The Framers Forum

Hi everyone,

I run The Royal Mile Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been a family run business in Edinburgh's Old Town for over 30 years with my fathers opening the shop in the 90's and myself taking over since then.

We sell Antique maps, prints and reproductions. Due to the nature of our stock I cut countless mats every day and have been doing so for over a decade. It's time to take another step into the future,

I have been advised that a twin head CMC suits my needs due to the massive turn over of mats I cut. I do some standard sizes in bulk and some bespoke mounts but cut anywhere between 20 and 100 mats a day.

I am leaning towards a Gunnar due to the very helpful staff in the UK but would consider a Valliani.

I don't need to anything fancy as I only cut rectangular mats and use only one type of mount board and one type of back board. Just 90 and 45 degree cuts but I understand most cutters will do oval etc regardless.

A new one is just a little bit of a painful investment so I am investigating second hand. I'm willing to pay for what I know is a worthwhile investment.

Any help offered is very much appreciated. I have done a fair bit of research so know what I am after but am open to any suggestions and help form more experienced CMC users as I understand the sheer amount of mounts I am cutting can be an issue. (how many blades will I go through? etc)

I have seen some machines for sale but they are all from quite a few years ago so I'm unsure whether to chase them up,

Thanks a lot and greetings from Scotland!

Alex
The Royal Mile Gallery

Hi Alex,
It's always worth chasing up old posts in my experience. I bought one of my best machine on here from a long lost 'for sale' post.
I have the Gunnar F1 hybrid which does what you need. I wouldn't be without it or the unwavering support from Sarah at Gunnar. She also runs tutorial sessions whenever required at Lion's in Birmingham, although these are probably available via a Zoom call too I imagine. If and when you find a machine for sale, you can contact Sarah who will be able to give you full details about it's life, servicing history etc including how hard it may have worked. How often to change the blade? I'm a low volume framer, but I use a number of different board thicknesses and types during a typical mount cutting day, so I prefer to change blades at the beginning of each session/day. I imagine that a blade might last longer if only used on a standard mountboard. Sarah will probably be able to advise more on this. I only use genuine Gunnar blades from Lions.
If you do bulk runs of standard sizes, you'll be able to set them up, save them and come back to them whenever you need them. Once you've mastered the basics, you'll find it really straightforward.
The fancy stuff comes as standard, I rarely use most of it, but have a look online for framing work by David Wilkie at Silverstone Framing if you're interested in seeing some next level work on a CMC!
Hope that helps.

All good info from Justintime. I have considered buying a CMC and came to the conclusion a used Gunnar F1 hybrid was the best option for me. IMO there seems to be an issue that the new AIOX is so expensive that sales are slow and with no trade-ins F1s aren't coming to market. Good news if you have an F1 hybrid - values are holding up!

To clarify. The AiOX is NOT a machine but a series of machines with many different configurations depending on the users needs. We do offer part exchanges but have quite a waiting list for those wanting to buy refurbished machines from us.
I would urge anyone looking to purchase a second hand machine to contact us to confirm its service history.
A bit surprised to hear that our sales are slow
Sarah/Gunnar.

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Super helpful. Pursuing a few different options at the moment but definitely waiting until the chaos of Edinburgh Festival subsides until I make any big decisions