A few years back I bought a big old lump of morticer from a (somewhat) former member on here, the very kind and affable condeesteso.
Lugged it home in two parts in the van, then sat it up under cover but outside my shed. And there it sat. And sat. And sat.
Sad state of affairs really. Then Ryolith did an excellent restoration job on another brand of similar machine and it set me thinking. Always dangerous. If I wasn't going to use something at least needed to happen.
Ryolith's Resto: triumph-mortiser-restoration-t116867.html?hilit=triumph
What I didn't want to do was spend hours painting mine as I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to keep it so the budget was very tight, even in top condition these don't sell for much more than the paint I'd need. I love the machine but that wasn't enough, it takes a lot of room and I wasn't sure how much use it would get other than for one oak Porch project I have that keeps getting put off for various reasons. How many huge mortices would I ever need to cut other than that?
In all fairness to condeesteso, he did try to warn me!
So I got the grinder out and a box of flapper discs... (hammer)
All the work is fairly self explanatory so will keep details to a minimum. (For once). Lots of pics though.
Starting out in a bit of a sorry state.
Some nice detailing on the counterweight. Some wording is a little lost on the casting.
Beginning to take it apart and use the grinder. Red Iron paint. Nasty job. Filthy, masked up and keeping everyone well away.
The more I took it to bits and cleaned it up the more impressed I got. Looks fairly rough initially but where it matters it is finely engineered. The mating surface of the x-y tables were bang on and the moving parts of arm mechanism also. The threads on the wheels and handles are excellent.
More flapping...
... but I was well aware there were areas the grinder would never get near and was investigating various paint removal techniques like peelaway etc, the modern non trade options being a bit lacking. The trade ones being pricey. Hmmmm...
So I got on with derusting the handwheels and screwthreads and bolts in citric acid, salt and a drop of fairy liquid in the meantime
and started looking for a bigger option for the other parts. My previous Big Red Bucket not coming close.
I raided the abandoned retail units near my house.
Sweet!
Duly filled it with water, added half a box of citric, then left if for the night.
Came back from work the next day. Bleedin' empty! Missed a tiny spit on the seam. Gah! Didn't tell the Mrs I had leaked 200 litres of acid water all over her precious garden either. 8-[
Back over the units for a slightly smaller option with no holes.
See them bubbles? Tastes just like champagne. Honest.
This is where I had a Rather Pleasant Surprise. Yay!
It's only gone and done the paint lads!
Woop! I'm a surprise genius!
It was after that surprise moment of triumph that I realised I could have just dipped the whole lot and not spent several horrible hours on the grinder looking like an extra from Mad Max..... Ah well. Live and learn. Every silver lining has a cloud and all that.
These get a workout with the brass wire brush drill attachment, which finishes them off nicely and removes any last remnants.
Big bits need two dips! Dippy Bin V2. was just big enough to do both halves.
Couldn't fit the base anywhere to dip it, so the hidden underneath bit got a coat or three of Hammerite Kurust. Excellent excellent gear if you don't mind it going black. Here it's hidden so no worries.
After asking the experts (thanks!) on here I went with stove black for the finish. I like it and I think it suits the machine well.
All oiled up and put back together.
Testing it out. It cuts really well. The real deepjoy moment was sorting the bits out and realising this will cut good and importantly narrow mortices with the bits I have. That means it's a keeper after all.
This machine was growing on me all the time.
I haven't fitted permanent wooden beds to it to allow a bit of flexibility. Maybe at some point I will. Not sure yet...
You can raise and lower the main mechanism by undoing the bolts on the rail. The little crank handle on the top takes the weight out of it then you cinch up the bolts again. It's clever.
Didn't highlight the counterweight in orange because I couldn't see where to start and stop on some of the letters. Best to leave well alone I thought.
There were number threes stamped in various parts of the machine. Serial number here?
More important, it shows how you to reverse the direction of the chisel. Unclip, swing the handle 180 degrees and push it into the other spring loaded clip. Tidy!
The x-y and clamp wheels. These all work with one finger more evidence of quality engineering during manufacture. Yes, that is indeed a rubber an O ring on that pin. I didn't have any spare rod the exact imp. size for a perfect interference fit. This metric bit I had spare fits fine, I peined one side off, the O ring means I can take the wheel if if needed. Don't tell anyone. :-$
From the front.
Arty shot.
I was really lucky to get such a wide selection of bits with the machine.
And finally, somewhere to call home. This is just on the wall behind the morticer now. It tapers in width so all the bits fit in nice and snug and stand up straight.
