Morticers recommendation: Sedgwick, Multico K or Multico M series

[O'Chippy]

Hello all,
I'm in the market for a morticer and have decided on old, heavy and hopefully quality! as opposed to imported, shiney and new.

There seems to be a lot more Multico morticers for sale and fewer old Sedgwicks.

Are the two brand comparable and does anyone know which of the Multico's model are preferable? I believe that M1 may be the newer model of K1/K3 but that isn't obviously so.

TIA

 

[Spectric]

@deema works with a lot of the big old quality machinery and maybe the one to assist.

 

[O'Chippy]

@Spectric Thanks for tagging @deema. I've read many of both your posting so hopeful some light will be shed!

I've looked at (online) at every Multico morticer listed for sale and this is what I think:

• It looks like Multico allocated serial numbers in series along all models of morticers as they came out of the factory; I haven't seen a K series with a serial number >87XX or a M series serial number <10XXX. So I imagine the series changeover occured somewhere in between.
• If I'm correct with above then K series was the precursor to M series.
• Early K series morticers are mounted on a open frame base, later model on a cabinet base
• The suffix 3 (i.e K3) denoted a 3 phase motor.
• K series have a Hoover branded motor
• M series have a Brook Crompton Parkinson motor
• K series have an open appeture to access the chuck/collet
• M series have a door to access the chuck/collet

 

[Yojevol]

Having been the owner of a Multico M I would not praise them 100%. They are not the most ergonomic of machines; tool change fiddly, cross slide handle awkward. Multico quality was always middle-of-the-road. They built to a price but eventually couldn't complete with the Far East .
Nevertheless, with dominoes taking over market, there are some good bargains going for the older machinery.
Brian

 

[O'Chippy]

Having been the owner of a Multico M I would not praise them 100%. They are not the most ergonomic of machines; tool change fiddly, cross slide handle awkward. Multico quality was always middle-of-the-road. They built to a price but eventually couldn't complete with the Far East .
Nevertheless, with dominoes taking over market, there are some good bargains going for the older machinery.
Brian

Thanks for the reply Brian.
Yeah, I read a comment here before where someone only rated the tenoner as being Multico only 1st class rated machinery.
That said, their morticers do look like sturdy lumps of machinery and I suppose the fact that numerous original models are still operating must be testament to their build quality at least.

Be interested to hear what you or others £ valve a Multico M at. I have an oppurtunity to buy a clean looking example for £500.
From searching the market prices range from £450 to £600+

 

[niall Y]

I have a Sedgwick morticer, which, over the years, I have been very pleased with . Funnily enough, I did hanker after a Multico which had a lot easier system for lifting the motor and bit up, to give clearance for larger sections of wood. If I remember correctly you just adjust the arm to do this. With the Sedgewick, you have to loosen the bolt holding the motor and support it and any attached bit, whilst you slide it up ,or down.
Also using a single wheel for the in-and-out, and sideways movement of the bed, takes a bit of getting used to.
Although they are fairly well built, I tend to think of these as more for medium to light-duty work. as compared to the monster machine a colleague had. which, with its bed fairly close to the ground, could easily accommodate large beams.

 

[Ollie78]

I have an old Wadkin edu. Still working fine and it was pretty cheap.

 

[guineafowl21]

I’ve had a Multico K for a few years, and while I’d agree with Yojevol up there, it’s a lot of machine for the money paid.

Awkward tool change can be solved by fitting a Jacob’s chuck. If you don’t (I haven’t), then any extra fiddling time is more than compensated for by the speed of production after just a few mortises.

Jacob’s conversion and other parts available from Multico France, which is a big plus point for an old machine. Solid construction and gibs adjustable for wear, so no problems with longevity.

 

[Jameshow]

Having been the owner of a Multico M I would not praise them 100%. They are not the most ergonomic of machines; tool change fiddly, cross slide handle awkward. Multico quality was always middle-of-the-road. They built to a price but eventually couldn't complete with the Far East .
Nevertheless, with dominoes taking over market, there are some good bargains going for the older machinery.
Brian

I used mine for my recent gate tenons x4 and it didn't miss a beat. The cross slide handle is fine ime. You'll pay double for a sedgwick and have a nice name and a hernia!

I paid £170 off FB expect to pay £250 on the bay.

 

[O'Chippy]

@Jameshow If you paid £170 recently that was a bargain.
I'm currently looking at a clean M for £500 (and I don't believe he'll take much less) and a K series which is working but hasn't done much in the past 10 years so appears in need of some tlc that they are asking £350 for.

