Mat Cutter Tips and Techniques Part 1

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	*Article #1:* Tips for Selecting the Right Mat Cutter *Choosing the right mat cutter depends on* how often you'll use it, what you'll want it to do and how long you'll want to take learning how to use it. Click Here to Learn More**		*Article #2:* Basic Mat Cutting Maintenance If you lube up your Logan mat cutter, lean it against a wall, or let your cutting head get wobbly, you'll regret it. What can you do to prevent major mat cutting disappointment? Click Here to Learn More Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques Back to Mat Cutter Page
	Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques Back to Mat Cutter Page *Article #3:* Tips for *Cutting Oval and Circle Mats* Cutting good quality oval and circle mats requires a combination of the right tools and some key tricks. Discover the tricks here. Click Here to Learn More		Article #4: How to Calculate Border Sizes for Matting One of the fine things about a mat is the way it can be used to make the artwork and frame fit together. But only if you know how to determine the correct borders. Click Here to Learn More Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques
	Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques Back to Mat Cutter Page *Article #5:* How to Cut Oversized Matboard in an Undersized Mat Cutter 60" mat cutters are nice, but they're awfully expensive for the odd oversized frame job that comes along once in awhile. Click here to find out how to use your 40" mat cutter to cut oversized mats. Click Here to Learn More Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques Back to Mat Cutter Page		Back to Mat Cutter Page *Article #6:* Why Do You Have to Use a Backing Sheet When You Cut a Window in a Mat? A backing sheet is a piece of scrap matboard that goes under your mat when you cut it. What's the big deal? Why can't you just use the slot in the cutting board? *Click Here to Learn More* Click Here for More Mat Cutting Tips and Techniques Back to Mat Cutter Page

Tips for Selecting the Right Mat Cutter

Series 4000 Hand Held Mat Cutter Mat cutters are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. From the simple loaf-shaped chrome block of a hand held mat cutter to the high tech computer controlled robotics of an automatic mat cutter, mat cutters can be found to cut shapes from rectangles and ovals, to surface V-grooves and laser etched silhouettes. They can reduce matboard and foamboard to size, and trim glass and cut acrylic. Anyway, some of them can. The question is: What do you want your mat cutter to do? And perhaps, just as importantly: What are you willing to spend?

One thing your mat cutter won’t do, however, is produce consistently superior results without your vigilance and know-how. It is a truism that a mat cutter is never automatic in the sense of, say, a coffee maker or a fax machine. It won’t just automatically give you the results you expect. You will have to guide it, finesse it. You will have to learn to play it, like an instrument. This is as true of a $40,000 computerized mat cutter as it is of a $14 hand held mat cutter. There are simply too many variables in mat cutting for the operator to be absent from the process. You will have to learn how to cut mats in order to get superior results consistently. The machine will not do this for you, no matter what the price.

Bearing this in mind, you might want to consider how much time you’re willing to spend getting good at mat cutting, because the learning curve does get progressively shorter the more you spend. But you don’t have to empty your bank account to find a comfort zone. In fact, good mat cutting becomes a manageable proposition with the purchase of a mat cutter in the $75 to $395 price range, and does not get a whole lot easier even if you spend more.

High end mat cutters, such as the Logan Framer's Edge Professional Mat Cutter, Model #650, are built to take the wear and tear of rigorous professional use, as is common in a frame shop. They have thicker, more durable cutting boards, heavier guide rails and bigger cutting heads. They are designed to cut 50+ mats a day and to stand up under continuous use. The Logan Model 650 Framer’s Edge Mat Cutter is often available at a price point comparable to the less heavy duty mat cutters, offering the best of both worlds. The Framer's Edge is also available in 48" and 60" versions. The largest matboard made is 40"x60" and for those who foresee the need to cut sizes beyond 32"x40", it is necessary to have a 60" mat cutter to cut them with speed and precision. When the the 60" version is available at an attractive price, it is worthwhile to consider it over the 40" version for this increased applicability.

