Clean cutting mats

[Nancy S.]

In the conservation series, does Bainbridge cut crisper/cleaner than Crescent on very intricate cuts?

I am looking for the crispness of Tru Vue and the color selection of Crescent.

Thanks

 

[Jerry Ervin]

Try Crescent Rag mat. It is very durable and withstands a lot of the abuse we as framers put it through.

 

[Ron Eggers]

Bainbridge and Crescent each have multiple "conservation" series boards.

Crescent has Crescent Rag which is actually a brand name for the cotton-based boards with the colored face sheet. That's probably the one Jerry's recommending. They also have the Museum Rag, which is a solid rag board. Now they have the Select Series of purified wood-pulp boards.

Bainbridge has the Alphamat series, another purified wood-pulp product, and the AlphaRag, which is a solid rag board.

All of these will cut differently. Personally, I think the AlphaRag cuts cleaner than the Crescent Museum Rag board. If you like the way Tru Vue cuts, you might also like the Alphamat, Crescent Select or even L-J's Artique line. All of these are purified wood-pulp alpha-cellulose boards.

Don't know about you, but I have a headache now.

 

[Nancy S.]

Sorry, I asked for help too quickly. I figured out the problem. It was my own mistake.

I have always used (and loved) Crescent Rags, but I mistakenly ordered some of the solid rag this time. And then I tried doing something I've never tried before, so I compounded the problem. Not at all unusual for me.

The solid rag was just too soft for what I was doing. It shredded a bit. Then I cut some of the Tru Vue UltiBlack and it was stunning. So, of course, I want them all to look like that now!

The reason for my Bainbridge question was because I thought someone had said that it cut crisper than Crescent.

Ron, thanks for the matboard refresher course! I just took my Tylenol. Shall I send you a couple?

And Jerry Ervin, you have responded to every one of my posts so far. Thank you!

Betty Newman said I would find some nice people here.

 

[Rick Granick]

Nancy- I also feel that, among the solid-color-all-the-way-through rag solids, the Alpharag Artcare boards are a bit stiffer and cut more cleanly than the Crescent Rag Mat Solids. The Crescents are softer overall, and can sometimes leave a little roughness along the cut edge. In any case, I like to burnish the bevels after cutting whenever using any of these boards.
Rick

 

[Nancy S.]

Thanks Rick. The Crescent rag solids are incredibly soft, beautiful mats. I would usually just burnish them, too, but the particular mats in question have about 60 or more corners. The rag solids were overkill on those mats anyway. I just need to use a stiffer board on them.

I'm going to have to try Bainbridge just to satisfy my on curiosity.
Nancy