Morso Overhaul

[Learner]

Hi all,

I am new here and have read lots so far, I have been making frames for myself for a little over a year and now that i have familiy and friends after me making them frames I have splashed out on a second hand Morso.

I am currently waiting for my manual to arrive from Denmark... hopefully if will arrive by the end of the week. Having got the Morso home and started to strip it down to give it a much needed clean there are a couple of things that i have noticed.
1, The Horizontal shaft has been welded into place! I could leave it as it is or i could get it welded properly and enable the horizontal shaft to be removable. What is the concencous on this?
2, I am not 100% sure if the blades need sharpening, the cut seems pretty good but its not perfect! I have heard that a good blade should cut tissue paper, I tried with a normal sheet of A4 as thats all i had at hand and the cut wasnt smooth. Resharpen?! I am guessing that it wouldnt be a bad idea.

I think that is all for today! I am sure there is going to be more as i get to spend more time with it!

Dave

[Mark Thornton]

Can you post a picture of the welded horizontal shaft?
Foot pedal tipper assemblies sometimes need to be replaced and if the shaft is welded then this would become impossible to do.

Mark

[Learner]

I will post a picture when i am next at home, so that you can see the job that has been done on it, I wasn't sure if the pedal lever would ever need replacing at all,.

Dave

[prospero]

A good indicator of how nuch use the machine has had is to look at the holes that the foot pedal swivels in. If they tend toward the oval, it's had some hammer in it's life. I've seen some that have nearly worn though to the outside.

[Mark Thornton]

Very true although i find its when the regular Morso pedal pins have been replaced with standard bolts that cause excessive wear resulting in the pedal tipper needing replacing.
I've replaced quite a few over the years and when i've shown the customer the worn out parts they are usually quite shocked.
Mark

[Learner]

I looked at the last post almost with dismay! My foot pedal is currently bolted on! But thinking about it the bolts are done up tight so there is no movement of the pedal itself, I was going to just loosen the bolts but i guess that is another item to place on my shopping list!
Is anyone able to provide me wih a price for a new frame and a pedal tipper shaft? looking at the danlist manual the pivots for the foot pedal are seperate items so depending on the wear could be a direct swap?! That will allow me to compare the price of having the Frame re-welded against the replacement of parts. Who is the most competative supplier for Morso parts?

[prospero]

If the pedal if bolted tight and there is enough thread, just slacken the nuts off just enough so there is free movement. Then put another nut of the same size on and tighten both nuts together to lock them. No need for expensive replacement parts.

[Learner]

Thats a good idea, I didnt think about using two nuts to lock onto each other! despite the method being a common one! lol

[Mark Thornton]

Learner if you need a new horizontal shaft or other Morso parts i can supply them.
Shaft: http://underpinner-spares.co.uk/details ... emID=10045
Mark

[prospero]

Thats a good idea, I didnt think about using two nuts to lock onto each other! despite the method being a common one! lol

Sign of a misspent youth I'm afraid. I had a Meccano set.

[Learner]

lol... I deviated into electronics so thats going to be my excuse for not thinking about it!

[prospero]

I did my share of soldering little stripey things together too.

[Jonny2morsos]

Nowdays I am not sure why people buy a 2nd hand Morso.

I bought a used one 2 1/2 yrs ago thinking I would keep it as a back up machine and it has sat in the same place for all that time unused. The latest price from Lion is £1695 + VAT and if you get 20 yrs out of it then the annual cost is less than £100 p.a. + a bit for resharpening blades etc.

Seems to me from posts on the forum the only ones changing hands are completely knackered and end up costing their new owners piles of dosh sorting them out.

What do they say about "No such thing as a free lunch"?

However, will I part wth Morso No. 2 ?

Hmmmm? bet your life if I did Morso No. 1 would go t**s up the next day!

John (jonny2morsos).

[Learner]

£1600 is still alot of money to someone who isnt in a position to give framing 100% of there time due to only doing small jobs, if a second hand machine costs £400 - £500 and then it needs a further £200 to get it fully servicable then that is £900 that is saved for spending on training, materials etc.... yes it would be false eccomomy for me to get it looking the same as it was when it left the workshop by getting an enginner to come in and replace anything that isnt perfect.
If when my contract with work expires, I decide to go full time if i have got a smooth working morso, and then simple but well working mount cutter and training behind me, then the current machine can be relegated to a backup machine.
I would also suggest that those of us asking questions on the forum are those of us getting second hand ones, there would be no need for someone who purchases a brand new one to be asking questions here casue they will have a machine in perfect order. I would also suggest that we are also the very small fish in the sea who only complete small projects for friends and family who would otherwise go out to any high street shop and by one made to a fixed size!

Dave

[bilhughes]

"Nowdays I am not sure why people buy a 2nd hand Morso"
Well I bought my 20 odd year old morso SH recently and I love it to bits these things are supposed to last if you read all the bumf about them but If money was no object to me I would still buy a second hand one its all about what sort of person you are I have only ever bought one new car and that was for my mum who lives in france I only ever buy underpants and socks new everything else is second-hand much to the dismay of the kids

[Roboframer]

Morsos are very simple machines and built like tanks - some say they even improve with age!

I bought mine second-hand with a spare pair of rebate supports and a spare pair of springs in 1994 or 5, not from a framer either - from a carpentry/joinery type place. I've never greased the springs and have only applied any oil in one place, the foot pedal pivot screws, and then only because the squeaking gets on my tits!

From time to time I'll give it a going over with an oily rag and shine up the measuring scales with some 0000 grade steel wool, and apart from a bit of recalibration now and then, that's about all I've ever done to it. In those 15 or so years it has had some serious hammer and all that's gone wrong with it is a broken spring a few weeks ago and the last notch or two on the blade advance ratchet are buggered, but I botched them - and the spring!

I've read here that the newer ones have an aluminium sliding part/channel that wears, or can.