Multico K1 mortiser

[chaoticbob]

I seem to have bought (but not yet got home) a Multico K1 mortising machine. It was a bit of an impulse buy - only 75 quid, looked OK, handles all work (though no power in the shed where it was stored, so not seen/heard it running) and I was assured that it was working fine 5 years ago when 'mothballed'. However, I've been unable to find out much about these machines from internet searching, except that the K-series is pretty ancient. So I'm worried now. Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of this machine? Any good, or have I likely wasted money on a dinosaur?
Any info or pointers would be gratefully received,
Robin.

 

[deema]

I’ve not used or had one but owned other Multico stuff. Multico seems to me to be a forgotten brand, they made IMO good quality machines, far better than most modern stuff of today. I’d rate them along side Startrite of old in terms of build quality. However, whilst old Startrite fetch high prices for some reason secondhand Multico apart from their Tenoner sell for very little.

There is not much that can go wrong with them and they probably have gribs to adjust out any wear. If the motor isn’t working it will be easy to replace and probably about the same price as the machine.

I think you will have a brilliant machine at a bargain price, well done.

 

[Doug71]

I had an old Multico mortiser for years, was much older then me, not much to go wrong with them, sure it will still be going strong now.

Only problem I ever had was that the metal/wire cable that connects the mortisers head to the counter weight in the back would snap every few years so check to see if the cable is fraying and replace if needed, you don't want to be stood in the way when the head drops and the handle swings round, damhik #-o!

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks guys, that's reassuring. I shall certainly check out the counter-weight cable - thanks for the warning, that could be painful!
Picking it up this weekend - seller reckons he can summon enough muscle at his end to get it into my car, just got to figure out how to get it out again and into subterranean workshop - I'm guessing maybe 150kg?
Robin.

 

[Yojevol]

I acquired one of these many years ago and it has done me well. The ergonomics of my version are not brilliant especially the chisel clamping method which is a pain to use. There are different arrangements for this aspect, so yours may be easier to use. However I don't use it that often so I live with it. As it happens I will be using it today. The other annoyance is that the cross traverse wheel is placed right behind the main travel wheel and is a bit awkward.
Good Luck with it.
Brian

 

[chaoticbob]

Well, it's come home, albeit in bits - I had to dismantle it to get into workshop, but it would have to be stripped down anyway. My fears about having bought a lump of scrap were unfounded. The original milling on the slides is still quite crisp, racks and pinions etc look pristine, everything's tight, just superficial rust and some missing knobs to cope with. And it's built like a tank!
Came with three chisels, one unused in a wallet marked Record Ridgway Sheffield, so I guess that's 1970's before they became Record Marples?

No idea yet how to mount the chisels, never having used one of these machines before. I'm assuming the drill bit is fixed into the collar on the spindle by the grub screw, and the knurled ring to the right of the this pic is to adjust the relative positions of chisel and bit?

Robin

PS - Notice it's a 3000rpm motor - is that normal, I thought morticers were usually 4-pole, ie 1500 rpm? R.

 

[custard]

No idea yet how to mount the chisels, never having used one of these machines before. I'm assuming the drill bit is fixed into the collar on the spindle by the grub screw, and the knurled ring to the right of the this pic is to adjust the relative positions of chisel and bit?

I've used a K1, they're a smashing machine. Pretty much every small, commercial furniture making workshop has either a Multico or a Sedgewick. The Sedgewicks seemed to win out in the end probably because they used a three jaw chuck rather than collets for mounting the augers, but early Multicos are still popular.

You'll need a selection of collets for different sized augers. They're like a tube with a flange and a hole in the side for the grub screw. The tubes all have one common O.D., but the I.D. varies with the auger.

You're right, the knurled ring adjusts the amount that the auger protrudes below the chisel. You normally set it with the thickness of a coin, joiners prefer thicker coins, cabinet makers thinner coins. By having the auger protrude more you can cut faster, protruding less and the mortice has a cleaner floor but you risk the chips jamming in the chisel.

