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by Justintime »

You can add an offcut of wood to the fences to increase their height when necessary. My preference would be to use a bare wood, cut it upside down which won't require fences, fill sand and paint. It will give you a farsuperior finish to the prefinished moulding.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by JFeig »

Rob, the acrylic guards do not touch the moulding being cut during normal use. They are strictly a safety item to keep your fingers away from the chopping action. The moulding is thus placed only against the cast iron support(backstop/fence) of the machine and the machined platform to hold the 90°and keeping it from moving or rolling while chopping.

The seam on blades is the welding joint along where the 2 pieces of steel were joined. This might appear as a slight color change in the steel. This seam is parallel to the cutting edge of the blades.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by StevenG »

Hi, yes - those blades are in bad shape unfortunately. If you're in a position to just replace with new I'd do that. You can always get them sharpened but to rule out any other issues I'd just replace them (my personal opinion of course)
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by technoframer »

Try adding a sacrificial strip of thin mdf between fence and the moulding. This moves the moulding further in to the blades and usually eliminates torn edges.
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Re: Bad Cuts for Shadow Box

Post by RobM »

I bit the bullet and ordered some new blades. It would be a fool's game expecting to constantly maintain a tired set of blades.

Justin, Jerome, Steven, Technoframer - you're a good bunch. I appreciate the feedback.
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