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recommendations for matt/mount cutters

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Leon

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Can anyone recommend a reliable mount cutting tool that is available in the UK? I'm fed up with my Maped making wonky cuts and shabby edges depsite new blades. I'm looking at or around the £100 mark or cheaper. I've seena few online, but small gif pictures dont really compare to user experience.

cheers :smile:
 
Leon,
I can recommend Logan. I have their "Compact Mattcutter" which has seen a lot of use for at least 10 years and is still going strong. The cutter unit runs in a fixed guide, and it has an adjustable stop to control mount border width. I would consider these features to be almost essential. Mine takes boards up to 32" long, and the adjustable stop yields a maximum border width of about 4.2". You can cut wider borders, but you have then to remove the stop and line a pencil line up by eye.
Other units I have seen have adjustable stops to control the length of the cut. They look good but are a bit of a fiddle and not at all necessary.
Hope this helps.
Buying new? Lyon in Birmingham will probably be the cheapest.

Alan Clark
 
that's excellent - thanks Alan.
 
If the budget will stretch that far, you might consider one of the larger Logan cutters which will take a full 32x40 sheet of mat board (or whatever dimensions are relevant in your part of the world). I picked up a used Logan 750 specifically because it is such a nuisance to cut down full sheets with a knife and straightedge. I found that it also (not surprisingly) does an excellent job at making window mats!

Since I almost invariably do floating mounts instead of windows, I have what amounts to a superb large-sheet cutter that doubles as a mat cutter.
 
I now use a Logan having previously used a Mountmaster. The Logan has the option of a seperate 90 deg cutter, very useful for cutting the boards to size. The adjustable stop works very well.
 
Another vote for Logan but mine came in at about 400$ Canadian dollars. I just had to get a big one...

Kathy
 
Leon have a look at the Longridge. They do several models and in my opinion are better than any of the Logan cutters. One excellent feature is the cutting head stop which allows you to run the cutting head firmly to the end without worry of slipping and overcutting. They are a UK company based on the Isle of Wight
 
I purchased a logan on ebay that can handle my 32x40 mats. Cost around $120 give or take...with lot's of extra blades...

Works best on 4 ply. Don't expect to cut 8 ply. 2 ply is 'easier' to cut, but harder to prevent overcuts. The 4 ply is the best overall and is frankly perfectly fine for my prints. So, in conclusion, go for it. It easily paid for itself by cutting my own mats.
 
thanks for the helpful tips everyone - I managed to find a the cheapest logan compact Dead Link Removed

and originally thought the longridge would be too expensive, but managed to find them at a bargain price of approx £50 cheaper Dead Link Removed

just need to have a think about which would suit best.
 
Les McLean said:
They are a UK company based on the Isle of Wight
Click to expand...

Where all the best things come from!

My father has this system and it seems to be very good.



Steve.
 
I never thought I'd find myself disagreeing with Les Mc Lean but personally I wouldn't get a longridge. A friend has one and it is prone to blade flex at one end of the cut resulting in a curve at the start of each cut. The stops to end the cut seem like a good feature but are slow and fiddly to use. I find it is much quicker and easier to use the index finger of the left hand to stop the cut. Anyone with the hand-eye co-ordination to raise a camera to their eye and press the shutter should have no difficulty doing this.
I have no connection with Logan. My cutter has seen a lot of use for over 10 years. My wife has used it to do a lot of framing for friends, and we have cut hundreds of mounts on it for my own photographs and paintings for galleries, and it still performs like new.

Alan Clark
 
I had a Longridge to replace the Maped since I got fed up of drawing 8 lines per mount.

It worked well, altough I did get the hooking at times. I cured this by keeping arm+shoulder in line with the cut and also changing the blade, some are not as accurately ground as others and drift off the straight and narrow. Much faster than a Maped, altough mine was shorter than I would have liked.

Replaced it with a more expensive cutter. The Keencut Artist plus 44 inch. A whopper, but so fast and accurate, especially when cutting several mounts all the same size. I bought it from Wessex Pictures who are close to me - went there for mountboard frst time and came away with the shooting match. Not accurate shopping! They have several branches as seen in the link and also sell Fletcher and possibly Logan. I liked facility of seeing all models side by side and choosing the one most appropriate to need and budget.

Cutting down mountboard to size is a breeze. far better than the Stanley knife on the lounge floor technique....
 
I went for the Longridge in the end ... UK made so it hasnt travelled so far to get to me (although the components probably have!).
 
Hi Leon,

Sorry I didn't see this in time to contribute meaningfully!

I have a Longridge. You've seen my mounts - at the Gatherings they generally get more compliments than my prints! (Maybe I should take the hint!) :rolleyes:

I don't think you'll regret your choice.

All the best,

Frank
 
I've been using a Logan Simplex that easily makes a 40" long cut, works great, but I still have some trouble minimizing overcuts when cutting windows. I don't bother using the stops, so I can't say how good they work. Maybe I should start using them. I fix the slight overcuts with a burnishing bone.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I use a Logan cutter without the stops. I find that by changing your blade after only a couple of cuts reduces the chance of overcuts considerably. Of course I'm cutting windows for 8x20 and 12x20 prints and they are pretty long cuts. I don't use the stops but you need to be carefull when you are approaching your marks. The Logan cutter seems to be very accurate. I'm using the 750 model. Blades are cheap compared to good 4-ply mat board. Yes, a good burnishing bone can cover a multitude of sins.
 
A timely topic. I had to cut 4 mats last week with my Maped and, although I achieved this, I was only really satisfied with one of them.
 
I went for the Longridge in the end
Click to expand...
Which model Leon, as a matter of interest ?
 
RobertP said:
.... Blades are cheap compared to good 4-ply mat board. Yes, a good burnishing bone can cover a multitude of sins.
Click to expand...

Yes, blades are cheap, change them frequently and save mat board. I bought mine from a company that supplies the picture framing industry - you can buy wholesale if you say your an artist selling a framed product! The same goes for glass.

I actually make my own exotic wood frames from scratch; It took me about a year, and allot of trial and error before I perfected the process - I restore (recreate) antique B&W photos and sometimes add color to them.
 
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