What mountboard

[dottad]

What make of mountboard is best!
I use Alphamatt and like it a lot, but only have one supplier up here in Scotland that I know of that supplys it.
What other makes should I consider?
What are the pro's and con's that I should consider?
Thank you.

[beth]

I use alphamat alot good quality and a lovely range of colours , I get it from Neilsen, though they are useless for washlines.

I also use arqadia who I can get from loads of supppliers, arqadia boards are good. I tend to only use the conservation boards, thay are a slightly harder board than bainbridge alphamat and the colours are not as soft.

I think alphamat is the best for me, the only annoying thing is the board size is'nt constant sometimes 44" sometimes 40"

[Roboframer]

I use alphamat alot good quality and a lovely range of colours , I get it from Neilsen, though they are useless for washlines.

alphaMOUNT is great for washlines - but only comes in two colours and alphaRAG is better still and a really impressive range of colours for a 100% cotton board - a very good price too. But yes - alphaMAT artcare is not the best for washlines.

I think alphamat is the best for me, the only annoying thing is the board size is'nt constant sometimes 44" sometimes 40"

The main colours are 44 x 32 and a lot of those come oversized too (60 x 40"). It's just the coloured cores and special finishes that come 32 x 40, plus the odd one or two 'new' colours mixed in, which can be annoying.

I mainly use artcare, be it alphamat, mount or rag - also some suedettes from arqadia and some metallics from colourmount.

[kev@frames]

I cant speak highly enough of Slater Harrisons boards. You cant go wrong with them.

I believe slaters can only be had from selected distributors, but this seems to ensure good distribution - we have never in 15 years had to wait because a slaters board was out of stock... touch wood.

Arquadia are good, and you can get them anywhere. Its the only one that customers will ask for by name. You cant go wrong with it.

Artcare is good, you cant go wrong with it.

Notice, I recon you cant go wrong with anty of the boards mentioned above, lol.

Really you ought to go with the most reliable distribution, at the end of the day there is not a lot in it in the acid/free conservation boards. In our case Slaters tip the balance in our favour with the bigger boards, good local distributor, and consistent quality.
They do, on occasion, print the wrong reference number on the back of the board, which can cause interesting moments

Arquadia is hard board, so paper cuts do become a way of life, specially if you use a CMC.

we stock a lot of Slater Harrison, a lot of Arquadia. No complaints at all about either of them. Personal preference is slater harrison. 15 years and never a problem. Placed side by side on the counter the Slaters chevrons and the arquadia chevrons if the customer is allowed to choose their own colours, they will in most cases end up picking from the slaters display. Arquadia colours can be a bit hard on the eye, but I cant place exactly why this is.

[Keith Hewitt]

Why does everyone in UK call it Slater's board or Slater Harrison board?

It is covered in a wrapper that says "COLOURMOUNT". When advertised it is only called COLOURMOUNT. The label says "COLOURMOUNT" and I hope the invoice from your stockist says COLOURMOUNT"

The chevrons say COLOURMOUNT
The colour chart says COLOURMOUNT!

So how come most framers in UK choose to alter the brand name?
Overseas its called .......well you probably have guessed by now....yes Colourmount!

It's a marketing/branding mystery which I for one would love to solve!

Keith

[Roboframer]

Anyone tried 'Rising' mountboard yet?

I see Lion have taken some of it on, plus another range I can't remember the name of. Grumblers speak highly of Rising.

[osgood]

I use only Alphamat, but it's only available in 32x40 or 60x40 down here. I had never before heard that it was even made 44x32. Wow! That would be good!

Anyone want to stuff a couple of hundred in an envelope and post them to me????

[absolute framing]

For me its mainly Daler-Rowney Consrevation Pro, and a bit of "colourmount"

Both are great boards, but my pref is Daler because they have some of the darker colours in Conservation (Charcole Black, Scarlet Red and a few more), while Colourmount is ony conservation with the lighter colours.

Stephen

[Roboframer]

No mentions of crescent?

Arqadia used to distribute it and I visited Crescent's stand at a Spring Fair once - I was impressed with the huge range and got myself their colour selectors - just found it all bewildering - not just the choice of colour and finish but the pricing.

When Arqadia discontinued it I bought an absolute shedful of ragmat(?) which was cotton but with an alpha-cellulose surface paper and ragmat 100(??) which was all cotton. Absolutely superb boards, I know Wessex do them now and must look closer sometime - but not for colour or preservation quality - just for some nice finishes.

But I think price may be an issue - one day I ran out of Arqadia's black suedette, so had they!! Needed some urgently so went to Wessex and ordered a pck (5 sheets) of crescent black suedette. Didn't ask about price.

FIFTEEN SQUID A SHEET!!!

In fact NO - all coming back to me now - I had enough Arqadia board but my framer cut my last two sheets to the aperture size instead of the glass size!!!! That's why it was suddenly urgent.

[Roboframer]

What make of mountboard is best!
I use Alphamatt and like it a lot, but only have one supplier up here in Scotland that I know of that supplys it.

Ever thought of opening an account with Nielsen?

You'll probably pay less per sheet if you do.

That's one of the pros to look for too - can you deal direct!

Nielsen/Bainbridge - Yes

Arqadia - Yes

Crescent - No

Colourmount - No

Daler - (?)

If you know you're cutting out a middleman then the list price is just a guide - sometimes!

[Roboframer]

Why does everyone in UK call it Slater's board or Slater Harrison board?

Maybe some of your distributors refer to it as such - I know Euro mouldings did - I always read 'Colourmount' but heard 'Slater Harrison' in their showroom.

I miss Euro Mouldings

[Keith Hewitt]

Rising board has been used by many framers in UK, probably without them knowing. The COLOURMOUNT Museum board is in fact made by Rising. Thats why its only 32 x 40 ins - typical USA size. Some of Crescents Museum board is also made by Rising. The same may well apply to other mat bd mfgs.

Rising make/made superb cotton (Museum) boards, which they need to sell to other mount board mfgs to get their product to the framers.

But sad to say Rising is closing down. It was loosing too much money and Neenah paper Co who bought it a few days ago have decided to call it a day. I expect the Rising's qualities will be made at another of Neenah's mills and then laminated into Museum boards at another plant.
So hopefully framers will not notice any apparent changes, but behind the scenes there is a "flurry of activity" to put it mildly!
Keith

[markw]

Kieth - I suspect that most companies would celebrate the fact that the companies name was so acclaimed that customers identified the branded product with the company.

I rarely look at the detail of these things - but picking up a Colourmount selector the first thing I notice are the words Slater Harrison - the word colourmount almost seems to be a descriptive term. Its the very near proximity to the product description that possibly makes the product name so unused - I use coloured mounts from colourmount - I use coloured mounts from Alphamat Artcare. The descriptive term in the latter indicates a clear advantage in the product, the former more like a generic term.

It just goes to show that branding is not easy - especially for long established businesses.

[kev@frames]

Likewise- i reckon Markw has summed that up pretty eloquently