sedgwick morticer price? what to look out for when buying

[Alasdair]

Hi there just a quick question. Locally there is a sedgwick morticer come up for sale and I know nothing about them. All I have so far is the photoand don;t know which model.

Price is £450 although may get it cheaper Is there anything I should be looking at re wear etc and also is £450 a good deal and are parts available? its three phase but I already have a phase convertor. Another point is it looks heavy any idea what weight it might be
Alasdair

 

[deema]

They are good machines and not a lot to go wrong. Are you sure it’s 3ph, looks to be starting capacitor hanging underneath the motor connector box: looks single phase to me!
A few things to check. Take a few tools, imperial and metric Allen keys, flat and Phillips screw drivers, large open ended spanner’s / large adjustable spanner, Engineers square, white grease and access to a mortice chisel.

Initial just grab the head and table and give it a good wiggle. If it moves start by tightening the gribs up. Spray the ways with white grease and tighten up the gribs so the head / table still moves smoothly, just before you lock it up completely. Then do the following tests.

Take the back panel off the reveal the chain, see what condition it and the sprocket is in. Chances are it’s been greased when it should be oiled. It has grease nipples but they are for oil. The chain connects to a lump of concrete in the base. If the chain / sprocket is worn, easy to replace, just a cost.

Take the pressure off the chain, and see if the handle shaft has a lot of play due to wear. If it has walk away.

Place a mortice chisel in the holder and check with an engineers square that the mortice chisel is square to the table. Move the head to different positions (as well as operating the handle to move the head) and check again by slackening the big nut behind the Chuck.

The handle (big wheel in the front) pulls out, it should have a definitive indent you can feel when you move it between side to side and front to back movement. There is a ball bearing pushed by a spring that creates the indent. Can be worn, easy to replace, but it’s a cost.

With the head stationary, move the table to all limits and push down on the outer edge of the table and with the engineers square check all remains square to the mortice chisel.

If any of these checks with the mortice chisel fail, try retightening the gribs up. All axes have them. If you can’t get it to move smoothly and be square to the table walk away, it’s worn and the ways need machining.

If it fails the engineers square tests walk away the ways are worn and you would need to get them machined

 

[niall Y]

Hi there just a quick question. Locally there is a sedgwick morticer come up for sale and I know nothing about them. All I have so far is the photoand don;t know which model.
View attachment 129234
Price is £450 although may get it cheaper Is there anything I should be looking at re wear etc and also is £450 a good deal and are parts available? its three phase but I already have a phase convertor. Another point is it looks heavy any idea what weight it might be
Alasdair

Hi,
£450 is a very good price. I paid about £600 for mine, second hand, 20 years ago. Something equivalent now would be well over a thousand pounds!
If you a thinking of lifting it into the back of a vehicle. its going to take two of you. I remember removing the weight and taking it off the steel cabinet, before carrying the heavy upper part down a flight of stairs into my old cellar workshop. I couldn't do that now- but if you're young and fit it shouldn't be a problem.
Judging by the label, the silvery green paint and the front wheel being sprayed the same colour as the body. I would date it as being from the '80's. I believe later ones have a black plastic wheel, and earlier ones a black painted wheel.
Cheers Niall

 

[Alasdair]

Many thanks for youre replies. Going to try and get someone to go with me that knows a bit more about it. I have a friend who is an engineer and more used to metalworking machines lathes etc but hes pretty good and checking for wear etc. I am always on the look out for heavier duty machines as I have the space and find them pretty indestructable. Dont really need one but I don't get many machines that local. Just wanted to see if it was worth the price
Alasdair

 

[baldkev]

You can always sell it if you dont use it, it wont devalue

 

[furnace]

+1 to Deema's comments.

I had one from new for about 20 yrs. It had a very slightly trapezoidal machining of the ways on the head. This meant it tightened when plunging into the work. Over small distances it was ok but when doing deep mortices it would bind. Adjusting the gibs just meant it would then be (slightly) slack when raised.
Apart from that it was a solid, capable machine.