Have CMC's "taken away" from the trade?

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Lance E

Lance E

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Oct 31, 1999
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Hamilton, New Zealand
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Imageland
Maybe it should be a poll, hard to word though...

A point was raised by Reynard on another thread about CMC's "making any old bloke a framer".

I disagree, my impression is that it has opened a framers mind exceptionally, making design skill the factor to help set him/her apart. Late last year I introduced a CMC into our workshop, mostly production type work with little design emphasise, intially a learning curve as opposed to hand cutting boards. At the time I had a young fella (18 I think) working for me, this machine allowed him to almost instantly realise and bring new design ideas into our workplace. This would not have happened for a great deal of time had he not had this machine to do the work.

As for the "machine" appearance of mats, that can depend on the framers "new skill" of filling any rugged corners. Patience was a virtue when hand cutting, it still is, depends on the operator.

Thoughts?
 
Lance, a good argument could be made for both sides of this issue. Like many things in life, it's not so much what you do or don't do, it's your attitude toward it.

Since we don't have one, we market ourselves as "doing things the way craftsmen have done them for centuries" and "you just can't beat the loving hands of a caring craftsman". However, when we do get one we will change that to "embracing the latest technology".

Granted they get a craftsman "up to speed" quicker, but the key word there is "craftsman" (or "person" to be more p-c). A cmc is another "tool", just like the power saw or shaper was once upon a time in this trade.

Betty
 
I think the CMC in our industry is analogous to the auto-focus, auto-everything camera in the photo biz. A few people actually thought these cameras would turn EVERYONE in to a competant photographer. Anyone who's ever done commercial photofinishing knows it hasn't happened, because most people still don't know where to point the camera or when to push the shutter. You end up with lots of properly-exposed and focused photos of nothing.

What the CMC has done for me is to give me the confidence to offer more complex designs, mostly in the area of mult-window, multi-layer mats. The best example is one I've given before. I had a horribly complex mat to cut, pre-CMC. It took me literally a full day to lay it out and mark the boards and another 1/2-day to cut it. If it had been off by 1/8" somewhere, I would have had to start all over.

After I got my CMC, I took my measurements from the original project, programmed it into the CMC and cut it perfectly in about 20 minutes, including layout time.

I do a lot of complex collage mats for newspaper and magazine articles. Even a bad CMC saves me countless hours each week.
 
Today's Thursday so I've gotta agree with Ron again. I heard something like 25 million digital cameras were sold last year. I got a nice one, but still prefer my 60s era nikons. Too many people wil be looking at the LCD screens and missing the pictures they could capture if they would just compose through the lense. I sill keep my manual mat cutter in the shop, but I shudder when I think about the time involved in doing some mats manually that I create on my CMC and cut perfectly in the time it takes cool a hot cup of coffee. Example: simple 60 opening (pictures and name block) double mat for church choir. Maybe 20 minutes if I count the interruptions. Made up a nice package for valentines day pictures--heart shaped mat opening, ready made frame and photo enlargement for our photo labs one-hour processing customers. With the CMC we could cut the mat (double) and adjust the shape of the heart to fit the customer's picture. I do pull that manual cutter out once in a while and everyone has to learn how to use it.You can stil make mistakes with a CMC, but in no time you also can make beautiful mats.
 
There is more to being a framer than mat cutting skills. I look at my CMC as a time-saver, nothing more.
If one wants to complain about a CMC use, he ought to complain about the use of finished moulding, fabric covered mats, and any other product we use to simplify the work, such as marking pens for line work and Mat Magic for panels. Time has to be saved in the workshop to keep framing affordable for the customer and give framers a life outside the workroom.
 
When I started as a framer, there was a fellow in the shop who used a knife and a straight edge to cut mats. Then Mr. Keaton developed the mat cutter. Could the same thing be said about what we NOW consider as a standard tool as opening the gates as "anyone can now be a framer" with this tool?

The same is true in many professions, the equipment changes; but, the art of the eye and the hands are still there.
 
Time has to be saved in the workshop to keep framing affordable for the customer and give framers a life outside the workroom.
Click to expand...
I agree with the thought that it is a time saver.