On the other end of the spectrum, hand-held mat cutters are capable of cutting just about anything. With a hand held cutter you can cut a fancy window as precise and exquisite as one cut on the world’s most expensive mat cutter - but you’d better be willing to devote the time. The learning curve on hand held cutters is long, because hand held cutters are difficult to manage. At bottom, a basic principal of hand-held mat cutting is flawed. To cut properly you must push firmly against the straightedge with the cutting head. But straightedges are not designed to be pushed against. They slip. And when they do the cut is ruined. It takes practice to get the feel of a hand held mat cutter - exactly how much pressure to apply to the cutter, to the straightedge and both, to avoid slippage - and once you’ve accomplished that, you’ve got still more to contend with.

Some hand-held cutters, such as the Dexter utilize a fixed blade. That is, the blade doesn’t pivot or slide up and down. It just remains sticking out, making it difficult to penetrate the mat at a proper angle, since the blade must enter the mat ahead of the body of the cutter, and the cutter must follow at a corresponding angle or a curved bevel will result. Series 2000 Hand Held Mat Cutter

Hand held cutters with retractable blades, such as the Alto and the Logan Hand Held Mat Cutters fare better, but are handicapped by being in the role of adversary to the straightedge. Only a mat cutting system that incorporates a fixed straightedge or is designed to have the cutting head ride on the straightedge eliminates this problem. The most basic mat cutting "systems" do both of these things.

A mat cutting "system" is distinguished from a hand held mat cutter in that it provides some of the other necessities besides just the cutting head, such as a place to cut (a cutting board), a measuring system, and the straightedge itself (a guide rail). A system such as the Logan Team System combines a hand-held mat cutter with a guide rail and allows the cutting head to ride on the guide rail to eliminate the problem of the two pushing against each other. Still, the guide rail itself is not attached to anything and may slip, even though it has a rubberized base.

Systems that have the guide rail attached to a base board represent a vast improvement. The Logan Compact Mat Cutter is such a mat cutter. In addition, it includes a system for quick and easy measuring. For those serious about cutting mats, a 32" mat cutting system like the Compact represents the minimal investment for reliability and quality. They shorten the learning curve and make it possible for beginners to get good results in a relatively short period of time. But they are not without their shortcomings.

On the face of it, the biggest shortcoming of a 32" mat cutter appears to be its size. After all, a sheet of matboard is 32"x40". So right away one concludes that, with a 32"mat cutter, large mats can’t be cut. But this is not so. 32" mat cutters are open at either end so the matboard can shifted along the face of the cutting bed, and hang out either end, to allow for cutting a window of any size. The real shortcoming is not the size of the window that can be cut, but the size of matboard that can be accomodated for sizing.

Sizing is the reducing of a full size sheet of matboard to the perimeter size of the frame. Since 32" mat cutters cannot take a full size sheet across their baseboards to be halved, these cutters have a distinct disadvantage when it comes to sizing.

The next grade of mat cutters purport to solve this problem. Mat cutters such as the Logan Intermediate Cutter Model 401 provide a full 40" base board with a fixed guide rail and a measuring system, but leave off the most important feature, the squaring arm.

When it comes to sizing, the squaring arm is key. It allows for full size sheets to be measured and sized at proper right angles without requiring the operator to mark out lines on the mat. It makes sizing speedy and accurate and completes the picture of what a full featured mat cutter should be: a bevel cutting head (for cutting windows), a straight cutting head (for sizing), a fixed guide rail, at least a 40" long cutting board, a measuring system and a squaring arm. When you have a mat cutter with these features, you have a complete mat cutting system.

The Logan Model 750 Simplex is such a mat cutter. It is a fine full featured mat cutter, representing the high end of manually operated mat cutting systems and have a host of fine features, including all those listed above, plus production stops, and durability to 15+ mats per week. If one is looking to buy just one mat cutter without the need for upgrading later, the Simplex Plus or the Framer's Edge are the best bets. The Logan Simplex is also available in a 60" version. Since the largest matboard made is 40"x60",it's worthwhile to pay extra for the longer version if you foresee the need to cut mats larger than 32"x40".

