Mount board

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Phyllisjones034
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Mount board

Post by Phyllisjones034 »

as mentioned in my earlier post I am new to framing and now have most of the equipment ready to start framing, I need to practice cutting bevelled windows in to mount board with my Ultimat Golden was wondering if anyone could recommend what board to use for practicing with, obviously it would be pointless using expensive boards but as there are so many on the market I really have no idea where to start.

Any tips most welcome

Thanks in advance
Phyllis
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Re: Mount board

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi phyllis,

You normal set up your mount cutter to suit the actual mount board, which you intend to normally be using and in many cases cheaper boards might not be the same thickness, or the same cutting quality. So I am not sure that using a different thickness, grade and make of board will necessarily make all that much sense. When I first started cutting mounts, I was mounting some old prints to sell in local auctions and I don't really remember how good my first mounts were, but I managed to sell them anyway.

This is not saying much as many of the people buying things in the auctions are not very discerning, so in general the quality of the mounts might not matter all that much. I alway use a linen tester, which is a sort of magnifying glass to check for undercuts and overcuts, when setting up the mount cutter and usually if you get that right, everything else should be O.K. Don't make the mistake of buying mount cutting blades which are to cheap as they usually don't cut so well and become blunt much too quickly.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Phyllisjones034
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Re: Mount board

Post by Phyllisjones034 »

Hi Mark

Thank you for the advice, I'd better decide the quality of board I'm going to use and start from there, with regard to the the blade do you think buying Keencut branded blades are good enough or are there better quality blades?
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Re: Mount board

Post by Not your average framer »

Keencut, Fletcher Terry and C & H blades are all good blades, so take your pick.
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pramsay13
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Re: Mount board

Post by pramsay13 »

Who is going to supply your framing stuff and what boards do they sell?

I use Centrado so their own boards as well as Daler and Munken Duo are all the same thickness so my Keencut Ultimat Gold is set up for them and stays the same.

Cutting mounts is not particularly difficult, so just buy 1 extra board to practice on and start with a large mount, and gradually get smaller each time until you are confident cutting them.
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Re: Mount board

Post by Phyllisjones034 »

I haven't decided on a supplier as just digging for information at the moment, is any particular brand better than others

thanks for your input
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Re: Mount board

Post by Not your average framer »

To suggest that one brand of mount board is going to be better than another is likely to depend upon your criteria. Some are going to be different in different ways. Many mountboards manufactured in the USA will be different in thickness to those manufactured in the UK, or Europe. Also some mountboards have a much brighter white core that others. Both Daler and Larson juhl have a fairly high density bright white core material, where as Colourmount is a less dense and less bright white core material. Both Daler and Larson Juhl have quite a lot of bighter colours in their ranges, but colourmount has quite a useful range of more muted colours.

A great deal of what you are looking for will tend to influence you choices. I like to stock various colours in the Colourmount range as are stock by Simons as colours in there conservation board in their key range, which is the colourmount 300 range supplied in bulk to Simons to supply at a special price. I also like the Simons super value conservation mountboard range and I in fact stock boards from both ranges. All of these boards are very good value for money.

As a side note some black mountboards are a much stronger black than others and also the core colour of some black core mount boards can be a stronger, or a less strong black. It should be noted that not all black core mountboards are conservation spec mountboards, so beware! I like to use some of the muted colours as they often go very well with older artworks and older looking handfinished frames. When I want really strong mountboard colours , it is not uncommon for me to do painted bevels, mount reveals of double mounts instead.
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Rainbow
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Re: Mount board

Post by Rainbow »

Phyllisjones034 wrote: Tue 31 May, 2022 5:35 pmI really have no idea where to start.

Any tips most welcome
The cheapest board will have a cream core. This will be OK for practicising on, but not recommended for use on a proper job as the cream core will go a very unpleasant shade of brown in due course and the acid in it may also damage the art. You can buy cheap cream core from the main framing suppliers, but bulk and minimum order will apply. You might be able to get a single sheet of cream core from an art shop or a craft shop like Hobbycraft, or even somewhere like The Range, but it will be at retail price and probably not very big. Might be worth it though just for practising because you wouldn't really want a bulk supply of cream core anyway.

You can also get low-cost "own-make" boards from the main framing suppliers which will have a white core, albeit not to conservation quality. The cost would be more than cream core but less than branded mountboard. If you get this instead of cream core, at least you could use it for a low-value proper job if you have to get a bulk supply.
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Re: Mount board

Post by Not your average framer »

I think I am right in saying that the cheap cream core boards are not the same thickness, or density as either the white core boards, or the conservation boards and consequenly with not only not have the same cutting characteristics, but also won't have the same blade depth settings for the mountcutter. I think that part of the reason for doing some practice mounts, would be to get the mountcutter properly set up for cutting the board that you are intending to use. Learning to cut a completely dissimilar type of board, makes little sense to me!
Mark Lacey

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prospero
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Re: Mount board

Post by prospero »

A good plan would be to see if their are any friendly framers near to you. We all have heaps of mb offcuts which
you can learn on and they would give you a stack or two. You always get more small bits than small jobs and eventually
the offcuts become an encumbrance. :lol:

I did similar when I first started cutting frames. A local gallery was moving premises and selling boxes of moulding bits.
I made a lot of mini frames and learned a lot. :clap:
Watch Out. There's A Humphrey About
Phyllisjones034
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Re: Mount board

Post by Phyllisjones034 »

Hi Prospero

that is what I was thinking for a plan of action

thanks
Not your average framer
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Re: Mount board

Post by Not your average framer »

Prosperro is right small frames are not that easy to sell very much of and it is very easy to make more than you can easily sell. I usually mostly manage to sell them in sets, or in pairs. They don't necessarily make you lots of money either!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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