A few hours after ruining several mat board cutting attempts (simple rectangular sizes with a window within), and I've realized that I don't have the skill to use this brain-damaged cutter.
How do you guys cut windows so well? When I align the logan cutter with the metal ruler and slide across the mat (with a lot of effort), the metal ruler ends up cutting into the plastic base of the cutter, the cutter blade starts bending and cuts all over the place and not in a straight line, and I've already destroyed quite a lot of mat board
Any tips, suggestions, any specific cutter I should buy for cutting windows?
Posted by Ron Leraaen on January 19, 2008 at 12:49 AM
Ashutosh,
The straight cutter isn't really intended to be used to cut mat openings. It's generally used to cut down mat boards to size before cutting the window with a beveled cutter. Using rulers as a guide is also quite difficult to get good mat cuts.
Logan makes some inexpensive mat cutters that will get you some good results. Check out the 301S model. They cost less than $100. I used one for a few years with great results. The only problem with this cutter is that it is limited to 32 inches maximum mat lenght.
You can't cut anything well with your current setup, you need a dedicated mat cutter. If you really want to cut your own mats then you need to invest in a high quality mat cutter, cheap cutters will only lead to frustration and alot of wasted mat board, especially if you use museum quality board (which you should). Honesty, I haven't cut my own mats for years, just not worth it, it isn't that much more expensive to buy pre-cut mats or have someone cut them for me (though it is only worth it if you have them cut a large quantity of the same size mat). The only reason I would cut my own board would be if I was doing different, non-standard sizes all the time.
Ashutosh, I have the beveled logan mat cutter (similar to this one) and have had pretty good luck with it after a little practice.
- Do you have the kind of metal guide/ruler that has a groove for the cutter to hook into? I've found that essential.
- I've also found that it really pays to be careful to set the depth of the blade to match the depth of the mat board. On my model there is a little screw underneath the cutter that sets the depth of the blade. I set it so that it is just barely deeper than the mat board; if the blade is extended too far I end up with some of the curving issues that you describe.
- One thing that has worked really well for me is to buy a couple of cheap spring clamps and clamp the ruler, mat and cutting board to my work surface; that way it's not going anywhere and I think it reduces the risk of injury.
Ashutosh, the item you got is part of a kit. In order to accurately cut a mat you will need the cutter guide assembly too, which has a rail the cutter fits into. The straight cutter is for cutting the mat to size. For the window you will need a bevel cutter.
Here's an example of the full kit, with the straight and bevel cutters, from the same site you listed:
You may want to contact them and see if you ca return the lone cutter and just make up the difference for the kit.
Guy
Posted by Don George on January 19, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Ashutosh, If your planning to cut a volume of mats over the years invest in a full blown mat cutter,. it will pay off in spades. My mat cutter is 18 years old and still doing a great job. (maintanence is critical). I cut 100's of mats a year and the savings and convienience can't be beat.
When I was cutting the boards yesterday, I knew that either I was cutting things wrongly, or using the wrong equipment, but I also had a sneaking suspicion that it was both. Your replies confirm that!
Guy, I think they have the kit you mention, I think I'm going to swap my lone cutter with the kit option. The only reason why I didn't buy it was because of price. I'm only cutting mats for a portflio, so I thought it was overkill to buy the whole kit.
Carl and Don, I think even if I don't cut any more mats than required for my portfolio, the kit is still cheaper than getting the mats pre-cut. The guys here charge something like $20 to cut a single mat.
FYI, there are a number of reliable on-line sources that will custom cut mats for a fraction of what it costs to have a brick and mortar framer do the work (as in 1/4 the cost per mat or less). You may still choose to cut your own, but there are viable alternatives.
Kerry, initially I was thinking about the same. Then I thought it would be cheaper to buy the cutting essentials locally, since getting it done elsewhere always adds up insane shipping amounts.
Today I went and swapped the 701 with a 301S system. Wow this works like magic. And I look like such a fool.