Beyond the high end manual machines is a whole other range of mat cutters decidely reserved for the super high volume professional. These are the high tech computer controlled robotic mat cutters such as the Gunner, Zund, Mat Maestro and Wizard. These mat cutters can be programmed to cut almost any size, shape and design, but start at $10,000 and climb precipitously in price.

In choosing a mat cutter, the wise shopper weighs the advantages of each against budget and need and makes an informed choice. Good mat cutting begins with a good tool - and one that’s right for you.

Basic Mat Cutter Maintenance

The following is general advice covering all Logan board mounted mat cutters.

Cleaning/Lubrication

Logan board mounted mat cutters never require lubrication. All contact between the cutting heads and the guide rails is taken up by Delrin plastic bearings that need no lubrication. Using a petroleum based lubricant can chemically soften the Delrin plastic causing them to bind on the guide rail instead of smoothly glide. All that is necessary is to periodically clean the guide rail with an evaporating solvent such as lighter fluid or alcohol.

Bearing Replacement

Over time the Delrin bearings on Logan cutting heads may wear causing a wobble between the cutting head and Guide Rail. They are replaceable. On Logan professional equipment such as model #310, #350, #600, #650 & #660, the Delrin plastic bearings are free for the lifetime of the machine. (part #115/162A) On the art material mat cutters such as the #301, #401 and #700SGM, the bearings and screws can be replaced for $7.50 list price. (part #501/162)

Storing Mat Cutters

Always store a Logan board mounted mat cutter flat when not in use. Never lean the mat cutter up against a wall for any period of time as this can cause the base board to warp out of shape. Remove the squaring arm if the mat cutter is to be stored for a period of time. But remember to use the line-up tool when re-installing it.

Insights into the Logan #201 Oval and Circle Mat Cutter

The Model #201 Oval and Circle Mat Cutter operates independently of any other mat cutter and cuts ovals from 3"x 4-1/2" up to 20" x 23" and circles from 4" to 20". The following step by step procedures will detail EXACTLY how the product works.

Step One: Set the shape of the oval or circle. The design of the Model #201 Oval and Circle Mat Cutter has a bevel cutting head mounted to an arm that rotates around a stationary base. A cam-shaped plate with an adjustable mid-point allows for the setting of different ellipses. Each shape is determined by adjusting the scale inside the base for the difference between the height and width of the window you want to cut. For example, if you want to cut an 11"x14" oval, you set the differential scale to 3" because 3 is the difference between 11 and 14. If you want a shorter, squatter oval, an 11"x13" is called for and the differential scale is set at 2. By changing the difference between the height and the width, you change the shape of the oval. By changing the difference between the height and width to zero, you are setting up to cut a circle.

Step Two: On the rotating arm, you will find a separate scale. The cutting head is slid along this arm and locked down at the point on the scale indicative of the narrow dimension of your oval. For example, if you want to cut an 11"x14", you set the scale on the arm to 11". When the differential scale is set to zero, the scale arm setting indicates the diameter of the circle you will cut.

Step Three: Position the oval on the mat. On the face of the mat mark a large plus sign (larger than the base) where you want the middle of the oval window to be. Note: Unlike other mat cutters, oval and circle mat cutters are designed to cut on the face of the mat.

Step Four: Anchor the base to the mat. First, place a second mat of the same size under the mat you are going to cut. This second mat is the backing sheet. Without it you will cut through your mat and into the table top. Next, arrange the base over the plus sign, aligning the white marks on each side of the base with the arms of the plus sign. Caution: the base must be oriented to the mat the same way the window will be oriented to the mat. For example, in most cases you don't want a horizontal oval oriented to the vertical axis of the mat.

