Mat Cutter Stance

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Jana

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Aug 12, 2000
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Mansfield, Ohio
Recently on another thread someone mentioned mat cutting stance. It dawned on me that I wasn't sure what that meant.

Soon after I started working at the frame shop we got a Wizard CMC. Boy, has that thing spoiled us!

Recently though, I have dug out the 'dinosaur', our trusty Fletcher cutter, for trimming the ends off Bevel Accents. Some of my initial mat cutting training is coming back, but I still have some questions. I like using the Fletcher a lot and plan to keep it a little less cluttered. (Yes, Purp, you read that right - uncluttered. Ha!)

I went to a Brian Wolf demo once and he talked about how you have to pull your arm/elbow a certain way for straight cuts. Is that part of the 'mat cutting stance'?

Is there more to it and can it be described in words?!
 
Jana,
I, too, am becoming spoiled with the CMC but still use the Fletcher quite a bit. Yesterday, my compressor blew out (boy, was that LOUD! Scared us have to death!) and was I ever glad I still had Ol' Faithful handy.
I was shown this "stance" at the old ABC show in Dallas once, and it has worked for me: The whole point is to stand in such a way that you can make the entire length of the cut without rotating or twisting your wrist at all. The straighter the wrist, the straighter the cut. So, I stand at the end of the cutter with my body slightly to the left of the bar with the cutting head on it, so that my arm with bended elbow can go straight past my body without twisting, keeping my hand and wrist straight. (The outside edge of my right foot is aproximately lined up with the groove the razor goes down when making the cut). I don't know if I have made this clear by this description. Probably some of the others will be clearer.
 
!!!!

I just know, that for me, if I walk up to my mat cutter thinking I can just whip out a quickie mat, it pretty much has something wrong with it every time.
The Mat Stance is just something I call the ritual I go through to focus my attention on how I am standing and how my wrist and arm are aligned. Leslie described about how I do it, except for two things. I make sure I am not putting a lot of weight on the bar with my left hand since it can bow the cut. Then I add the ceremonial puff of air from my mouth, as a blessing before I insert the blade.
Not really,, I do it just in case anything has drifted onto the path of the blade!
I figured I was the only one who needed to focus WITH EACH AND EVERY MAT, and that the rest of you are natural talents!

I have a Glass Cutting Stance, too.
But you may not want to hear about THAT!
 
I've found from teaching hundreds of beginning framers in my classes in Denver, that if you line your belly button up with the end of the lifting bar you have a better chance of keeping your arm straight with the cutting bar. The wrist to the elbow should stay straight the full length of the cut and the elbow not push out at the end of the cut. From the first of the cut to the last, if the arm is straight, the wrist is not pulling the cutter head up and out. The blade stays in the board the full length of the cut. People stand to the right too far and the cut has hooks or the blade doesn't go through the board.

Nona Powers, CPF, GCF
www.nonapowers.com
 
Stand comfortably, line up your arm parallel with the bar and lock your wrist. Plunge the blade into the mat and then pull the head towrds you, using your shoulder and elbow, while keeping your wrist locked. This will eliminate those nasty hooks. Above all, practice, practice, Practice!
 
Is the mat cutting stance one of the poses they teach in Yoga class? Because I'm short, I had my husband build me a lower table for my mat cutter so I could still stand in the proper stance even when cutting larger mats. My old table was too high and I would wind up almost laying on the cutter to reach. :eek:
 
I've worked with a number of people who stand to the left of (alongside) the machine. I'm convinced that they are wrong, although some of the more petite ladies seem to have little choice.
 
Mat cutters stance:

Two minutes to psych onesself up.
45 seconds preparation drawing lines.
1 minute setting guides.
2 Minutes changing blades.
30 seconds getting the correct expression on your face.
10 minutes answering the telephone.
cut the mat-repeat steps 1-5 because you have lost the facial expression.

This is Stance sometimes called technique.

Jack Cee
 
I don't believe that there is any absolute dead WRONG way to cut a mat.

Case in point, Brian Wolfe!! Any of you who have taken any of his workshops will know what I am talking about! For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of spending a day with Brian chopping up matboards, he stands alongside his mat cutter almost at the opposite end where most of us stand and cuts with his LEFT hand PUSHING the cutter head across the matboard! Backwards!! And I am sure that you all have seen at least some of the results of HIS work in articles, tapes, and maybe up close and personal at a workshop.

I believe that changing blades often will have a very positive effect on the outcome of anybody's mat cuts combined with some of the tips already passed on by others on this thread. Insertion of the blade is critical. This is the place where most of the "hooks" occur. (Little curved ends to your mat cut.)

I change blades more often than most people because I feel that it is worth the effort to change a 10&#162 blade before you wind up ruining a $15.00 to $25.00 matboard.

Seth's tip on locking your wrist is also a good one. It helps to guide the cutter head in a perfectly straight line and minimizes the chance of getting a wavy cut if your cutter head bushings are a little loose or out of adjustment.

Bottom line, experiment using the tips and stances talked about here and combine what works best for your height and cutting methods until you arrive at that one combination that will give you a nice clean straight cut and then stick to it.

Framerguy
 
I stand corrected.

I think that using a sharpened linoleum cutter and a wooden yard stick with no way of holding it down at both ends MAY be the wrong way to cut a mat.

FGII
 
I had no idea there WAS a framing stance or that cutting mats was such a complex operation. The first mat I cut tomorrow is probably going to be a disaster. I think it's dangerous to think too much about walking down the stairs, too.
 
Hey, that Briane Wolfe left handed thing is something to see. I am left handed and stance or no stance it took me about 2 weeks to strengthen my right hand so I could consistently cut through the board. I probably had been framing a couple of years when I saw him work. I was fascinated with the pushing of the blade. It was also great to watch because I didn't have to tilt my head to see what he was doing. I never tried it though. Now here I am years later so set in my ways. I've got a stronger right hand though.
 


I think that using a sharpened linoleum cutter and a wooden yard stick with no way of holding it down at both ends MAY be the wrong way to cut a mat.

FGII
Click to expand...
Sharpen it? Why would you do that? That 'softened' edge can be soooo attractive!
 
Yeah, Ellen, I suppose sharpening WOULD be a total waste of time. :D

FGII
 
She didn't use a wooden yardstick, but the woman who started me framing when we were both in photography school cut her mats with a linoleum knife, which she sharpened, as needed, to a lethal edge. I still have some of her mats and they're not bad. She neglected to mention "the stance," though, so I'm sure I'm doing it all wrong.
 
I noticed that the thread title here was "Mat Cutter Stance". Since the thread started, I've been paying particularly close attnetion to our Fletcher. Its stance hasn't changed in over 2 years. In fact, it just sorta lies there, not really assuming a particular stance.
Could there be something wrong with it? Should it be assuming various tricksy stances and/or poses? Inquiring minds want to know....

Just a little levity, folks. Don't everybody get on me at once. Janet is the mat-cutting master, and her stance works well for her. She almost always turns out perfect, or near-perfect mats. It doesn't seem to matter HOW I stand, I always screw up any mat I try to cut. I've tried standing on one foot, holding my left ankle with my right hand...nothing seems to help.
 
I've always taken a very positive stance on mat cutting, I'm for it! Sorry, just had to come in and see what youse guys are talking about. Carry on.
 
I used the Fletcher cutter a few years before Jana came to our shop and got pretty good on it. Then we got our Wizard and I am really spooled. However, I don't want to forget my Fletcher skills. I cut mats on it every time our electric goes out, using a flashlight. It keeps me in practice. There are things you can do on the Fletcher you cannot do on the Wizard.
 
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