Intro and Newbster with questions

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Dan Serra

Grumbler
Joined
Jan 28, 2005
Posts
22
Loc
Los Angeles
Hi my name is Dan I live in the Los Angeles area. I was recently medically & honorably discharged from the Army National Guard. Prior to my unit being activated I worked as a graphic arts designer for a design firm. Prior to that I was a model/prop and protype fabricator.

Due to the injuries I sustained to my legs I can no longer doing a lot of sitting because of the risk of clots. One of my avocations, prior to going into the service was painting with acrylics, airbrush and cast paper sculpture. Something I can do standing up since I suck as a comedianne.
shrug.gif


My wife wanted to set up a business selling my pieces of which I have many. She thought of combining the framing/matting operation as a home based business and selling at the local shows. I have accumulated enough start up cash to do this but I have to be wary of my spending. So I was wondering if you season pro's could advise me on a few things. I have never framed art but I have good skills as a cabinet maker and I am familiar with just about every tool on the planet.

I have found a local shop that is down sizing his operation and he has a number of things for sale. His main agenda is selling his stuff so I have to temper his advice with that in mind. I have also been scrounging around on Ebay.

Thus far I have acquired the following:

Fletcher 5100 V nailer pneumatic
Fletcher 2100 48" w/stops & squaring arm
Esterly Speed mat with circle cutter
Morso model f chopper
Phaedra fence
C+H circle mat cutter #789A 28"
Clearmount Heat Sealer 32"

As a fluke while I was out buying the Fletcher 2100 & C+H in person my wife was bidding on the Speed-mat on Ebay and won it, so we may end up selling the Fletcher & C+H circle cutter. We may sell the heat sealer too since we bought one at the show.

My questions are as follows if you can help me:

I have an opportunity to buy a Corona hot/cold vacuum press for about $600 in good condition. The guy who's selling has two and tells me that it is important to have for quality mounts. Is that the case? For higher productivity and quality or are there other methods that might be better. I would rather get something that is time efficient to spend less time doing this process rather rather spray and mount.

I bought the Phaedra Quadrant fence system with no saw. I can only afford consumer chop saws atm and I was considering the Dewalt DW705 12". Is it better do you think to set up two straight away or is one ok to start with?

We are thinking about possibly buying a 60" Phaedra Chronomat mat cutter. Does anyone have any experience with this unit?

I went to the West Coast Art and Framing Show and it was quite overwhelming from the stand point of one starting out. I was too late to get into classes but I bought a number of books and tapes to get started. Since I am the customer doing my own work and not having to jump through every whoop (for now) I am learning the basics. Are there any other educational resources that you would recommend?

What are the basic consumables to get (tapes, glues, staples etc).

I am also still looking for more used equipment, besides this forum and Ebay are there any other resources?

Wish list:
Jun air compressor model 6-10, 6-15
Glass cutter Fletcher 3100 or equiv

This is a wonderful forum thank you all.

Dan
 
Two thoughts, Dan:

Original art is not typically permanently mounted. If you're going to mount posters and decorative prints, the mounting press might be a good deal. If you expect to frame mostly original art, save the money and space.

Let's see - I promised you two. Oh yeah . . .

Unless you expect to cut Masonite or hardboard, consider the Fletcher 3000 rather than the 3100. It will cut matboard, glass, fomeboard and Acrylic like a champ and greatly enhance your efficiency.

Good luck in your new venture.
 
Wow, Great inroduction Dan! Nice to meet you. I wish more people would introduce themselves. Nice to know who people are.

The only comment I have is on the saw situation. Use two if you can. Saves you the trouble of switching it and I think the switching back and forth has to uncalibrate the blade at some point. When I first bought my shop it had two little dinky dewalt 8" saws which obviously were on their last legs. So, I brought my Dewalt from home and bought a decent blade. But it was a royal pain just using the one. Not to mention I would forget to switch the angles and I biffed more than a couple that way. I luckily upgraded to a used Brevetti and never looked back. So, set up two saws if you can.

Good luck, and welcome to the Grumble!
 