Step Five: Press down firmly on the base with the heels of your hands. The pins under the base will sink into the mat helping to anchor it. However, the pins will not be adequate to hold the base in place once you begin cutting. During cutting you must always hold down firmly on the base with your left hand.

Step Six: Allow the cutting head to swivel into the starting position. The cutting head is mounted on a pin under the scale arm and is designed to swivel. Without the ability to swivel it would be impossible to cut different shaped ovals. Before engaging the blade, it's necessary to allow the cutting head to swivel into position for the ellipses you've got set. Holding down firmly on the cutting head, rotate the scale arm around the base. Do not engage the blade. The cutting head will roll forward on its tracking wheel and swivel to assume the curvature of the oval. Caution: the scale arm must only be rotated around the base in a clockwise direction. Caution: do not allow your fingers to touch or obstruct the swiveling cutting head, doing so will prevent the cutting head from swiveling into position and will result in a frayed cut.

Step Seven: Engage the blade. With your thumb resting lightly on top of the cutting head, lift the stepping lever until it clicks into the first step. You will feel it click in. The blade is now engaged. Caution: You are now at the most critical stage in the process. Anything you do to block or obstruct the swiveling cutting head will result in a frayed cut. Do not let your fingers touch the swiveling cutting head as you rotate the scale arm. However, to achieve the best results rest your thumb lightly on top of the cutting head as you rotate the scale arm.

Step Eight: Rotate the scale arm around the base making a light initial score in the surface of the mat. The cutter is not designed to cut through at this point. Do not exert downward pressure with your thumb on top of the cutting head; rather, let it rest lightly there as you rotate the arm. Keep your fingers well out of the way of the swiveling cutting head. Rotate the arm past the point where the score joins itself before going on to the next step.

Step Nine: With your thumb resting lightly on top of the cutting head, reach down with your index finger and lift the stepping lever to the next step. Rotate the scale arm around the base again. You will feel an increase in resistance as the blade cuts more deeply into the mat. Rotate past the point where you started.

Step Ten: Lift the stepping lever to the final step. Rotate the scale arm around the base two or three more times. You cannot cut too many times; you can only fail to cut enough times to penetrate the mat. During the final rotations you can exert moderate downward pressure with your thumb on top of the cutting head to insure cutting through.

Step Eleven: Disengage the blade and lift away the drop out piece. Your oval window is complete.

The procedure is exactly the same for cutting circles. The only difference is in how you set up the cutter.

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Calculating Border Sizes

Knowing what size to cut your mat borders to is a mystery to some first time framers. But in reality a perfectly cut mat that proportionately surrounds your artwork can be done without needing a degree in physics. Unless you happen to own a $50,000 computer programmed, automated mat cutter, some simple mat skills are still required when figuring border sizes of mats. But don't worry, it's not that difficult. The following show the steps on how to measure your artwork, decide on the overall mat size, and identifying each of the border widths.

1. Measure your artwork

Use a reliable ruler and measure both the left to right and top to bottom dimensions of your picture. Measure exactly at the edges from where you want to the image to show through the mat. In this example the overall photo size is 8-1/2" x 10-1/2" (21.6cm x 26.7cm) but the actual image size measures to exactly 8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm). This tells you that the opening of your mat needs to be 8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm).

2. Decide what frame size to use
An average border size for mats is from 1-1/2" (3.8cm) to 3" (7.6cm) so deciding what frame size to use can be easy. Add three to five inches to the out side dimension of the photo to see what the closest standard frame size to use would be. Example, your photo size 8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm) so add three inches to these numbers and you get 11" x 14" (28cm x 35.6cm) which is a standard frame size. To figure out what the border sizes for this mat would be simply subtract each dimension of the photo size from the frame size and divide by two. Example: 11" - 8" = 3" (28cm - 20.3cm = 7.7cm). Divide 3" (7.7cm) by two which leaves 1-1/2" (3.8cm) to be used as the left and right mat border. Use the same steps to find out the top and bottom border.

