Question Dust Cover Trimmer: Pros & Cons

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Use a Dust Cover Trimmer? Or a Bare Blade?

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    12
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I

ItMe

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jul 13, 2018
Posts
7
Loc
Chicago, IL
Hello,

I am moving to a new shop and they don't use dust cover trimmers for their backing. I've always used one, but they just use a bare razor blade. Seems safer and quicker to just use the trimmer.

Is there any merit to using the bare blade? Or is it just a matter of preference/budget, do you think?

I'm thinking of just buying my own and bringing it with, but I wouldn't want to come across as obstinate! :) What do you all think?
 
Use what you are comfortable with, whatever does the job, and is quickest.

That would be a used Wizard blade for me.
 
tedh said:
Use what you are comfortable with, whatever does the job, and is quickest.

That would be a used Wizard blade for me.
Click to expand...
Same here. Those are great, and it's nice to get some extra use out of them when they are past their prime for mat cutting. I also use used C+H1200SE blades.
It's mainly a matter of learning the proper way to hold the blade while using a finger or thumb as a guide along the frame edge. I can very neatly trim the paper within 1/16" of the edge with no problem
:cool: Rick
 
Same here, lol. Those 1200SE blades are gold.

But 15 years of using the Wizard, and the 1200 blades that float around the shop are becoming scarce.
 
I modified our dust cover trimmer to accept our CMC blades. Never a shortage. In my experience, a trimmer is less likely to get caught in the grain of the wood versus hand trimming.

Andrew
 
Seems like a 50/50 split. I'm just gonna bring one. If they don't want me to use it, I guess I'll practice the other way. It seems like it would be better to have me putting out smooth, professional edges right away rather than jagged crooked sticky backing!! :D
 
After almost 50 years of framing, when I grip a mat cutter blade like a 1200 or a 1200 SE in my hand and using my thumb or my index finger as a guide, my hand almost becomes like the head on a manual mat cutter.:cool:
I use my thumb on the left side and my index finger on the right side. (I'm right handed)

You can use the trimmer tool if you want, whatever works for you.
We had a person working in the shop who always used the trimmer tool.
Once in a while the tool would slip and the blade would go off the edge of the frame and slice or scratch the frame and it would then have to be touched up.
This has never happened to me using just the bare blade in my hand.
 
neilframer said:
After almost 50 years of framing, when I grip a mat cutter blade like a 1200 or a 1200 SE in my hand and using my thumb or my index finger as a guide, my hand almost becomes like the head on a manual mat cutter.:cool: I use my thumb on the left side and my index finger on the right side. (I'm right handed)
Click to expand...
Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about.
;) Rick
 
neilframer said:
After almost 50 years of framing, when I grip a mat cutter blade like a 1200 or a 1200 SE in my hand and using my thumb or my index finger as a guide, my hand almost becomes like the head on a manual mat cutter.:cool:
I use my thumb on the left side and my index finger on the right side. (I'm right handed)

You can use the trimmer tool if you want, whatever works for you.
We had a person working in the shop who always used the trimmer tool.
Once in a while the tool would slip and the blade would go off the edge of the frame and slice or scratch the frame and it would then have to be touched up.
This has never happened to me using just the bare blade in my hand.
Click to expand...
I always thought left-handers made better framers, Neil :cool::rolleyes:
 
When I first learned framing way back in the Dark Ages, I was taught to spread Elmer's Glue on the back of the frame, turn it upside down and lay it on the dust cover paper. Put a couple sheets of glass on the frame and let dry. When dry, flip it over and use sandpaper to "cut" excess off. Loose paper? Mist it with water from a spray bottle or wet with a damp sponge. Let dry.

I gave that "quick" method up in the Dark Ages ;)

Never did like the trimmers, though, have always used a blade, ambidextrously!!!
 
Joe B said:
Utility knife for me - using the thumb as a guide you can easily control the utility knife to cut wherever you want - and I don't get cut (generally):rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I've always used a utility knife. As long as it's not too big of a frame, then on the top and right sides I use my index finger as the guide against the frame and on the left and bottom sides I use my thumb as the guide. A tip my former boss taught me when I first started in framing is to hold the utility knife so it is angled slightly sideways. I thought he was silly and that can't possibly make any difference in how it cuts, but I gotta tell ya, it does seem to cut a bit nicer when you do that.
 
Learned using the 1200 SE blades. The bevel side toward the frame and run the blade down the side of the frame at an angle just cutting the paper. Then got into a shop where they required a trimmer for safety & consistency. The only issue with the trimmer, is that some mouldings flake and I have had instances where a whole side flaked off. Even when using a light touch, you are still scoring the wood underneath. When I come across mouldings like these that want to flake, I go back to just using a blade, otherwise, I use a trimmer.
 
I learned to trim using just a mat cutting blade, but I found a dust cover trimmer and tried it out a few times. I found I had less control using it, since the pressure of holding the blade to the back of the frame was much higher, plus I couldn't feel the edge of the frame so I ended up putting more pressure on the outside edge of the frame to keep the tool in place...Which ended up putting rub marks on a couple of frames. I'm a tactile kind of person, so I find the loose blade in my hand to be far more responsive and safe for the frame.
 
First, I put a frame point under the blade (against the slight notch) to splay it out to about 3/32, especially useful with frames with a rounded edge. Use only a sharp blade and it's about the easiest tool to use in my shop. If applying any significant pressure of any sort, the blade is dull or you're using it wrong.
 
Burnishing bone and single-edged razor blade.
 
hand held for as long as I can remember. I can use either hand, any finger as a guide... quickly making a straight thin cut, no warbles no rips!
pinch the blade, guide with finger and wallah!
 
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