Say hello to M, M being a nickname for my Morso F, my trusty mighty mitre saw.
She is one of my 4 main pieces of essential equipment in my workshop in the Forest of Dean that I use to make custom picture frames. The other pieces are a under pinner, sheet cutter, and mount cutter.
I use her to cut the lengths of wood moulding (up to 3 meters long) into smaller precisely measured lengths that form the 4 sides of the bespoke frame for artwork, textiles, photographs, etc.
M has two incredibly sharp blades mounted on a knife block positioned at 45 degrees to the front. They move forward cutting through the moulding in small increments until the moulding is cut right through, leaving smooth accurate double mitre corners. The downward cutting action of the blades is operated by a foot pedal, no push a button and its powered by electric equipment for me, great for when I have power cuts.
M has a sliding longitudinal stop and measuring scale which allows accurate and consistent lengths to be cut from mouldings varying in profile up to 10 cms wide and 16 cms high.
She is a tough heavy piece of kit made of steel and weighing in at 90Kg! Incredibly low maintenance, a bit of oiling every now and then and changing of the blades when they become blunt is all she needs.
M is classed as a professional piece of picture framing equipment. When I first started, I used a small hand precision mitre saw and got fairly consistent results. This is an ideal low cost option for you if you wanted to have a go at custom picture framing yourself.
At the other end of spectrum of capacity are commercial automatic mitre saws that can cut 1500 pieces an hour, bells and whistles a plenty.
Me, I am happy to stick to M for ease of use, reliability and accuracy. After all the Morso F was voted the most important machine in 100 years for the picture framing business by the Fine Art Trade Guild www.finearttradeguild.co.uk
I am looking forward too many more years of using her. If anyone is interested in seeing her in action once Covid 19 has passed please get in touch, you’re always welcome to come over and have a go.
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