Picture frame matting?

[betseypuckett]

Hello All,

I am interested in purchasing a 24" Silver Bullet, but I wondered if it would cut mat board like you need for framing pictures. Does anyone have any experience with this? I wasn't sure if it was too dense. Also, how often do you find you need to change the blades when you're cutting something dense like this?

Thanks in advance!

[kim]

I have never cut mat board but if I remember correctly, there is someone on the forum that wants to/does. I think there is a certain thickness or plyness that the machine will cut. But I think that the last time I payed attention, it was regarding the Cougar and not the Silver Bullet, as the SB wasn't out yet. Hopefully they will see this post and answer your question soon.

[allandra42]

Thyme or Sherri or Tyler One of them will be able to help you. I dont know either but they will. welcome to the forum.

[Thyme]

It will cut Matboard but only with multiple passes and it will quickly wear your blade. If this is all you plan to use the machine for then I would advise against it.
Pat cuts Matboard, but the 2ply, not the 4ply. For more info on that you would need to ask her

[allandra42]

Thanks Dawn you are so quick to respond.

[sherri]

THX All..I would concur with all of this. It does tear the blade up but I have cut it. The really dense matboard I have not...

[Tyler]

It also depends on the design. A simple square is pretty easy, but matboard tends to fray more than cut when trying to do small acute angles.

[texcycle]

I'm interested in cutting mats as well. Just to frame a photo. Rectangles with no intricate cuts, but at a traditional 45 degree angle.

Since the last round of q & a does anyone have any new info to add?

[pigtailpat]

Wow, incredible people remember me......Thanks all, it's humbling...

yes, I cut matboard. But, with the caution it must be 2-ply matboard (in the USA - overseas over by Dawn - it's known as mountboard), and the 2-ply stuff IS NOT GENERALLY sold in the stores. 2-ply matboard is intended as a backing board for the real matboard, and hence, because the manufacturers reason no one is going to see it anyway, the colors it is sold in are almost always neutrals - like white, black, grey, beige. You can't get colors like red, blue, yellow, etc. for 2-ply board. I just wish the manufacturers like Dawn and those in the plotter industry could collaborate with those in matboard industry to get colors in the 2-ply stuff. That would be my personal dream...but I digress......

In addition, 2-ply matboard comes in various different materials. You can get wood pulp, or cotton rag stuff. I really like the wood pulp stuff and never moved to try the cotton rag. Once of these days for kicks I will get the cotton rag and see if I like it. I really love the feel of wood pulp 2-ply board. It is smooth and clean, and you can paint and color to your heart's content. I never adapted well to chipboard, it is yucky feeling in my hands, and on top, it is generally not acid-free - a consideration if you are working with photos. If you paint or color your board, you have to consider whether the mediums used are acid free or not. One of the reasons why I would LOVE, LOVE to see some color versions of the 2-ply stuff like the 4-ply in the stores......

And in my tests, these machines are SO GREAT, that you can cut this stuff with a regular blade, but you will get much cleaner cuts with the 60 plus blade. It does wear fast like the others said. If I have a small piece and if I am lazy and not picky on a particular day, I won't bother to switch to the 60 plus and just do it fast and dirty if moved to do so.

Must reduce your speed on this stuff, especially with intricate cuts. And I did this in the days when there was no extra sticky mats available. I still gotta order those mats! Since paying off the generator from the sandy mess, my husband's car needed repairs, then my son had a baseball injury needing surgery. The oppps moments haven't ceased a bit! But I will get those mats - especially before summer when the humidity just kills projects by me (my cuts are done in the basement - and the summertime humidity pretty much kills projects). Furthermore, the cuts I have done, which came out wonderful, were done with 3 pinch wheels in the cougar. I can't wait to get my 4th pinch wheel [like what the SB has], that will really make my matboard cutting sing!

The material I use for my 2-ply cuts, which I have found to be simply smashing, can be had here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... White.html

Pat

[Elizabeth]

I don't believe that we can cut on an angle.

[newbiecat]

I agree - I dont believe given the set up of the blade and housing that you can cut anything at the 45 (?) degree angle that I think most photo/picture frames are cut at usually

I did have a mountboard cutter years ago which I sold to a friend for framing her painting, that had an adjustable housing so that you could angle cut but no digital cutter I know of has anything similar. They all cut at 90 degrees to the media. I have cut the mountboard that Dawn/Thyme sells and that does work well for framing pictures but it is a straight sided cut. It cut beautifully but is nowhere as thick as the matboard supplied in most picture frames .

Pandora

[texcycle]

Thank you Pigtailpat! What great mat cutting info.
And as always, thank you to everyone for your quick and helpful information.. what a great group this is!

[sherri]

This is all correct and you cannot cut a 45 degree angle. I have a customer that rigged his machine with a new tool (not suggested) and he was able to but we do not have the tool nor will we be coming up with one..just wanted to make sure it was understood if anyone sees someone post that they were cutting on a 45 degree it would be him....

[allandra42]

Wow we got all the experts in on this post. Lesa

[texcycle]

what a great forum!

[imageart]

I don't know whether you want to cut many mount frames but if you do it's worth getting a mount cutter rather than using a cutting machine. I have just done a framing and mount cutting course in the UK. When you get the hang of it, it is mega quick and the 45 degree angle really gives the pictures a professional look. We used a Logan which you can get at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Logan-Compact-Classic-Mat-Cutter/dp/B004J1B0BO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368047506&sr=8-1&keywords=logan+mat+cutter). If you want to go cheaper you can just buy the special slide ruler and cutter although more difficult to line up. There are videos on the internet showing you how all these cutters work. Bit of an outlay but will save you on expensive cutter blades and wear and tear.

Here are two of my pictures that I framed on the course using two layers of mount board. The top has different corners and the bottom has black mount board underneath the white.

mountframes.jpg

Ann