 

[Housey210]

Used many over my career as joiner. My advice, avoid those with cables, with short handles and those which only have one wheel which controls both lat and long movements. The better ones I have used, cooksley and dominion, cooksley the motors can be swapped out for single phase with a bit of tinkering.

 

[O'Chippy]

Used many over my career as joiner. My advice, avoid those with cables, with short handles and those which only have one wheel, one handle to control both lat and long movements. The better ones I have used, cooksley and dominion, cooksley the motors can be swapped out for single phase with a bit of tinkering.

By cable I assume you mean the cable/counterweight to return the morticer head up. That is certainly the arrangement in the Multico K series, I'm not sure about the M series and I believe that Sedgwick 571 have a chain.
Cooksley is a new one to me, Dominion I know of but both brands are rare to see for sale online and seem to be more so industrial scale machine, but they do look like units.

 

[Jameshow]

By cable I assume you mean the cable/counterweight to return the morticer head up. That is certainly the arrangement in the Multico K series, I'm not sure about the M series and I believe that Sedgwick 571 have a chain.
Cooksley is a new one to me, Dominion I know of but both brands are rare to see for sale online and seem to be more so industrial scale machine, but they do look like units.

M series with the chuck box have cables.

 

[Fitzroy]

An awful long way from London but just saw on marketplace Log into Facebook

 

[johnnyb]

I'd suggest for most normal work a sedgwick is hard to beat. I use an inch chisel on softwood door frames no real hardship. they are nicely geared and pretty common. I paid £200 for a three phase that wanted a rebuild.
it has quite large capacity above an width ways.
£500 is way to much for most multicos. a wadkin dmv is for sale up my road for £750. that is a far superior machine.

 

[deema]

Multico offers excellent value for money, but weren’t as well built as say a Sedgwick. They are more difficult to sell on and for this reason I don’t restore them (with the exception of their superb tenoner) For this reason I don’t usually recommend them, and steer people towards a Sedgwick.
Sedgwick machines have hardly changed, the only ‘real’ up grade was the introduction of a chuck for the auger (drill) which is IMO a huge benefit. I would recommend a machine with a chuck.
The Sedgwick motor is a special with a longer shaft, so get one where the motor is working and preferably single phase, they command a better price and are always highly sought after secondhand.
Spares are available from Sedgwick for almost any part as they have hardly changed over the years, but Sedgwick are not frightened to charge for them.

If you come across a Wadkin DMV (the V to indicate vibrating) at £750 buy it! A good example usually sell for £2K +
The Wadkin DM which is more common sells for around the £1K mark, and although a much more robust machine isn’t any real upgrade for a home shop or one / two man workshop than a Sedgwick. However for a large commercial shop they are excellent. Any gorilla can do a work out on them and the machine will brush it off with impunity.

 

[O'Chippy]

@johnnyb The Multico in question appears in good condition, ready for work.
£750 seems quite cheap for a DMV, quick google return none for sale <£1200. I guest for that price the DMV needs some tlc?

@deema I know of a Sedgwick for sale asking £400 (see below). I believe it's an earlier model but looks in good condition and supposedly is in good working order.
I'll have to enquire regarding if its had the chuck upgrade, I don't think it has, however I do know it was originally 3 phase converted to single. So perhaps you would downgrade it on those two attributes?

Yes the Wadkins looks like a tank, I can see that they take whenever abused is thrown at them. Thankfully I'm a one man band so I don't need a machinery which is immune to "it was like that before I used it/it wasn't like that after I used it" mysteries!

 

[TRITON]

I would think the larger industrial type as pic above are fine and will last for decades to come, even if they are decades old.

The real investment I would think is in the chisels.
I recently bought a mortiser, but still to get a few chisels as the ones I want are too expensive, and im waiting for something to appear on ebay

 

[Housey210]

Chucks on morticers are, imo, awful. The traditional fitting, tried tested and implemented by the elite manufacturers, was a collar on motor shaft which had an allen grub screw pinching onto the ground flat on the auger. That design and the auger will not spin, unlike a chuck.

 

[Against_The_Grain]

I would avoid Multico Morticers on the basis that a lot of them are quite heavily worn out and inaccurate. They utilised woodruff keys on the head travel which when there are a few kilos acting on the lever with such little surface area as a woodruff key to keep the gear in place on the shaft, they tended to wallow out the soft steel shaft and there would be horrendous backlash in the lever handles movement over time.

I'm amazed no one has snapped up this original single-phase Dominion, it'll last forever: Log into Facebook