Imagine being able to frame all your own photos as well as a professional. You can save enough money to easily pay for all the necessary tools, and the convenience of being able to do it yourself frees you from having to have someone else do it. If you are a hobbyist, a frame cutter, frame clamp, and hand frame joining tool is all the equipment you need to make professional looking frames. These days the tools are easy and safe to operate, inexpensive and give you a good result. The frame of the image can be divided into four areas. Cut the bezel bracket, cut and join the frame, mount the photograph, and adjust and finish the job. The tools required to perform each of these functions are as follows.
1. Cutter mount: A manual bevel mount cutter is essential for all photographic work. The most important feature of modern saddle cutters is having one that runs on its own ruler or ruler.
2. Cutting and joining frames: The professional framer uses a guillotine to cut wooden frames and an automatic V nail jointer. But the cost is prohibitive for the small volumes of frames that our industry requires. However, there are tools that give you a professional result at a fraction of the cost.
3. Mounting Artwork: Dry mount presses and laminating machines are not the only way to safely and efficiently mount all of your ready-to-frame artwork. We will look at the assembly of the vacuum press, the hinge methods and other less expensive options.
4. Assembly and Finishing: There are a number of hand tools on the market that make this job quick and easy. Anyone can safely use them to give a professional finish to all framing jobs.
Our series of articles on the next four issues will examine each of these processes.
Cutting and decoration assembly
Mount Cutting is the creative face-to-image framing. What distinguishes one framed photograph from another is the creative use of supports. There are a wide variety of mounting plate brands and colors, possibly too many! Supplies are easy to come by and the cost of the boards is not prohibitive. The great thing about cutting your own frames is that once you cut it you can keep the consequences of the medium, which can then be turned into a frame for a smaller photograph. This saves money and helps qualify your media cutting machine investment.
Most of the manual mounting cutters available in art stores come with the cutting head only and not with a guide ruler. For successful bevel cutting and good corner cleaning, a guide rule that the cutting head runs on is essential for good results. FrameCo systems are ideal for the do-it-yourself framer or small workshop.
Mounting cutters also come attached to a base board or just the straight edge ruler. The socket makes the system more stable, easier to use and more reproducible, however, to cut a few montages per year for your own photo work, the head / ruler systems are sufficient.
Another consideration is sizing or reducing full-size sheets. Large professional mounting cutters are big enough to take the full size blade. But a sharp Stanley knife and ruler can be used to cut full-size blades into the blank sizes ready for bevel cutting. FrameCo has a 90 degree straight cutter, which will also adhere to the ruler. This can be used to cut the mounting plate to size and is safe and easy to use. The advantage of this optional cutting head is that it can also be used to cut foam core boards up to mm thick. Use the same blade as the bevel cutter.
Cut a single-bevel mount
The technique for cutting bevel brackets is quick and easy. After cutting the mounting plate to the correct size to fit the frame, adjust the lines on the back of the mounting plate to the border size you need. The bevel cutter head sticks to the ruler, making it stable when cutting. Another feature of the head is that it has a start / stop indicator line. Following the ruled lines on the back of the mount makes it easy to get good straight bevels, but to get clean, sharp corners, you need to know where to start and stop cutting. Indicator mark ensures no corner cuts, giving you a professional cut mount every time.
Cut a double bevel assembly
Ruler lines on the back of the frame. The start and stop line guarantees perfect curves.
Cut a double bevel assembly
Double brackets enhance most images. A narrow swatch of color can bring out dark spots on your subject, increasing the contrast between light and dark, thereby improving image sharpness. Therefore, a double bracket is not only decorative, but also functional. The “secret” to cutting a double bracket, so that the inner bracket edges are exactly parallel to the outer bracket edges, is NOT to cut two separate brackets and then glue them together. The best way is to cut the top bracket first, then tape the two together with double-sided tape (i.e. the top and bottom brackets, then cut the bottom bracket). The reason for doing it this way is that it uses the same edge as a reference point to measure. Then the frame will be aligned with each other and it will look good.
It may sound confusing, but it isn’t once you get the hang of it! The most important aspect of saddle cutting is that with the right tools you can get a professional result with relative ease.
Once you have mastered cutting single and double assemblies, you can also add decorative finishes to assemblies, which will enhance the image and add value to all your assembly work.
Decorative V-groove
One of the most important techniques in cutting decorative supports is the “V” groove. This is a small V-shaped cutout placed on the front surface of the bracket. The V-groove adds a stylish look to all your frames. It’s that creative touch that gives any image a professional finish.
The professional framing industry uses existing large mount cutters to cut V-grooves. It is a two-stage process because it involves cutting two separate bevel cuts to make the “V” cut. This is difficult to do and there are no guarantees of a perfect and accurate V-groove. FrameCo has introduced GrooveMaster. This is a manual V groove cutter, which cuts the “v” directly into the top surface of the bracket. The GrooveMaster also sticks to the ruler you use for bevel mount cutting, which means it’s accurate and easy to use.
Now V-grooving is within the reach of any DIY picture framing. And the technique is easy to master. You can buy pre-cut brackets and decorate them with a V-groove, which adds value to the bracket and makes it much more versatile.
Making your own framing is ideal for the hobbyist, portraitist, or weekend photographer. You can save on framing costs to more than offset your investment in tools and accessories. You control the mounting and matting stage, and there is great satisfaction in doing it yourself. However, if you have a retail outlet on hand, I don’t suggest you try to compete with the mass market for ready-made frames. These frames are cheap and well made. But there is a significant market for the odd-sized frame that is not available from ready mades. You can cut an odd-sized bracket to fit a standard frame or prepare the frame to fit. However, with your own framing, you can produce your own work and save money doing it in the long run.