Bevel Cut Mats

dpurdy · Sep 2, 2015

Cutting a bunch of mats as I have done for years and dealing with the mat cutter and beveled edges and I wonder how did this become such the overwhelming norm?
Seems like it would be a lot easier just to cut with a straight edge and an exacto knife. What if I just said No.. and cut all my double or single weight boards with simple non beveled straight cuts.
Would anyone even notice? Anyone else out there saying screw it to bevels?

Dennis

OptiKen · Sep 2, 2015

Bevels are a pain but really add to the overall photograph.
I worked a frame shop for a number of years and without the bevel it looks cheap

Sirius Glass · Sep 2, 2015

OptiKen said:
Bevels are a pain but really add to the overall photograph.
I worked a frame shop for a number of years and without the bevel it looks cheap

+1 I agree although I never worked in a frame store.

Ian Grant · Sep 2, 2015

Try it Dennis.

I know my preferences.

Ian

Jim Noel · Sep 2, 2015

Straight cut mats often appear in student shows, and they stand out from several feet away. They cast a shadow on the print which a well cut bevel doesn't.

dpurdy · Sep 2, 2015

Jim Noel said:
Straight cut mats often appear in student shows, and they stand out from several feet away. They cast a shadow on the print which a well cut bevel doesn't.

Yes I was thinking about that shadow problem. I still think that a lot of our attitudes about it being cheap or student work are socially learned and are just going along with the way things are supposed to be done.

DREW WILEY · Sep 2, 2015

If you're serious about it, you'll buy a serious matcutter, and then consistent bevels are easy. Just depends on your presentation standards.

gone · Sep 2, 2015

I have to agree w/ the op. Who says everyone has to use the same style of mat cut??? That's pretty crazy. If the mat is thin enough it works fine. There are a million ways to do this, not one. I've been in this art game for nearly half a century, and welcome new ideas (especially these days, as there seem to be NO new ideas in this field that are valid or creative).

Try using thin archival papers, and cut one a little larger than the other. Do that a few times and you have a faux bevel. Might work fine. Think people, don't blindly follow. There's a B&W photo portrait here that had to be mounted and framed in a hurry, and I simply cut the image area out straight w/ no bevel using some thin to medium thin, hot press watercolour paper (around 90 lb or thinner, I don't know, it was all I had), stuck it behind plexi, and slapped it into a frame. It looks great. I actually decided not to show it and kept it for myself. Even close up you don't notice the cut, you notice the IMAGE. Just do a real good job, whatever method you go with.

RalphLambrecht · Sep 2, 2015

DREW WILEY said:
If you're serious about it, you'll buy a serious matcutter, and then consistent bevels are easy. Just depends on your presentation standards.

I agree,bevels aren't hard but look very professional.In museums or good galleries, you see nothing but

removed account4 · Sep 2, 2015

i have an alto ez mat, been using it for 30 years, its great and was cheap
cuts a perfect bevel cut every time. straight xacto cuts are like using foam core for your window
some folks like doing it, i know i wouldn't, to me at least .. it doesn't look as good as a bevel and mat board

eddie · Sep 2, 2015

Whenever I see work, publicly hung, where the artist doesn't use a beveled mat, I can't help but think the artist doesn't respect his/her work enough to present it properly.

garysamson · Sep 2, 2015

eddie said:
Whenever I see work, publicly hung, where the artist doesn't use a beveled mat, I can't help but think the artist doesn't respect his/her work enough to present it properly.

+1

Sirius Glass · Sep 2, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
I agree,bevels aren't hard but look very professional.In museums or good galleries, you see nothing but

My work is worth the extra effort and I am willing to pay for it.

dpurdy · Sep 2, 2015

That is what I mean. What the heck is Proper? Who decided what is proper?

Any way my problem with the bevels isn't cutting them straight or measuring or getting the corners right, it is that the blades will kind of tear through the cotton at an angle like that and it leaves kind of a rough looking rather than clean perfectly cut edge... no matter how new the blade is. I have to then take my bone folder and smooth the edges down. I know it is mostly a humidity problem and if I pre heat my uncut mats in the drymount press they will be dryer and the ragged looking cut problem gets minimized. I think for certain for my 2 ply mats it is straight cut, but those are for my own collection. Since it makes me otherwise a loser redneck cheap uneducated hillbilly who wouldn't know art if I saw it, i guess I will bevel my 4ply mats.
Dennis

Nige · Sep 3, 2015

are you cutting on a self healing mat? if so, try a piece of matt board between self-healing mat and your matt your cutting. I find this lets the blade slide much easier are the self healing matt is quite tough, however it it a good protection for the kitchen bench

Arklatexian · Sep 3, 2015

dpurdy said:
Yes I was thinking about that shadow problem. I still think that a lot of our attitudes about it being cheap or student work are socially learned and are just going along with the way things are supposed to be done.

