The Framers Forum

I've been using the logan straight cutter model 701 alongside the foamwerks W3001 metal ruler and have been getting mixed results when cutting 5mm foamboard. I've been trying to cut thin strips of approx 17mm wide and 25cm length to use on the internal parts of frame to create a shadow box frame. I don't seem to ever get a perfect straight cut and exact width across all 4 inner sections of foam, so normally one or two parts of the strips are minimally smaller or wider than the other 2 parts and that isn't ideal when trying to create a professional shadow box frame.

Today when adjusting the blade length the little screw fell off and i can't find it anywhere. Logan don't seem to sell just the screw part for the logan 701 & it seems like you have to re-purchase the whole unit. Because I've had mixed results with this I was wondering if there was any better alternative to use for straight cuts and also whereby the blade might be able to extend & cut as deep as 25mm. I use polystyrene for packaging frames and normally use a hot wire cutter for this but would prefer an alternative for a nice straight cut so If I could find one particular blade for cuttingboth foamboard and polystyrene foam that would be ideal.

Would it be better to just use a very thin handheld blade and run that alongside the foarmwerks ruler when cutting foamboard for a straight cut or would that give even worse results?

Any help greatly apprciated.

One problem with many of the logan cutters is that they are designed to only be able to use the logan brand of blades, which are considerably more expensive that most other makes of blades.

If you are using a cutter to cut foamboard on a regular basis, I would suggest that consider getting something which uses a more generic type of blades and therefore are not tied to any one make of blade.

This will not only save you money in the long run, but enable you to choose the brand of blades which produce the best results for your requirements.

daveym wrote
" that isn't ideal when trying to create a professional shadow box frame."

Well that's not going to work if you are using budget equipment, if you get a Keencut / Fletcher mountcutter, you will be able to cut accurate mounts and spacers, before I got a CMC, that is how I did it for 20 odd years

The crucial thing when cutting anything is to make sure everything is firmly held in place. A long straightedge
held down by hand pressure only is likely to move about as you cut - unless you have four arms. It doesn't help
that foamcore is slightly slippery. You might do better if you make the cut in two swipes. One light cut to establish
the track of the blade. But that's a lot of extra faff.

You need some sort of rig whereby everything is clamped firmly. Like a mountcutter.

The govenment funded two days of training for me with Mike Royale, who showed me how cut and fold up foamboard trays to fit into the rebate of a frame and yes it is possible to do this by hand with a scalpal, or a very sharp knife. However, everything was marked out first using a mountcutter to guide the pencil and then guiding the blade against one of those cutting rulers with a non-slip rubber strip on the underside. It will take a bit of practice to do this and if you don't draw the pencil lines first, you wuld never notice if the ruler moved out of position while you were producing the cut.

He was using the snap off blade knives made by Stanley which have a yellow thumb wheel at the back of the handle which is used to clamp the two parts of the handle very tightly to the blade to ensure no movement between the blade and handle. Later, I ordered some of the exact same snap off blade knives myself and I can confirm that they are very good for accurate cutting by hand. When I need to cut foamboard spacers for box frames, I do it with my Keencut System 4000 and always make sure that I'm using a new blade as well.

What are you cutting the rest of you boards with? I don't know the Logan 701, I assume it's one of those those little hand held cutters If it is, then something more professional would not only make your life much easier, but would save you load of time too!