All for £12!
Cheers all.
Chris
Lugged it home in two parts in the van, then sat it up under cover but outside my shed. And there it sat. And sat. And sat.
Sad state of affairs really. Then Ryolith did an excellent restoration job on another brand of similar machine and it set me thinking. Always dangerous. If I wasn't going to use something at least needed to happen.
Ryolith's Resto: triumph-mortiser-restoration-t116867.html?hilit=triumph
What I didn't want to do was spend hours painting mine as I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to keep it so the budget was very tight, even in top condition these don't sell for much more than the paint I'd need. I love the machine but that wasn't enough, it takes a lot of room and I wasn't sure how much use it would get other than for one oak Porch project I have that keeps getting put off for various reasons. How many huge mortices would I ever need to cut other than that?
In all fairness to condeesteso, he did try to warn me!
So I got the grinder out and a box of flapper discs... (hammer)
All the work is fairly self explanatory so will keep details to a minimum. (For once). Lots of pics though.
Starting out in a bit of a sorry state.
Some nice detailing on the counterweight. Some wording is a little lost on the casting.
Beginning to take it apart and use the grinder. Red Iron paint. Nasty job. Filthy, masked up and keeping everyone well away.
The more I took it to bits and cleaned it up the more impressed I got. Looks fairly rough initially but where it matters it is finely engineered. The mating surface of the x-y tables were bang on and the moving parts of arm mechanism also. The threads on the wheels and handles are excellent.
More flapping...
... but I was well aware there were areas the grinder would never get near and was investigating various paint removal techniques like peelaway etc, the modern non trade options being a bit lacking. The trade ones being pricey. Hmmmm...
So I got on with derusting the handwheels and screwthreads and bolts in citric acid, salt and a drop of fairy liquid in the meantime
and started looking for a bigger option for the other parts. My previous Big Red Bucket not coming close.
I raided the abandoned retail units near my house.
Sweet!
Duly filled it with water, added half a box of citric, then left if for the night.
Came back from work the next day. Bleedin' empty! Missed a tiny spit on the seam. Gah! Didn't tell the Mrs I had leaked 200 litres of acid water all over her precious garden either. 8-[
Back over the units for a slightly smaller option with no holes.
See them bubbles? Tastes just like champagne. Honest.
This is where I had a Rather Pleasant Surprise. Yay!
It's only gone and done the paint lads!
Woop! I'm a surprise genius!
It was after that surprise moment of triumph that I realised I could have just dipped the whole lot and not spent several horrible hours on the grinder looking like an extra from Mad Max..... Ah well. Live and learn. Every silver lining has a cloud and all that.
These get a workout with the brass wire brush drill attachment, which finishes them off nicely and removes any last remnants.
Big bits need two dips! Dippy Bin V2. was just big enough to do both halves.
Couldn't fit the base anywhere to dip it, so the hidden underneath bit got a coat or three of Hammerite Kurust. Excellent excellent gear if you don't mind it going black. Here it's hidden so no worries.
After asking the experts (thanks!) on here I went with stove black for the finish. I like it and I think it suits the machine well.
All oiled up and put back together.
Testing it out. It cuts really well. The real deepjoy moment was sorting the bits out and realising this will cut good and importantly narrow mortices with the bits I have. That means it's a keeper after all.
This machine was growing on me all the time.
I haven't fitted permanent wooden beds to it to allow a bit of flexibility. Maybe at some point I will. Not sure yet...
You can raise and lower the main mechanism by undoing the bolts on the rail. The little crank handle on the top takes the weight out of it then you cinch up the bolts again. It's clever.
Didn't highlight the counterweight in orange because I couldn't see where to start and stop on some of the letters. Best to leave well alone I thought.
There were number threes stamped in various parts of the machine. Serial number here?
More important, it shows how you to reverse the direction of the chisel. Unclip, swing the handle 180 degrees and push it into the other spring loaded clip. Tidy!
The x-y and clamp wheels. These all work with one finger more evidence of quality engineering during manufacture. Yes, that is indeed a rubber an O ring on that pin. I didn't have any spare rod the exact imp. size for a perfect interference fit. This metric bit I had spare fits fine, I peined one side off, the O ring means I can take the wheel if if needed. Don't tell anyone. :-$
From the front.
Arty shot.
I was really lucky to get such a wide selection of bits with the machine.
And finally, somewhere to call home. This is just on the wall behind the morticer now. It tapers in width so all the bits fit in nice and snug and stand up straight.
All for £12!
Cheers all.
Chris