To me it's like the difference between driving a horse and buggy and a car. They will both get you to your final destination, the car will just get you there faster.On the other hand, Your chances of crashing in the car are greater also.

Just because you have the machine does not mean you know how to use it or can cut great mats. There is allot to learn to get the full benefits of the machine.(I havn't made it there yet,But I'm trying. ;) )

It is a great time saver!!
 
The CMC is one of several advances that are changing the nature of framing. Other examples are v-nailers, frame-design software, and pneumatic & electric hand tools.

There was a time when framing skill was about cutting great miters and precise mats by hand. But we're waaaay past that now. As technology permeates our little industry, the need for manual skills is going away, bit by bit.

But that doesn't mean "any old bloke" can be a qualified framer. These days a framer's worth may be measured by his/her knowledge about preservation of various kinds of things, component compatibilities, mounting methods/materials, and other details that were completely ignored by most framers just a decade ago. Today's best framers know & respect how it used to be done, while employing technology to make it better.

If anything, our business is getting more difficult. In the old days anyone with manual skills could call himself a framer. These days it takes some fairly sophisticated knowledge of business administration just to keep the doors open. The excellent craftsmen who keep their money in coffee cans, and think marketing is all about waiting for the doorbell to ring, are going the way of the dinosaurs.

Our industry's changing, to be sure. But it's certainly not getting any easier to be a framer.
 
There has always been framers that will just slap something in a frame. Give them any advancement in technology and the best it will do is help them slap something in a frame faster.

The difference is the framer's attitude NOT his tools.

I do not yet have a CMC, maybe later this year. I am concerned about the messy cuts I see at the trade shows - is that JUST because they are not changing the blades foe the demo's? or is v-grooves that are not clean, and corners with a little extra mat left at the corner normal?
 
And how about Mylar-D as a technological advance? After learning from the best of some of it's uses, we wouldn't be without.

I think the key word here is learning
 
I have been in the framing business for over 30 years. I started out with a Dexter. I could cut very nice mats with it....and still teach others like artists and schools to use a Dexter. I moved on to a C&H then Keencut and never turned anything away " oh sure we can do that".
I had always dreamed and joked about having a computer cut my mats. My arms and back would be stressed and in pain after a long day at the manual cutter.
My daughter attended a trade show without me and just rented a Wizard because she was so mesmerised by the CMC ( she was pregnant at the time and found it very didficult to cut ANY mats !) It arrived and I looked upon it with "great suspicion". "Why let this machine do this when I can cut it just as fast" ? I harummped around for a few days then...
THEN we had a whole bunch of multiple opening mats to do for the college right after we got the CMC and the light "went on in my head" ...hummmm??..I GET it!!
We rented it for a few years then decided to buy a Mat Maestro ( thats another story) Even with the crankiness of the M /M CMC we have been way ahead of the game . We will be receiving a new Wizard in late April.

We have had times when we have been without the CMC and had been really panicked! Oh my gosh we have to cut a mat by hand! Fortunately this is not a problem and it is an easy thing for us since we learned to do "hand cut" mats from the beginning.

I DO recommend that anyone take a class from John Ranes or someone in the basic cutting of mats even it you DO have a CMC. There is something about this basic knowledge that will help you design and cut your mats even if you Do have a CMC.
 
Eric--if the cuts are bad or v-grooves don't look clean it could be the blades or adjustment. Certainly that's not smart selling if they are showing that at a trade show? A sharp blade is necessary in both a CMC and manual cutter. Blades are cheaper than mats so they should be replaced frequently. If your CMC has a sharp blade and is adjusted properly you will have no problem cutting a vgroove in one color mat and using the fallout as a highlight in the same size vgroove you cut in another color. Cuts clean and it is repeatable. Just store your design on a disk and do it again next week.
 
