The Framers Forum

Are there any top tips or techniques for getting rid of small marks on mount boards without affecting the surface of the board? Often on white mountboard, presumably formed in the manufacturing process, a tiny hair is visible just under the surface of the mountboard. 50% of the time I succeed in getting rid of it with a sharp blade but ,if it is more deeply entrenched in the mountboard, I end up with a slight indentation in the board which becomes visible once you put a sheet of glass on top. Has anyone used chalk of anything like that to cover up marks on white mountboard? Thanks.

It think a small piece of wood pulp that has been left in the process of making the mountboard.
You sometimes have to make a judgement call whether what you are going to do to get it out will make it look a lot worse.
If you have made a mess try rubbing with a clean eraser.
If that doesn't work I think you might have to ditch it and start again. I doubt using chalk or anything will work, although anything is worth a try.

Bits embedded in the board - forget it. The best you can do is examine the board surface prior to cutting and see if you can manoeuvre the niggly bit to the waste portion.

One useful tool I find handy sometimes is what I call a 'bristle stick'. It's like a pen, but with fibreglass bristles that you can wind out as they wear down. Try a photographers. I think the intended purpose is for cleaning tiny electrical contacts on cameras. With care, you can sometimes tease out the paper fibres to do a sort of comb-over on little holes.

A lot of the time it is quicker and thence cost effective to throw it away and start again, it boils down to checking the board before you cut the blank, but you always miss a bit, especially on the largest mount, never on a small mount

prospero wrote:One useful tool I find handy sometimes is what I call a 'bristle stick'. It's like a pen, but with fibreglass bristles that you can wind out as they wear down. Try a photographers. I think the intended purpose is for cleaning tiny electrical contacts on cameras. With care, you can sometimes tease out the paper fibres to do a sort of comb-over on little holes.

These small fibreglass brushes can also be found in model shops, just mind you don't get the small bits of fibreglass stuck in your fingers

You can get them on fleabay for £6'ish with five refills. I bought on a couple of months ago. Great for cleaning small metal areas. Not tried it on mount card.

thanks for the advice...I'll see whether i can track down one of those fibreglass brushes.