Discounted Longridge mountcutters in UK

[John_Brewer]

Lawrence art supplies, 208 Portland Road, Hove BN3 5QT have a few Duo mount cutters priced at £75 rather than the RRP of £89. Apparently this is because Longridge are bringing out a new model with some minor modifications soon.

 

[Bob F.]

Interesting info.

I'm looking for a simple mount cutter at the moment and prices, as usual, are far above the US price for the same equipment which ticks me off more than a little (e.g. Logan 301S: USA=80USD, UK=90GBP excl VAT - i.e. over TWICE the price even before VAT - both are discounted prices). Pity the weight of them makes international postage expensive ($65+ for a 40" cutter) as it kills the savings unless you are buying a much more expensive unit.


Cheers, Bob.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Sounds like very good value, but.........I used a few budget cutters getting at best erratic results and spoke to many framers before deciding that this is yet another area where you get what you pay for. I have zero tolerance for poorly cut mounts (how crazy is it when you see a framed image for £250 and the mount looks like it was cut by bandsaw?) However, Lec McClean gave them a good write up, so he would know better than I. All I will add is that I bought a Keencut Artist plus and cutting PERFECT mounts took next to no time. It demands little concentration and the results leave the only thing that might get criticism being my images - just the way it should be!! Dont forget, if you print large images, the cost of museum board can be a real issue if you muck up the mounts 50% of the time. If you want perfect results on a budget, I would reccommend finding a discount framer (like the ones who produce thousands of pre-cut mounts/frames in the store) and find out if they have computer controlled cutters. Some will cut mounts for about £2 per mount if you supply the board. Each will be perfect. I used to do this and stopped when I came up against deadlines and also to facilitate more 'ongoing' work when I only needed one here, one there, making it a pain to travel for one mount. It can take time to find a decent framer like this (they may well do the mount cutting/framing at an industrial unit). Quality mount cutters also hold their value very well indeed. I know it is a completely different league, but the Artist starts at about £250, increasing the more add ons you have. The blades can also be very expensive for some of the cheap cutters, increasing the temptation to use less than sharp blades. For the Keencut, about £18 buys a 1000 blades.

 

[John_Brewer]

I've used a Maped cutter since college 10+ years ago because that was the only one in my budget at the time that had a guide rail. My recent decision to buy the Longridge mountcutter was based on the article in Black & White Photography (UK) a month or two ago by Les, a bit of research and that it can be used left handed and right handed, (i'm a south paw amongst other problems). My only point was its £15 cheaper than RRP, no more! When my photographic work is actually saleable i'll get someone else to cut my mats or buy a proper mount cutter. £250 for me would be better spent on materials like film etc.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Not knocking you John, sorry if it came across that way! Thanks for letting people know about a good price!

Tom

 

[roy]

I've used a Maped cutter since college 10+ years ago because that was the only one in my budget at the time that had a guide rail. My recent decision to buy the Longridge mountcutter was based on the article in Black & White Photography (UK) a month or two ago by Les

I have used a Maped for some years but would like to replace it. Can you recommend the Longridge then, John ?

 

[John_Brewer]

NP Tom

Yes Roy I can recommend it. The problem I found with the Maped cutter it that on larger mats the cut sometimes bowed, this doesn't happen with the Longridge one. I'm still not 100% sure with the boarder marker tool though, so i'll stick with a ruler and pencil. As you're in West Sussex pop down to Lawrence and have a look. Their 'phone number is 01273 260260. You might want to check the exhibitions in Brighton Museum if you go to that part of Sussex http://www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info/exhibitions.asp