The Framers Forum

Gentlemen and Ladies,

I have been using a new Keencut Ultimate Mount Cutter for a few weeks now, settings are all original factory.
When bevel cutting mount board, the cut does not always penetrate through the coloured surface. I change the blade frequently and use a slipmatt.
I have since adjusted the blade depth to recommended settings and results are much better now.
My question.. is there a negative affect by adjusting the blade too deep.??
I look forward to any advise

Good Christmas and very happy New Year to all

Regards

Bill Elliott

Too deep and you could get hooked corners, plus make tracks in the slip mat that may affect the next cut(s)

Only a couple of negative effects I can think of and that's it can penetrate to far and snap the blade on the cutting board. Or can go through the mount and cut marks in the cutting board.

Blade depth is not and easy question to easily explain in all of it's issues and implications, but some of them are as follows:

Because the blade does not initially enter the while the cutting head is in motion and the blade is entering the board at an angle to the board, some sideways forces are created. These sideeways forces tend to flex the blade outwards, thus creating the tendancy to cause hooking. The further the blade projects from the blade carrier, then the easier it is for the blade to flex creating the potential for a larger deflection of the blade and therefore a larger deviation from the correct line of cut.

The further the blade extends into the mount and slip mat the greater the area of surface contact between the sides of the blade and the material being cut by the blade. This leads increased friction and therefore greater effort required to make the cut, which can lead to difficulties of maintaining good technique when cutting.

Could be the bed of the cutter is not on a dead flat surface. If the entire length is not supported then the bed can bend slightly as you make a cut and this leads to the blade depth fluctuating as you apply pressure. You can try putting shims of card under the cutter to even out any hollow spots underneath. The ideal setup is to have the cutter in a more-or-less permanent situation and don't ever move it.

Make sure you are not resting your left hand on the cutter bar handle while you cut as this can apply downward pressure to the cutter bar and result in temporarily arcing the bar causing the blade to be slighly further away from the board towards the centre of the board you are cutting.

I had this problem when I first started and tried everything until I realised I was inadvertantly resting my hand on the handle

When I first had my Keencut the end nearest to me hung off the side of my backbench as it was longer than my old Logan. I had the same problem you describe caused by the problem identified by Peter above. Now it is flat and supported properly the problem has gone away.

Hope that helps.

I'm sure you have the manual but if you haven't the little rubber feet are quite important if your work surface is not completely flat - i have 6 of these on mine - more can be obtained from keencut

http://www.keencut.com/uk/manuals.aspx for the manual if you don't have it - search for rubber feet

ex framer dave wrote:Make sure you are not resting your left hand on the cutter bar handle while you cut as this can apply downward pressure to the cutter bar and result in temporarily arcing the bar causing the blade to be slighly further away from the board towards the centre of the board you are cutting.

I had this problem when I first started and tried everything until I realised I was inadvertantly resting my hand on the handle

That's an interesting observation Dave. I would have said just the opposite. I've always rested my left hand on the handle. But then again, I've never had a Keencut. I've used one, but never owned one.

I started out with a Magnolia mountcutter. You had to hold down the bar very firmly or the mount slipped. Looking back, it was a very clunky machine.
One day I got an order for a mount that just would not fit in the (40") Magnolia cutter. I decided to buy a 48" one. I bit the bullet and went for a C&H, which was not the cheapest option by far. About £800 as I remember (1980's). The engineering is suberb (compared to the Magnolia one at any rate). The cutter bar is made with a gentle curve - the idea being that gentle pressure on the handle makes the bar flatten and grip the mount along the entire length. And it works. Never had a mount slip while cutting. But you have to get used to applying just the right amount of pressure. Also, holding the handle helps stabilise your stance when cutting.
At least that's my exp. Like everything else, if it works for you......

have to agree with dave on this - i cut all our plaques on the KC - keep my left hand well away from the raising bar the pressure on the cutter is all thats needed. I had a c & H before and that was totally different to a KC - weighed a ton as well - good cutter but on balance i prefer the KC - in the end the c & h hinges wore out and it got sort of 'floppy' .