The Framers Forum

Er... as it says in the title... can anyone recommend an oval mount cutter (CMC out of the question at present)

thanks!

The Fletcher 1100 is probably the finest oval mount cutter in terms of accuracy and technical excellence, but if new that comes at a price. There is not a pen holder, or embossing tool option for the 1100, but it cuts awesome V-grooves and it's easy to trim the tip of a gold felt tip pen with a sharp blade and run the pen along the inside of the V-groove.

The lack of an embossing option ain't no big deal, as I think that V-grooves look much more classy! The initial setting up and calibration proceedure for the Fletcher is time consuming, but once you have got that done, it will then cut very accurate mounts and V-groove with minimum hassle.

I've got the Keencut Oval 6, which costs less and does more if you have the optional "Craftman tool set", as I do. Also if you get the optional "Maxi table" it will cut much larger ovals than the Fletcher. However because it uses a rotating table on which you cut the mount there is a maximum size of mountboard which you can rotate on the table. Like the Fletcher it also cuts superb V-grooves!

The fletcher 1100 does not rotate the mountboard during cutting and therefore can be used with larger sizes of mountboard.

I bought my Keencut Oval 6 secondhand, because that's what was available to me at the time. There is a degree of adjustment and know how to getting the best out of small, or difficult ovals where the ratio between the two axis dimension is excessive, but these things are easily learnt, mastered and have not caused me any problems.

The Fletcher does not require the same degree of know how for smaller ovals and is techniacally the better oval mountcutter. With the increasing use of CMC's there is no shortage of good secondhand Fletcher or Keencut manual oval mountcutters at affordable prices. I would not be put off from buying either of these, as both are excellent top of the market mountcutters.

Thanks Mark, chapter and verse most welcome!

I've got an old Keencut Rondo cluttering up my office - all works perfectly, and there is a craftsman's tool kit to go with it.

£100 collected from Derbyshire, or possibly dropped off somewhere else when I am in the area. If anyone is interested I will drag it out from under the desk and photograph it.

A Rondo at £100 would be good value, for a reasonable alternative to an Oval 6 as the Keencut Rondo essentially consists of the same mechanism as is the Keencut Oval 6.

Gesso&Bole wrote:I've got an old Keencut Rondo cluttering up my office .......

I wish I'd known Jim. I've just recently been down to Bury St Edmunds & paid £170 for one.
It's good, but I could get very drunk on £70

Depends on how often you cut oval/circle mounts, and space you have available, Jims offer is very good and if you do a lot, in your position I ould jump at it. If on the other hand you do about half a dozen a year and the smallest oval you do is 3"x4.5" then get one of these from Lion http://www.lionpic.co.uk/product/LOGAN- ... ,1278.aspx can be stuck in a draw when not in use.

Thanks everyone!