Thanks guys for your great tips and advice! I wish I could show you the results, but I promise to invite everybody at NPN before everybody else when I hold my exhibition!
Now that the cutting has ceased, I'm on the next phase; which is making the hinge, and putting the pictures in.
I was thinking about a double-sided tape to stick the photos to the backing mat, and then using a one-sided tape (hopefully archival quality) to make the hinge with the windowed mat.
Any suggestions on this technique?
Thanks, Ashutosh
Posted by Dan Borzynski on January 19, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Now that you got the mat cutter questions answered...
First, ALWAYS make sure that the tapes you use are archival. Those don't cost too much more overall, and are just pennies more per print.
I'd be careful about going the double sided tape route for attaching the print to the backing board (which should also be acid free). The tendency is to use a long strip on one side. The problem is that prints "breathe". They will absorb moisture, or dry out with the net effect that the paper size changes slightly. You won't notice this on a free print, but when attached, you'll see buckling in the print.
To deal with this, there are two strategies. The quickest and easiest is to 'T" mount the print. Using the tape you hinge the mat with the backing board, cut two pieces. The following is easier to show than explain, so bear with me.
Look at the vertical part of the T. Cut a piece of tape between 1 and 2 inches long. Lay it on the table, sticky side up. Cut a second piece of tape, 2"-3" long. Place it sticky side down on your first piece, forming a T. You want to leave 1" or less showing on the veritical part of the T. That remaining sticky part facing you will attach to the print. You don't want tape actually behind the image and below the mat, just behind the unprinted paper and mat since it will show as a bump when you put everything together (hint: the paper your print in on should be a bit larger than the print for this to work well). The sticky part of the tape on the facing down, the top of the T, will attach to your backing board. You'll have two of these for most normal sized prints, one a bit in from each corner.
There are a couple of permutations of this mounting method, but that should give you the idea.
The second method is to use a dry mount adhesive (or even a wet mount adhesive). The really quick summary is that you are effectively glueing the print to the backing board. You cannot easily remove the print in this case, so it is not reversible. But your print will never fall off, curl, or bubble if done right. I would not go this route to start, simply because you need to pay a lot more attention to materials, DIY involves buying expensive equipment. However, a fair number of framing places can perform the work. You'll need to be careful, though, as some of the materials and equipment are not very compatible with photographic prints. Given your current knowledge base, stay with T mounts, or a similar idea.
By the way, dry mounting, even done well and correctly, is not considered a conservation method. Reversibility is the issue. Personally, I don't have any problems with that, since I consider it to be very unlikely my prints will become collector items. You'll see very strong opinions on that subject. For now, stay with T mounting. You can research this later.
So, you are there where I was few months back. And I still have problems parking my car 'backwards', something you have to be really good at if you live in Munich.
http://www.fahrtipps.de/pkw/rueckwaerts-einparken-01.php
Posted by Bill Chambers on January 21, 2008 at 7:14 PM
I use the Logan 450 mat cutter and have gotten very good results. It's slow and a bit tedious, but does give professional looking results.
Discussion
12 repliesI bought myself some big mat boards, with a Logan 701 Straight Cutter, some metal rulers, the stuff.
http://www.artcity.com/log-701.html
A few hours after ruining several mat board cutting attempts (simple rectangular sizes with a window within), and I've realized that I don't have the skill to use this brain-damaged cutter.
How do you guys cut windows so well? When I align the logan cutter with the metal ruler and slide across the mat (with a lot of effort), the metal ruler ends up cutting into the plastic base of the cutter, the cutter blade starts bending and cuts all over the place and not in a straight line, and I've already destroyed quite a lot of mat board
Any tips, suggestions, any specific cutter I should buy for cutting windows?
The straight cutter isn't really intended to be used to cut mat openings. It's generally used to cut down mat boards to size before cutting the window with a beveled cutter. Using rulers as a guide is also quite difficult to get good mat cuts.
