Clean cutting mats
- Thread starter Nancy S.
- Start date
Jerry Ervin
PFG, Picture Framing God
Try Crescent Rag mat. It is very durable and withstands a lot of the abuse we as framers put it through.
Ron Eggers
SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Rick
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
I'm going to have to try Bainbridge just to satisfy my on curiosity.
Nancy