How To Cut Mounting Board

[PatrickYork]

Hi,

First thing to point out is that I am a complete framing novice, so I will struggle even to use the correct termonology when asking my question. Sorry.

Can anyone tell me if there is an easy way to cut the mounting board (don't know if this is the right name) you see around many pictures? If you go in a shop that sells ready-made frames, typically, these have the following components: a backing piece (maybe hardboard); a frame; a glass front panel; and a border piece, which looks like thick cardboard but is cut neatly at 45% creating the 'window' through which the photograph or whatever is viewed. It is this last component that I would like to know how to cut. I have noticed that you can buy uncut pieces of this stuff (i.e. without the viewing rectangle cut out of the middle), and I would like to buy some of this so that I have control over the colour and final size of the viewing window in the frame, but I have no idea how to go about cutting this neatly at 45%. Is there a recognised way of doing this (without buying some kind of expensive machine)?

Very sorry for the length of my question and the fact that it may be difficult to follow. If it makes sense to anyone, I would be extremely grateful for any advice or pointers to further information.

Best wishes, Patrick

[Mary Case GCF]

Hi Patrick, what you need is a mount cutter - now, you need a really simple one i'd bet, and not a £10-20,000 computerised one.

a name to look out for is LOGAN and you can pick them quite cheaply on Ebay these days.

[Merlin]

Hi Patrick.
Do not apologise for the lack of knowledge. We were all in the same boat - albeit many years ago.
It really depends on how deep your pockets are. You can go from a Stanley knife, to a manual cutter up to a full blown Computer Mount Cutter.

It would also be beneficial to actually get to know the type of Mountboard that is available. There is a huge variety from standard board which is full of acid to full blown archival board.

If you only wish to cut a few mounts at a time then the small 'hobbyist' cutters would be good.
Have a look at this on YouTube for the Logan cutter.
[youtube]4vIwg2byxpQ[/youtube]


Here is the Keencut Mount Cutter for more production type of work
[youtube]asBeZPiKhyQ[/youtube]

On the other hand if you did not want the hassle of a) deciding which cutter to get and b) the actual process of cutting a mount - single or double aperture. - single or double mount or even a combination then there are many mount cutters here on the Forum who could provide that service for you at a very reasonable cost.

As with any type of Forum, somebody else will be along shortly with their opinion and suggestions.

Never be afraid to ask.
Good luck.

[PatrickYork]

Hi,

That is very interesting indeed. Looks like obtaining a compact cutter might be just what I need, as I will not be doing many cuts, but obviously I want a neat job.

Thanks for the advice (and unbelievably fast response).

-Patrick

[Custard]

Patrick, I'm a bit further up the learning curve than you, but compared with many on this forum I've still a long way to go!

I started framing my own photographs and cutting the mounts with a hand-held cutter such as the Maped CS 9000. After a year or two I got pretty good at it, in fact the results were indistinguishable from the most expensive mounts that I'd bought. The downside was that it might take the best part of an hour to cut a single mount and I was restricted to basic windows in regular thickness board (although as this covered 95% of my needs it wasn't too bad).

I then "upgraded" to a Logan Framers Edge 650, heartened by tales that many professional framers used the self-same device. I certainly saw my speed increase, but quality plummeted just as fast. My mounts were plagued by "hooking", ragged cuts, overcuts, undercuts, wavy cuts, and just about every malaise in the framer's handbook. These weren't disastrous problems, in fact most people wouldn't even recognise the problem, but they were noticeable to me and likewise would have had most members of this forum laughing with derision (except they're a pretty kindly bunch and too polite to mock the efforts of a newbie!).

Finally I "upgraded" again. But this time it was a proper upgrade, to a Keencut Ultimat Gold, (although I could equally have gone the Fletcher route). And discovered I was getting the speed and the quality and the flexibility to handle 3mm thick board with double mats and all the other fancy stuff that you rarely actually need!

Now maybe I had a bad Logan 650, but I'd say either invest the time to learn to do a professional job with simple, hand-held tools. Or invest the money to get a device like a Keencut or a Fletcher that's proven itself in countless commercial workshops. But whatever you do avoid that tempting middle solution of spending a few hundred pounds on a machine that promises a lot...but in my experience actually delivers very little.

[mikeysaling]

can anyone help patrick out with a s/h cutter suitable for a novice to learn on? Agree with custard about the ultimat - its a superb machine and can be quickly removed from the dining room table when required!! but expensive if you only do a few mounts a month both the keencut and the fletcher are well over £800. but ofcourse what you can learn to do with them is limited only by your imagination. The other alternative is to find a 'merlin' who has a computerised cutter - i used to use beaver lodge in braintree whenever i had ciggy card mounts to cut ( i made the computer templates on autocad) .

[The Underpinner]

Hi Patrick,

I started out as many others framing my own photographs, and began with the Logan adapta-rule system which was ok at the time. I later 'upgraded' to a Logan intermediate 450 with a fancier cutter and again this sufficed for a while; the main problem associated with these is ensuring the mountboard is square prior to cutting the bevel; a lot of mountboard was wasted before I realised this! Once you get the hang of it, this setup actually produced a good quality mount, albiet with the odd hook, overcut etc. My next upgrade was to a Keencut Laser 1200, which was like night & day compared with the 'hobby' mc's. I still suffered the occassional hook etc but I quickly learned to swap blades more frequently. I now have my own frameshop, the official opening being the 8th April 2010, and I have since purchased an Ultimat Gold which is 'very' nice to use.
So there you have it; if you only anticipate cutting one or two mounts per week/month then the Logan is the least expensive entry level mc, and you have to live with the odd mistake or two. If you're cutting several mounts per day, the professional cutters offer much easier setup and repeatability, albeit at higher cost.

Hope this is of some use,

Allan

[shepherdn]

Hi there - I have a Logan 750 - Simplex Plus for sale - it is only a year old and had light usage. It has a straight cutter head and a bevel cutter head and I also bought the glass cutter attachment which is excellent. If you are interested please call me on 01980 862459

[PatrickYork]

Thank you all for that advice. A lot to take in there. Thanks also for the offer of a sale of a Logan 750. I would certainly be interested if it weren't for the fact that I am currently unemployed due to ill health, and - to be frank - don't have two pennies to rub together. If my situation changes in the near future though, Imay give you a call to see if it is still available.

Best wishes, Patrick