Chop Service

[Claim to Frame]

Hi All,

I am now in a position where I will be able to construct frames.

Initially I am looking to use the chop service - Purely because of the storage issues that I will have, and that I believe this should stop wastage at the moment.

With the chop service (Currently looking to use Lion) I appreciate that not all mouldings would be available.

I am looking to order in some Chevrons to get an idea/feel for the mouldings, but dont want to be swamped with loads.

Initially maybe 15/20?

My main area of framing at the moment is in Memorabilia - So mainly Blacks/Silver/Gold and White mouldings.

Do you have any recommendations for general good sellers? Ones that you feel are a particularly nice moulding?

Obviously I know a large amount comes down to personal choice, but at the moment I feel inundated with options!

[Roboframer]

....mainly Blacks/Silver/Gold and White mouldings. Do you have any recommendations for general good sellers? Ones that you feel are a particularly nice moulding?

Regards the blacks and whites, Simons 'Econ' range is good quality and no-one comes close on price, and some that can't come close on price are not as good quality either!

Trouble is, Simons don't offer chop service! BUT......

Most that do offer chop service charge 80-90% more per metre than the length price .... and when that length price is 30% more than Simons anyway .... and when Simons will give a 20% discount on 100 ft .... and when you can't ... or maybe shouldn't ... charge extra for a frame just because you paid more for the moulding than you could have- well - maybe you need to re-consider a few things!

Like, at that price, screw the offcuts, toss them and regards storage, chop them pretty much as soon as you receive them so that what you have to store is the same as what you would have had to store if you had used a chop service.`

Something from supplier 'A' costing £1.00 per ft compared to the exact same thing if not better from supplier 'B' at £0.70 per ft, with an option of £0.56p per ft for 100 ft, compared to (say) £1.85 per ft on chop from supplier 'A' - does not even need thinking about for me.

.

[prospero]

Big pricey mouldings, particularly ones with undercut backs - chop service. Small stuff - much better all round to cut it yourself if you can.

If you are doing random sizes of the same moulding on a regular basis you will get very little waste. As long as it's a good moulding....

[markw]

Storage is not the only reason to go with chop and despite it being more expensive chop can make good economic sense. If you stock a usable amount of 15 - 20 mouldings you have tied up a fair amount of capital in stock. You may well want to offer your customer a much wider choice of mouldings. chop gives you the versatility to offer a wider range without having to have the stock.
It makes sense to have a very small range of core mouldings - black hockey etc and you have to appreciate that to use chop effectively you need to really meet the minimum chop quantities. This isn't always easy if your just starting out and your throughput is low.

[Claim to Frame]

Storage is not the only reason to go with chop and despite it being more expensive chop can make good economic sense. If you stock a usable amount of 15 - 20 mouldings you have tied up a fair amount of capital in stock. You may well want to offer your customer a much wider choice of mouldings. chop gives you the versatility to offer a wider range without having to have the stock.
It makes sense to have a very small range of core mouldings - black hockey etc and you have to appreciate that to use chop effectively you need to really meet the minimum chop quantities. This isn't always easy if your just starting out and your throughput is low.

You have hit the nail on the head above with the reasoning for opting for the chop option.

throughput at the moment is going to be low, the framing is very much a side part of what I do in my spare time. I work in the accounts industry Monday - Friday and run the memorabilia part in my spare time.

Memorabilia (Mainly Liverpool F.C) started as a Hobby and has developed into me collecting a few more autographs etc and selling the spares to fund it. Natural progression meant I have purchase the Ultimate Gold to mount my own items and make the items I do sell more saleable and pleasing to the eye than just a photo. And underpinner has been purchased at the same time as the mount cutter and now I am looking for a decently priced used morso. But I still think I will opt long term for the Chop option and use the morso for the few core mouldings I will keep in stock (Mouldings used for my own personal items so that they can be used and not wasted sort of thing).