#EASY CUT STUDIO MAKE MAT LONGER FULL#

Proportions can vary, too, so you can leave more mat at the bottom if youвЂ™d like (or the top or sides). Now, IвЂ™m very fond of doing double mats and fancy mats, but there are any number of designs you can create. Once the outer edges of my mat are cut (thatвЂ™s the easy part) I put away the straight cutter head and get ready to mark up the inside opening which IвЂ™ll cut with the bevel cutter (shown below). because wherever the rail goes, so will the cutter. Since itвЂ™s not mounted to a board, it can slip if you donвЂ™t have it secured by someone leaning on it.ДЄnd as you cut, youвЂ™ll want to focus most of your efforts on keeping the guide rail steady. If youвЂ™re doing a long cut, you may want to have a friend or family member come hold down the guide rail at other intervals so that itвЂ™s more secure. When IвЂ™m on the floor, I generally put one knee and my left hand on the guide rail, putting a fair amount of weight on my left hand while pulling the cutting head with my right hand. I pop it in above the mat board and lean hard on the guide rail before starting my cut. This cutting head has two hooks that slide onto a ridge on the guide rail. (The beveled cutting head works a bit differently, but IвЂ™ll explain that later.) That will give me a cut right down the middle of my penciled mark. Notice that IвЂ™ve lined up the guide rail so that my pencil line is just visible as I cut. When my dimensions are finished, I connect the straight cutting head (shown above) to the guide rail. Sewing shops and craft stores carry them as well as art stores. You might want to invest in a good cutting board with a grid, as it makes checking angles easier. IвЂ™ll use my ruler and sometimes the guide rail itself as a bigger ruler-but I always check the angles with my clear grid ruler when using the guide rail as a super yardstick. When my cutting surface is down, I draw out whatever exterior dimensions I need on the back of the mat board in pencil.

#EASY CUT STUDIO MAKE MAT LONGER FULL#

If youвЂ™re working on a short pile carpet you donвЂ™t really need the cardboard, but if you do work on a table or hardwood floor itвЂ™s good to save the flat boxes that your mat boards (or full sheets of watercolor paper) come in as a cutting surface. Find a large table (at least 40' long) or simply use the floor and lay down some thick corrugated cardboard to catch any scratches that go through the mat board. Once youвЂ™ve got your tools, some mat board, and some art to mat, youвЂ™re ready to begin. Those are often heavy, 1/8' thick clear grid rulers which work great for cutting mats because you can check the angles through the ruler. Many types of clear rulers are available in craft stores, especially for doing quilting.

Getting perfect 90 degree angles isnвЂ™t hard with those two tools, although IвЂ™ve found that measuring is easiest with a clear grid ruler that also has a scale for centering The key to using this Team System 2 mat cutter is to first mark up your mat board exactly like youвЂ™ll be cutting it using a grid ruler, triangle, and pencil.

I also bought a pull-type straight cutting head for about $20 to go with it so that I could cut mat boards into sections before cutting the openings. You get a 40' guide rail and a push-type beveled cutting head. The Logan Team System 2 mat cutter is really a bare-bones setup. Click here to learn more and get a simple art website of your own! Quick announcement - EmptyEasel has created a quicker, easier way for artists to have their own art website. My first investment in mat cutting was a Logan Compact mat cutter, but when Blick put the Logan Team System 2 on sale in 2004, I replaced my old cutter with something much simpler-and found that itвЂ™s just as easy to use. I started cutting my own mats in the 1980s because I often drew in unusual sizes and it cost too much to have specialty mats cut at a store. By Robert Sloan in Art Business Advice > General Art Advice

Easy cut studio make mat longer