Logan makes some inexpensive mat cutters that will get you some good results. Check out the 301S model. They cost less than $100. I used one for a few years with great results. The only problem with this cutter is that it is limited to 32 inches maximum mat lenght.
- Do you have the kind of metal guide/ruler that has a groove for the cutter to hook into? I've found that essential.
- I've also found that it really pays to be careful to set the depth of the blade to match the depth of the mat board. On my model there is a little screw underneath the cutter that sets the depth of the blade. I set it so that it is just barely deeper than the mat board; if the blade is extended too far I end up with some of the curving issues that you describe.
- One thing that has worked really well for me is to buy a couple of cheap spring clamps and clamp the ruler, mat and cutting board to my work surface; that way it's not going anywhere and I think it reduces the risk of injury.
Here's an example of the full kit, with the straight and bevel cutters, from the same site you listed:
http://www.artcity.com/log-450.html
You may want to contact them and see if you ca return the lone cutter and just make up the difference for the kit.
Guy
Guy, I think they have the kit you mention, I think I'm going to swap my lone cutter with the kit option. The only reason why I didn't buy it was because of price. I'm only cutting mats for a portflio, so I thought it was overkill to buy the whole kit.
Carl and Don, I think even if I don't cut any more mats than required for my portfolio, the kit is still cheaper than getting the mats pre-cut. The guys here charge something like $20 to cut a single mat.
Thanks once again!
Today I went and swapped the 701 with a 301S system. Wow this works like magic. And I look like such a fool.
Thanks guys for your great tips and advice! I wish I could show you the results, but I promise to invite everybody at NPN before everybody else when I hold my exhibition!
I was thinking about a double-sided tape to stick the photos to the backing mat, and then using a one-sided tape (hopefully archival quality) to make the hinge with the windowed mat.
Any suggestions on this technique?
Thanks, Ashutosh
First, ALWAYS make sure that the tapes you use are archival. Those don't cost too much more overall, and are just pennies more per print.
I'd be careful about going the double sided tape route for attaching the print to the backing board (which should also be acid free). The tendency is to use a long strip on one side. The problem is that prints "breathe". They will absorb moisture, or dry out with the net effect that the paper size changes slightly. You won't notice this on a free print, but when attached, you'll see buckling in the print.
To deal with this, there are two strategies. The quickest and easiest is to 'T" mount the print. Using the tape you hinge the mat with the backing board, cut two pieces. The following is easier to show than explain, so bear with me.
Look at the vertical part of the T. Cut a piece of tape between 1 and 2 inches long. Lay it on the table, sticky side up. Cut a second piece of tape, 2"-3" long. Place it sticky side down on your first piece, forming a T. You want to leave 1" or less showing on the veritical part of the T. That remaining sticky part facing you will attach to the print. You don't want tape actually behind the image and below the mat, just behind the unprinted paper and mat since it will show as a bump when you put everything together (hint: the paper your print in on should be a bit larger than the print for this to work well). The sticky part of the tape on the facing down, the top of the T, will attach to your backing board. You'll have two of these for most normal sized prints, one a bit in from each corner.
There are a couple of permutations of this mounting method, but that should give you the idea.
The second method is to use a dry mount adhesive (or even a wet mount adhesive). The really quick summary is that you are effectively glueing the print to the backing board. You cannot easily remove the print in this case, so it is not reversible. But your print will never fall off, curl, or bubble if done right. I would not go this route to start, simply because you need to pay a lot more attention to materials, DIY involves buying expensive equipment. However, a fair number of framing places can perform the work. You'll need to be careful, though, as some of the materials and equipment are not very compatible with photographic prints. Given your current knowledge base, stay with T mounts, or a similar idea.
By the way, dry mounting, even done well and correctly, is not considered a conservation method. Reversibility is the issue. Personally, I don't have any problems with that, since I consider it to be very unlikely my prints will become collector items. You'll see very strong opinions on that subject. For now, stay with T mounting. You can research this later.
http://www.fahrtipps.de/pkw/rueckwaerts-einparken-01.php