The Framers Forum

As it seems that mountcutter advice is in vogue right now, I have a couple of questions:
1) I have difficulty in getting double mounts to line up exactly. Im using a Logan intermediate matt cutter. It relies on marking the back with pencil lines and cutting to the line. I think this may be ppart of the problem. I can get acceptable results but it takea a lot of time and a lot or waste mountboard.
2) Im using colourmount board 1.4mm thick and my mountcutter finds this hard work compared to the Daler Rowny art shop board.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Philip

Do you cut the two pieces of board together to make sure they are exactly square with each other? I have had framers work for me before, who never did this or even checked that each edge was square, and they could not understand why their double mounts were not perfect.

The logan wont cut both mounts together. So therefore Im relying on my own measuring accuracy to get both mounts square and even.I know some of the larger wall mounter cutters will cut two mounts simultaneously and I think this may be part of the problem.

Philip

Had one of those mount cutters.

There is a possibility you can get the measuring to line up perfectly however it is a challenge and I never really achieved it, the way to get great double mounts had something to do with how you cut the blank mounts, sorry I cannot recall any more.

That said I was hopeless at using any type of manual cutter, it is one of the reasons I bought the CMC when I went back into framing.

Hi Philip

Found the info about cutting double mounts, I will scan it tomorrow and email you the info.

What is your email!!!

Hi Philip,
sorry if my post was unclear, I was talking about cutting the external edges of the mountboard together, to make sure the outer edges are perfectly square. Then marking the bottom on each piece of board (to keep both pieces of board the same way round as you measure/cut them), and measuring your lines. I don't see much else you could do, But maybe someone else, familiar with your cutter, will have some tips.

Richard

I'm not familiar with your mount cutter - does it have a margin guide?

Is this your mount cutter?

If it is or not, as long as it has a margin guide you can get perfect results every time - (well, as in lining up a double/triple/whatever... mount - over/undercuts are a different matter if it does not have start and end of cut stops, and it can't have either one or the other if you have to draw lines.)

Cut your two boards to size, but make the bottom board ever so slightly smaller than the top board.

Let's assume you want a mount width of 80mm with 5mm of the bottom board showing.

Set the margin guide to 75mm and cut the top mount.

Place the cut mount face down and put the fall out back in. (or rather, place the fall out face down and place the mount back over it)

Put a few dabs of double sided tape around the mount, plus some PVA - more PVA than tape - it's cheaper and does a better job - think of the tape as something just to hold until the PVA goes off.

Put one or two dabs (or more depending on size) of double sided tape on the fall out - no PVA.

Centre your bottom mount face down over this assembly and press to stick in place - the fall out of the top mount acts as your slip mat for the bottom mount.

Set your margin guide to 80mm - place your assembled boards in face down and cut.

Hope this all makes sense

emeraldart wrote:2) Im using colourmount board 1.4mm thick and my mountcutter finds this hard work compared to the Daler Rowny art shop board.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Philip

I assume you are using Colourmount white core. This does have a very dense core and can be tough to cut on a manual machine. The Daler art shop board will probably be cream core and a lot less dense. Do not know your type of mountcutter but if there is an option for a thicker blade this will probably help especially if it is single sided. When I cut manually (CMC now) I used the single sided 0.015" blades on my Keencut and this made it a lot easier.

Sent PDF "Perfect Double Mats"

Best Dermot

Dermot wrote:Sent PDF "Perfect Double Mats"

Best Dermot

Hi Dermont,
I am relatively new to framing and I would be interested in the Perfect Double Mats PDF if possible. I also use the Logan 450 intermediate cutter. I have had a few problems cutting the board, the lines were not always straight. I noticed that the extension to my workbench which I made was bending in the middle when I applied pressure causing the 450 to bend slightly in the centre. Moved it all now onto my main bench which should help.

Many thanks

Martyn

What is your email and I will send it

On the way to you

I found this video on cutting double mounts as suggested above. It sounded complicated at first but makes sense now. it means cutting both mounts off the same edge rather than two edges. Thanks to all for your help.
Philip

A video paints a thousand words!

That's the method I described - all I'd say is don't make the bottom mount that much smaller than the top mount - 2 or 3mm is fine - that way it all goes under the lip of the rebate and avoids any bowing - of the assembly of the two mounts and of the under mount and backing - everything should be as flush as possible.

Also use PVA - ATG tape can dry out and fail - plus it's pressure sensitive and you can only apply pressure when applying it from the gun; not so much when pressing a mount on to it.

Use the ATG tape sparingly on the fall out areas, and just in the centre if poss - that way you won't write off their future use.

Roboframer wrote: Also use PVA - ATG tape can dry out and fail - plus it's pressure sensitive and you can only apply pressure when applying it from the gun; not so much when pressing a mount on to it.

I'd second this - I was given a small artwork to re-frame that had the backing board secured to the mount with ATG tape. At first I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to separate the two without damaging the artwork (as I couldn't see how it was fixed/hinged to the mount). After having it sit on the work in progress table for a day or two, I finally got up the courage to try and prise the two boards apart carefully. I couldn't believe my luck when there was a kind of 'click' and the two just fell apart. This was an A4 artwork, and over a meter of double sided tape had been used to stick the boards together - JUST SIX MONTHS AGO.

Tim

Dermot wrote:On the way to you

Many thanks Dermont