How to cut mat and glass for picture framing
Standard-sized mats are readily available and very affordable, but if you're using non-standard materials or framing non-standard-sized artwork, you're going to need to cut your own mat and glass
There’s nothing better than a beautiful frame and matting to make a piece of artwork stand out. But let’s face it, professional framing is expensive, and you have a shop full of tools that can produce perfect 45º angles consistently – right? It’s time to make your own frames!
In his recent article, Michael Cullen shows you how to make a perfect frame and mount your prized artwork—but don’t let yourself fall short when it comes time to properly cut the mat.
For this video, we coaxed Jeff Roos out from behind the camera to put his mat-cutting skills to use. Using a mat cutter isn’t difficult, but it certainly does take some practice. As with anything, the right tooling is helpful, and Jeff uses mat cutter with a guide rail that takes as many variables out of the process as possible. The process can be done with simpler tools, but as Mike Pekovich always says, use any excuse you can to buy a new tool.
More on FineWoodworking.com:
- How To Make A Standing Picture Frame – Turn it around to change the picture
- Build a Greene-and-Greene Picture Frame – Shallow carving combines nicely with classic cloud-lift curves
- Picture-Perfect Clamps – For all mitered joints and budgets, there are clamps to get the job done right
Comments
Ben's love of Dave Fisher continues. Nice print!
Am I that transparent?
I'd love to be able to watch some of the videos posted but it appears that they only work on Apple - or at least my laptop tells me this is not supported. Bearing in mind that we are not all rollneck jumper wearing navel grazers is there any chance of these vids being supported on Windows and Android?
We're going to need more information so we can troubleshoot it. What system are you on and what browser are you using?
Two comments come to mind:
If you are using a handheld cutter it would be better to use a much stiffer straightedge.
The mat should be the same size on the outside as the glass. In other words 1/8" less than the rabbet to rabbet dimension. Matboard is hygroscopic and will expand and buckle with humidity if you size it without this allowance.
Very interesting. 1 comment: As everyone knows, the edges of annealed glass are rather sharp. Freshly cut glass makes a new razor blade seem dull in comparison. I suggest using a pair of gloves that have the blue rubberized coating They are cut resistant, NOT cut proof, and give a good grip on the glass. You don't want it sliding in your hand.
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