The Framers Forum

Hi, I introduced myself back in July. Starting up in west Herts, but still getting the workshop together. Clearing enough space in my garage/workshop has been to problem.

I'm nearly there now and getting the equipment together.

A cousin has offered me a Morso, underpinner and mount cutter. It is all about 15 years old, has had very little use and been dry stored.

My questions are:
How difficult is it to move without damage?
Who would be best to do this?
And most importantly how do I find someone to check it over and give it a service?

Help and advice much appreciated.

You need to lock the blades down, and take the whole arms off (right and left if it has one). Then it is a case of getting a few people to lift into a van and hey ho off you go. Servicing if it hasn't had much ware and it cutsa well then probably you won't need to service it, but if you do then I recomend Neil Stout, Framingengineer.com, member of the forum and very knowledgable and thoroughly nice guy.

I moved my workshop earlier this year and rented a self drive van with a tail lift which made life very easy moving the morso. I also bought a heavy duty sack trolly and it was a doddle wheeling the morso about... in fact a lot of fun... me missus had to call me in as it was getting dark!

I would do as Graysalchemy says and lock the blades down... just noticed I didn't

My best recommendation for any used equipment is to give the machine a quick wipe down and inspection for any defects. Next take a look at all pivot points and make sure that they are clean of grime and have fresh lubricant.

I would suggest downloading the manual from the Dan list website if your morso doesn't come with one. Pay particular attention to where the morso should be treated with lithium grease, and also safety notes around the blade area. There are you tube videos on use, and you should soon get started. The forum posts , accessed on the top right search should guide you through most problem areas, just ask if you need help.
The most difficult bit is getting it into and out of the back of a vehicle. A tail lift would make it a doddle, but the flat back of the morso makes it fairly easy to lift and tip into the back of vans/estate cars. Cover the bumper with old carpet to avoid damage. I put some contiboards in my van to ease sliding in and out, but make sure it can't move around in the vehicle.
The machine takes up quite a bit of space in a garage, wheeled dollies are available from several suppliers.

Hi Jonathan
where did you get your Button Badge machine, thinking of expanding into button making for a while now

Cheers

Steve

Thank you all for some very helpful replies. I'll definitely go and look at the equipment now as it seems simple to move (although heavy), I'll let you know how I get on. I've been unable to find a manual on Dan List's website, so have asked them for one, so we'll see what happens.

Steve N - I make badges using equipment from Enterprise Products see http://www.buttons.co.uk/

The most difficult part of badge making is cutting them out accurately; a fraction of a mm out can look dreadful. I use a cutter from Blank Badges http://www.blankbadge.co.uk/g-series-25 ... -369-p.asp they also supply all the other necessary badge making equipment, but I've not used anything else. I only make about 200/250 at a time, there are other options if you are producing thousands. Don't forget the cost of printing.

Thanks Jonathan, that was really helpful of you, I shall look into it in the New Year, Merry Christmas

UPDATE:

I've just been to see the equipment mentioned above. It is all 15 years old, but hardly used. Unfortunately, although stored in a "dry" barn, there doesn't seem to have been any heating, so there is some slight surface rust. Looks as if it should clean up with a bit of 000 wire-wool and an oily rag.

The Morso is an F and is BLUE! Never seen or heard of that, did they do limited editions? Also can I up grade to F deluxe?

The underpinner is a Pistorius, which seems to be from the USA and made under licence by Charisma in Harrow, north London. It no longer seems to be made. It weighs nearly as much as the Morso and has no makers nameplate. Anyone know anything about them? Are parts available? I see from a search of this Forum that V-nails are available from Wessex.

The mount cutter is a Keencut Ultimat Gold slightly battered but seems to be working OK, but not required as I have a Keen Ultimat Futura already.

My brother runs a courier service (with small vans) but all three items should fit in one together.

Does anyone have any unwanted moldings so I can get practising?

I have a blue Morso F myself. Euro Mouldings used to get Morso to paint them blue to match the paint on the Euro underpinners, but the design is exactly the same as the normal Morso F, so nothing to worry about.

Is the Pistorious underpinner a manual machine? If so and if as you say, it has only ever had light use, then it is very unlikely that you will ever need to worry about needing spare parts. As long as the hammer is good, you'll be fine!

The Pistorious manual machine is built like a battleship, so virtually unbreakable and will probably never wear out. The only thing that you will have to get used to is adjusting the height of the top clamp pad so that it is nice and level for the height of moulding you are joining.

This is because the top clamp arm pivots down onto the moulding. A lot of older manual machines used to work this way at one time, but times change. It's not much bother to do this and once you've got used to it, you won't give it a second thought!

Thanks Mark, for reassuring me in the Blue Morso, I wasn't really too worried! The Pistorius Underpinner is Green! Ah which to re-spray?

The Pistorius IS a manual machine model VN-M and is well heavy. It just looks so basic I felt something must be missing. I'll clean it up and see if I can get it to work when its arrived.

Thanks for advice on the top clamp arm.