Isn't that why we, in the USA, continue to use 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11 x 14, etc, etc, etc, ? A good trimmer can sometime make a ho hum print into something really interesting. I once tried to buy an 8x10 frame in a camera store in northern Bavaria. They were stored under the counter with the other od-ball photo stuff.....Regards!

fdi · Sep 3, 2015

I also agree that non-beveled mats look cheap. In the other direction, a beveled 8-ply mat really stands out and helps separate the displayed image from the 4-ply ones.

Also, equipment is important. I can easily recognize hand cut mats that are cut on poor equipment or cut by someone who is not very skilled at it. If you want higher quality or if you want less labor then you put the money into a more professional mat cutter.

For me personally, even though I own a frame supply company I have never hand cut a mat. I would rather spend my time growing my business, or taking pictures. When I first started and did not have enough volume I outsourced the mat cutting to my supplier. As soon as I could I got my own computerized mat cutters. Over the years as I continue to grow I continue to invest in better computerized mat cutters so our efficiency and quality continue to rise. We do a lot of mats, I need them done with exceptional quality, and I have other things my employees can be doing besides cutting mats so now I own the fastest mat cutters in the world.

Cheers,
Mark

Jim Jones · Sep 3, 2015

I cut beveled mats for many years on a kitchen table with a Dexter and a T-square. The trick is to push the blade through the mat and then move the T-square up to the Dexter. Now a simple Logan hand cutter and a home made cutting board is a little more convenient. With practice good bevels can be cut with an Exacto knife and straight edge. Sophisticated mat cutters are great for efficient production work. However, to be honest, with increasing volume almost all of my mats are now cut by Mark's company. Custom cut mats are little more expensive than the uncut mat board. Just Monday I received a $800 order from Mark for frames and custom cut mats. Fine quality, great service.

DREW WILEY · Sep 3, 2015

Do you show up at a wedding of funeral wearing overalls?

StephenT · Sep 3, 2015

Bevels are pretty. Makes the presentation look more "professional."

Agree that they are a pain to do. A Logan cutter or the equivalent I think is a necessity.

EdSawyer · Sep 3, 2015

What is the best mat cutter for home use, for cutting nice bevels in up to 8-ply mat?

dpurdy · Sep 3, 2015

I do use a Logan. Not the top model. I used to use the supplied logan blade and cutting tool but I kept getting slight curves at the corners. I still use the logan but find that using a Dexter I get straight cuts. My problem as I said earlier is not the measuring or cutting or the corners, it is the fact that my blades will not go through without causing little balled up bits of cotton on the edge that I have to smooth down with a bone folder. I am currently using srathmore mats.
I am not anxious to invest in a much better mat cutter. I don't have all the cheap unprofessional associations with straight cut edges.
Dennis

fdi · Sep 3, 2015

EdSawyer said:
What is the best mat cutter for home use, for cutting nice bevels in up to 8-ply mat?

I would only consider the best logon mat cutter. Still, it will be difficult and probably require multiple passes. Custom framers don't like to cut 8-ply on their $1200 pro mat cutters, and we had a lot of trouble with the lower end computerized mat cutters. This is especially true for the Bainbridge 8-ply which is thicker than Crescent 8-ply.

DREW WILEY · Sep 3, 2015

If you just have to have 8-ply for some reason, like having twice as much money to spend as you need to, you can double mat - two 4-ply, one bordering the other, both beveled. That can be an elegant approach sometimes. If I was doing 8-ply I'd want a pneumatic plunger on a semi-automated rig. That's about $6,000. I do have an Esterly Speedmat on my wish list sometime in the next two years, since my Logan is nearly worn out, and so are my fingers!

eddie · Sep 3, 2015

I have a Fletcher 2000. It works well, but it's a bit pricey. I do cut a lot of mats, and the production stops make it a lot quicker. Well worth it to me.

As a side note, I think the key to preventing poor mats is to change the blade often. Buy them by the hundreds. Don't expect to cut 10 windows from a single blade.

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