The Framers Forum

HI,

I have been asked to frame a few large prints.

Outside dims 1600 x 1100 with a 50mm boarder all round leaving a 1500mm x 1000mm window.

This is going to take jombo MB but I my mount cutter can only accommodate MB up to 1200mm long.

My question is is there any hacks on how I can bevel cut the long side (1500mm)

Has anyone every tired to use the old frameco system with the straight edge and hand held bevel cut to cut long bevel.

I don't want to accept the job if I cannot product a straight bevel cut on the long side.

thanks,

Peter.

For something that scale you maybe should abandon the card mount concept in favour of a wood profile
mitred and joined like a frame.

Rose & Hollis do a very useful plain wood that can be employed for this purpose ref A231.
There is also A245 which the same size but with a cove rather than a bevel.
It is 70mm wide, 7mm thick and has a bevel on one edge. You can blend to corners after joining (5mm v-nails work fine).
It can be painted any colour (I use artists acrylic). You do have to ensure the glass does not contact the surface though.
I use a narrow strip of linen tape , sliced down so as not to protrude past the rebate lip.

The back can be isolated by covering it with 2-ply barrier board.

The timber needs to be 'normalised' by simply leaving it in a dry atmosphere for a few days - especially if the timber has
been stored in a cold place. Otherwise the wood can shrink laterally and hairline cracks can appear at the joins.

This works a lot better than a conventional mount which would be very tricky to handle even if you did manage to cut it.

Hi, Prospero,

Thankyou for the reply and advise.

Yes that's sound like a good idea.

Do you mean the plain wood that will act as my boarder cannot touch the glass. What would happen if it did?

thanks

Peter.

If you have a manual mount cutter with a track section that can be taken off of the body of the cutter, no problem.

In just about 40 years of being a picture framer I have done this numerous times. Working from the back of the board, lay out the cut lines with attention to extending them beyond the adjoining line. with a blade in the slide assembly, align the point of the blade onto the line at either end of the track. There is no need to cut into the board at this time. The next step is to secure the track down with clamps to the table over the slip sheet and the mount board. Use the cutter in your normal manner using the line extensions as a guide for the bevels of the corners. Disassemble the secured track and proceed to extend the cut. In this second section of the cut when aligning, let the blade slide into the existing cut for a perfect alignment prior to clamping.

A secondary way is to clamp an even longer straightedge behind the track section and slide the entire track along the straightedge to be able to cut a longer beveled line. This "straightedge" could be a bar of metal or unwarped wood(not my first choice).

Or speak to your local mountboard supplier and ask whether they can supply cut mounts (like Wessex Fine Art do).

I echo what others have said, cut it by hand I use a logan hand cutter.

peter.okane wrote: Thu 03 Aug, 2023 11:19 am
Do you mean the plain wood that will act as my boarder cannot touch the glass. What would happen if it did?

I should have said....

Some painted surfaces produce strange optical effects when glass is laid on them. I believe the proper term is "Newton's Rings".
Pale colours in particular show dark blobs.

prospero wrote: Fri 04 Aug, 2023 10:31 am I should have said....

Some painted surfaces produce strange optical effects when glass is laid on them. I believe the proper term is "Newton's Rings".
Pale colours in particular show dark blobs.

I wish I knew/read this a few months back, and can attest to what Prospero says here.

I had used bare wood slip instead of mount card on two really big pictures. Dark blobs in the corners. Opened the frames several times to clean the mystery marks to find it was the acrylic making contact with the painted surface of the wood. Disappearing with finger pressure on the acrylic. Total nightmare of a job.