Bruce Watson
Grumbler in Training
I'm a Grumble newbie. I've been searching the archives and haven't found what I'm looking for, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask.
I'm a photographer. Your basic starving artist. I do my own framing because I'm doing a very small subset of what a real framer does. Single opening window mats, all rectangular. Metal frames, OP-3 glazing, very low volume. Nothing that would require me to develop the level of craft that y'all exhibit. The only difficulties lie in the size (up to 40x60 mats), and the range of plys (2-8).
I need a mat cutter that can handle the large mats at 8 ply, and still do the small mats at 2 ply. I'm looking at the Fletcher, the Chronomat, the Keencut, and the Speed-mat.
What kind of risk am I taking in trying to buy this equipment used? What's going to wear out - what should I be looking for to tell me to pass on a particular used unit? Are there dealers out there that specialize in used framing equipment? If so, who are they? Other than dealers, where should I look for used mat cutters?
Finally, what are the big framing industry trade shows? It might make sense for me to attend at least one so that I can put my hands on this equipment and maybe learn enough to confuse me
Thanks for your help.
I'm a photographer. Your basic starving artist. I do my own framing because I'm doing a very small subset of what a real framer does. Single opening window mats, all rectangular. Metal frames, OP-3 glazing, very low volume. Nothing that would require me to develop the level of craft that y'all exhibit. The only difficulties lie in the size (up to 40x60 mats), and the range of plys (2-8).
I need a mat cutter that can handle the large mats at 8 ply, and still do the small mats at 2 ply. I'm looking at the Fletcher, the Chronomat, the Keencut, and the Speed-mat.
What kind of risk am I taking in trying to buy this equipment used? What's going to wear out - what should I be looking for to tell me to pass on a particular used unit? Are there dealers out there that specialize in used framing equipment? If so, who are they? Other than dealers, where should I look for used mat cutters?
Finally, what are the big framing industry trade shows? It might make sense for me to attend at least one so that I can put my hands on this equipment and maybe learn enough to confuse me

Thanks for your help.