Y'all knew I was going to weigh in on this topic! Call me a Luddite, but I still feel that anything a CMC can do, I can do just as well, I'm still cutting on a 1980 Keeton and a Carrithers signature, I still do V-Grooves manually (see my article in the current issue of PFM) and my clientelle appreciates the work done by a keen mind, steady hand and a loving heart. I personally feel that CMCs are a crutch, but then again, I was taught that mat guides and stops are also crutches, and that anyone who can't learn how to cut mats without them have no business cutting them. (Ira Frencle taught me how to cut mats, and is the one who should be given credit for my having this POV)
 
After my grandmother pased away about ten years ago, I came across an old picture framing book in her garage. The book was about 75 years old. It was almost like a magazine without the advertising, many different articals and subjects. One artical was about a survey sent out to picture framers in the late 1800s. the survey asked the question " What is the most hated task in a picture framing shop? " Every response recieved had, as the first thing on their list, " Cutting Mats ".

I learned to cut mats with a streight edge and a very sharp utility knife. In those days, mat cutting was without a doubt, the most hated job we had. Todays shops have so much sophisticated equipment I find it hard to believe there actually is a hated task in a framing shop any more. We have Thumb nailers, Double cut off saws, CMCs, V nailers, wall cutters, etc. Framing today is a piece of cake compared to just 35 years ago.

In answer to the original question, have CMCs taken away from the craft? my answer is a resounding NO! These days it's a pleasure to go to work, your never "sweating" about an upcomming project, not with todays equipment.

John

[ 03-13-2003, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: JRB ]
 
Bogframe
Just (in jest) one word "Paleolithic".


I believe it has changed the face of our craft and it has taken a segment of the craftmanship out of framing. But as with what the desk top publisher software did to the professional artists. It gave alot of very unqualified people the ability to do something beyond their ability. Not that they can't learn. In short it is not cutting the mat it is how well it is designed for the items to be framed. The cmc will not do that only the properly trained and experienced framer can do that. Poor design is not excused by a perfect cut. So today you do not have to learn how to cut a mat. You only have to learn how to design one. PRODUCTIVITY the computer age is here to stay.
We love our WIZARD CMC>
But you have to watch out it tried to fire me yesterday. Thank G-D for senority.

[ 03-13-2003, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: GUMBY ]
 
I agree with those who say NO!I haven't read all the comments but then I don't think I need to,in order to answer this . So If I'm redundant please excuse me.
I have a daughter that is about to get her degree in art and then go on to work for the Disney corporation. The only problem is she abhors Computer art. She feels it is "Cheating". Boy will her attitude have to change. I and others have tried to explain to her that the Computer is merely a tool like easels and brushes . By this I mean it is simplely a tool that we need to master. If we do it can make some of those "TASK' much easier and free us up to do even more impressive things.
e.g. Have you looked at an old copy of "Steamboat Wille" and now looked at the likes of what Disney is produceing?They are both ART but isn't what you see now much better?
I have seen a lot of things cut with a CMC ,by a lot of different Framers.Belive me there Is a WORLD of differance. I only wish I could do what I have seen some do with the same machines,and I have been to several classes. These machines only produce what we tell them to. You know the old cliche,"Garbage in Garbage out."
So to those who think everyone will be produceing the same things with the same quality ,I say think again. Those of us who learn what we need to will do what has alereay been done with the old equipmentonly much more elaborately,if for no other reason ,because we'll have more time.
Another example is JRB spoke about the days when framers used a straight edge and a knife.Have you seen what Brian Wolfe does with and exacto knife and NO straight edge? Same Tools ,but boy is there a differance isn't there? So it isn't what tools you use (No matter what they are) but your skill in useing them that makes the differance.However I still am in awe of those Old guys no matter how advanced the CMC get and they will continue to advace.
By the way ,everyone is aware that Brian now works for one of the major CMC distributors? Does taht say anything ? It should both about Brian and the CMCs.
BUDDY
 
When we began, I cut mats on the old Fletcher cutter, we now call the dinosaur, but still use, and by hand with an exacto knife, and with a dahle cube.

We now have a CMC. I love it, especially the multiple opening part. Everything we draw is made up of simple circles, squares, triangles, etc. If I can imagine the picture in my head, I can put those shapes together and make the mat, sometimes using the exacto knife or dahle cube to cut features outside the box.

I do not know how to use the CAD program, but would love to know how.
 
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