3. Put it all together
This project consisted of a photo with an image size of 8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm) that was placed into an 11" x 14" (28cm x 35.6cm) frame. It used 1-1/2" (3.8cm) borders on the right and left and 2" (5cm) borders at the top and bottom. Now all thats left is to attach the photo into the back of the mat and pick out a nice 11" x 14" (28cm x 35.6cm) frame to finish your piece and hang it on the wall.

Standard U.S. Frame Sizes:
4"x5"
4"x6"
6"x8"
5"x7"
8"x10"
8"x12"
8-1/2"x11"
9"x12"
10"x13"
11"x14"
12"x16"
14"x18"
16"x20"
20"x24"
22"x28"
24"x30"
24"x36"
30"x40"

Cutting Oversized Matboard in a 40½" Mat Cutter

There are two separate issues when matting oversize artwork, cutting a large enough window to display the art, and cutting the full size sheet to the size you want. Both can be dealt with on a 40½” mat cutter.

Let’s take the example of your 36”x44”. You will have to cut this out of a 40”x60” sheet. Remove the mat guide and place the 40"x60" sheet on the cutting board so that the 60" dimension lies on the horizontal axis as you stand at the end of the cutter. Move the edge of the board along the squaring arm to the 16" increment and using the 90º cutter, trim away 16” from the 60” dimension, leaving 44". Now you have a 44"x40". Since you cannot place the 44" dimension in the mat cutter, trim the second dimension outside the cutter with a straight edge and utility knife. Trim 4" from the 40" dimension. To insure a clean cut, go slowly and score the matboard in subsequent passes. The resulting sheet will be 36"x44".

To cut a window in this sheet, replace the mat guide and remove the squaring arm. As you cut, pull the matboard through the matcutter, top to bottom.

Operate the cutter standing at the side. Begin with the matboard under the guide rail and firmly up against the mat guide. Allow the excess mat board to hang out the bottom end of the mat cutter (where the squaring arm was). Cut until the cutting head reaches the end of the guide rail. Then shift the matboard forward, moving it along the guide rail. The cutting head will move back up the guide rail toward the center of the matcutter so you can finish your cut.

The only drawback here is that you can only have borders of 5½” or less, but if you’re willing to accept that, you can cut a window in any size matboard.

The Importance of Using a Backing Sheet

Do I have to use a backing sheet?
Yes! The backing sheet forces the blade to produce a better cut by supporting the face paper of the mat you are cutting. The cutting is always done from the back of the mat board which means the last thing the blade has to slice through is the colored surface paper of the mat board. Logan board mounted mat cutters all have thin slots cut down the length of the base board to be used when straight cutting. But when bevel cutting this slot may allow the face paper to be "pushed down" by the blade tip causing the blade to pop through and tear its way across. With a scrap piece of mat board underneath, the blade cannot push the face paper down at all. Instead it slices cleanly through resulting in a better cut.

Can I use something other than mat board for a backing sheet?
Matboard is the most appropriate thing to use as a backing sheet. Anything else will prematurely dull your blade. Matboard is firm enough to support face paper of the mat being cut along with being soft enough not to dull the blade or cause the blade to flex causing hooks or curves. It will however have to be changed periodically. Letting a backing sheet get too chewed up from use can also cause hooks or curves in the cut. The question has been asked if self-healing vinyl desk covers could be used. It sounds good, it lasts forever and never has to be changed but the answer is "no". That material is too tough for a blade even to score across. It would require much more force to be cut on, cause blade flexing and most definitely dull the blade faster than usual.

Lastly, it is important that the backing sheet is at least as long as the mat you are cutting and at least 3 to 4 inches wide. If there are any areas under the mat where the blade will be passing that is not supported by backing sheet, the blade will probably not cut through.

Follow this advice and better mats are guaranteed. HAPPY MATTING!