Dan,

Don't think you have to have everything under the sun to start :D Better to start slow and use your cash for your future cash flow needs.

my 2 cents!

welcome to the grumble and good luck!!

elaine
 
As a starting point I might suggest you subscribe to Picture Framing Magazine and/or Decor Magazine . Not only will you get up to the minute information on recent developments in the trade, techniques, ideas, etc., but both will give you a whole list of suppliers/distributors in the Southern California area.

There are several framing schools across the country. Most of them, I believe, run about two weeks long and vary in price somewhat. You might be able to find those, too, in PFM or Decor.
 
...and let us not forget PPFA, the Professional Picture Framers' Assn. There is, I believe, an active chapter in your area. This will be a good link-up to colleagues in your area. I think you can go to ppfa.com to join...
 
And lets not forget FACTS, where you can find out guidelines for preservation framing and standrds that have been set for materials to use plus lots of other information. www.artfacts.org
 
Welcome to the Grumble Dan:

One item that I would recommend in addition to what's already been mentioned would be a miter sander. It eliminates the imperfections from the blade getting "uncalibrated" as Kathy mentioned above. It's next to impossible to find a used one, but the cost of a new one is well worth the money IMHO.

There are a few different brands at various prices out there. I have only used the ITW AMP, but if you search the grumble archives, we have had some very in depth discussions on the pros and cons of the different ones available.

Good luck with your adventure.
 
Hi Dan,

Welcome to The Grumble. You'll find lot's of good people here who are willing to help.

As for the equipment you have purchased or are considering buying, I would stop at this point before you waste a lot of money. The most important tool, and the one you should acquire first, is knowledge. Many of the items you've mentioned are obsolete or unlikely to put profit in your pocket:

Corona has been out of business for a number of years. What will you do when it breaks? Don't buy a machine that you can't get parts for.

The Fletcher 5100 was a bad idea from a good company. It too is obsolete. The Esterly is an uncommon acquisition for a startup and most oval cutters take up space and collect dust.

Too many people go into the picture framing business thinking it's all about equipment and learning to make frames. In my experience, making frames is easy; making money much more difficult. Succesful framers learn to make both.

Feel welcome to contact me at 860-940-9262 and I'll be glad to help you.

I'd also like to invite you to look at my school's website at www.pictureframingschool.com. Quite a number of Grumblers are graduates of The American Picture Framing Academy.
 
The Esterly is an uncommon acquisition for a startup and most oval cutters take up space and collect dust.

Sorry Paul, but I like my Esterly Speed Mat! I know it has limitations, but most jobs only require rectangles, and the speed mat does a great job! I like not having to have to maually turn the mat and reset the stops for different sized borders.

As for oval cutters, I have only been in business for almost 4 months, and have only had one order for an oval mat, and that I just had someone else cut it (Sara-Graphics... free delivery with my Don Mar orders).

Dad, I'm a graduate of Paul's Academy. He saved me a lot of money and space. Without the knowledge he passed on to me, I would have all sorts of useless equipment taking up space and collectin dust. Take his advice and Elaines, start out with the minimum and build up from there.
 
Thank you all

My wife really like the Esterly at the show. The whole notion of a wall mount unit made sense to her and after trying a standard mat cutter this reinforced her decision to buy the Esterly. We bought it used for a very reasonable cost.

The circle mat cutter is actually for my own project. I am making some cast paper sculpture of an ancient Roman coin (12") patinaed to look like the real thing. My subject for the fascia of the coin is none other than our beloved president. Yes its a political piece, themed in such a way where his admirers and detractors both walk way with something.


I just got an email from the guy who is shrinking his shop with a list of other items he is selling.
One item that stood out was a Wizard CMC-5000 computer mat cutter. He is asking $5,000. Is this a good unit and how old it is it? I went to the company's site and they didn't list this model so I assume that it may be old. He says it works fine.

The picture framing business is no different than any other business. Art is not about paint and canvas but what you do with them. My applications in this business are finite in the sense that I will be framing my own work for resale. The client will of course have the option of changing it, but I will not be taking outside work. Its similar in a sense for those of you that sell finished prints for resale.

Paul I'll call you on Monday.
 
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