Here's one Multico that I've used that had an excellent workshop made modification,

The copper pipe on the left is plumbed into the workshop's compressor and has a little tap fitted. When you operate the morticer you turn the tap and then compressed air blows the chips clear of the mortice...genius!

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks for the info custard, very useful. I found one 'top hat' bush with the machine:

I have a metal lathe so can easily make others as necessary.
A remaining mystery is this:

Looking up the spout of the casting which holds the chisel you can see a round bar which intrudes into the bore. My best guess is that this is some sort of device to clamp the chisel in place, but at the moment it won't budge in any direction and prevents the chisel from seating fully in the bore. Do you (or does anyone else) know how this is supposed to work?
Regards, Robin

 

[chaoticbob]

Ah, sorted with the help of a 2lb hammer - it is indeed a mechanism for securing the chisel. A bit crude perhaps, just two wedges drawn together by a bolt, but maybe better than a grubscrew:

Robin.

 

[custard]

it is indeed a mechanism for securing the chisel. A bit crude perhaps, just two wedges drawn together by a bolt, but maybe better than a grubscrew

I tend to agree. The problem with a grubscrew is that you have to file a flat on the chisel, or else the burr raised by the grub screw means you can't subsequently remove the chisel, as I found out on my Sedgwick!

 

[chaoticbob]

Nearly there with this restoration - a further question though. This is the workholding vice:

As you can see it seems to have a sort of 'toe-out' - surely that geometry will tend to raise the workpiece from the bed as the screw is tightened? Reason tells me that must be wrong, but otoh I can't see how it could have been knackered to that that extent if it's not the intended design? Any advice would be welcome - wood is different from metal, maybe the same rules don't apply!

A factette that I discovered during this project is that the plastic knob which secures the lever bar:

has a left hand thread. For no reason I can understand! So who knows...
REgards, Robin

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Maybe a chisel has got stuck in a workpiece and been forced upwards with sufficient force to bend the screw?

 

[custard]

Nearly there with this restoration - a further question though. This is the workholding vice:



As you can see it seems to have a sort of 'toe-out' - surely that geometry will tend to raise the workpiece from the bed as the screw is tightened? Reason tells me that must be wrong

Hmm? Will the workpiece be where the square is? If so that's correct. Generally they're angled down towards the workpiece. The killer with mortice machines is if the chisel lifts the workpiece when it's being withdrawn. Some cheap bench top mortice machines tend to do that and they're pretty much useless as a result.

 

[custard]

Here's the clamping arrangement on my Sedgwick

And here's a photo from when I was working at a workshop that, I think, used a Multico K1,

 

[chaoticbob]

Ta. It's clear from custard's pics (thanks for taking the trouble to find/post them custard - the 2nd looks identical to my machine) that the guide pin on mine has somehow been bent. That can be fixed. I still find it hard to understand how that happened though - but it's an ex-school machine, so anything's possible I suppose.
Robin

 

[chaoticbob]

Just to wind this up (in case someone Googles Multico K1 in years to come, lights on this thread, and wonders what happened...)
It took longer than I thought (as most things do) but after some unpleasantness involving buckets of paraffin , big spanners, a blowtorch, a hammer and Scotchbrite I got it to bits, cleaned 50 years of crud off then put it back together. It's a really nice machine - after adjusting the dovetails everything is dead square and the bed and Z-axis run so silky smooth it's a pleasure to use . It makes accurate mortises too!
I'm happy on two levels - first, for not much money, I've got a machine of a quality which I couldn't possibly have afforded new, second it's been saved from the skip and when I'm done with it someone else will get a bargain.
Quite why a DIY'er like me needs a semi-industrial machine like this is a question though, I was OK with with a chisel until I saw it on Gumtree and thought I had to go for it. TAS perhaps.
Robin