Tabla de contenido
HOW TO CUT MATS
The most important requirement for cutting a good mat is a sharp blade. Mats are abrasive and will wear out a blade
eventually. The value of a well cut mat is far greater than the cost of a blade.
1. Prepare a slip sheet about 8" (200mm) wide and 40" (1016mm) long
and place it under the Mat Clamp (A). Use a piece of mat the same
thickness as the one you will be cutting and lay it on top of the slip
sheet. Press down on the Handle lightly to hold the mat in place.
Slide the Cutting Head (B) beyond the edge of the mat and rotate
the Pivot to insert the blade in the slip sheet. You can now observe
the tip of the blade which should penetrate about 1/3 the thickness of
the slip sheet. Mats of a different thickness will require retesting and
adjustment of the blade extension. If you press down on the Handle
with too much force, the Mat Clamp will bow upward in the center.
This increases the distance between the blade tip and the mat at the
center of the cut and may prevent full penetration of the blade when
cutting a large mat. Use only enough downward pressure to lock the
mat in place so it does not move. See Figure 5.
2. The Locator Pin (C) provides accurate and repeatable settings for mat borders from 1-1/2" to
8" in increments of 1/2" for the imperial measurement version. The Mat Gage adds 1/8", 3/16",
1/4" or 5/16" to the Locator Pin positions. The metric version has Locator Pin holes for mat
borders from 30mm to 210mm in increments of 10mm. The metric Mat Gage adds 3mm, 4mm,
5mm, or 7mm to the Locator Pin setting. The ability to repeat settings accurately is an advan-
tage over reading a scale, especially when producing multiple mats.
3. For example, cut a single mat with a 3" (70mm) border and a V-groove at 2-1/2" (60mm). Insert the Locator Pin in
the third hole from the right in the Mat Guide Slide (D) and slide the Mat Guide (F) to the right to contact the Loca-
tor Pin. Tighten both the Lower Mat Guide Locking Knob (E) and the Upper Mat Guide Locking Knob shown as
no. 7 on page 4. Always tighten them in this sequence, lower before upper. Place a pre-sized 16" X 20" (400mm X
500mm) matboard upside down and slide it to the left against the Mat Guide and downward against the Mat Stop
H
K
FFigure 6
5. Make the cut, stopping when the Sight Gage (H) reaches the lower pencil line (L). This is the end of cut and is shown
in Figure 7.
6. Raise the Handle, rotate the mat 90 degrees and repeat the next cut, starting and stopping at the cross pencil
lines as before. Remove the mat and examine the top side. There should be a barely perceptable overcut at each
corner to assure the "fall-out" is cut free of the mat. Excessive overcuts or undercuts should be corrected by your
judgement in lining up the Sight Gage with the pencil lines as well as the blade extension.
SINGLE OPENING
(G). Lower the Clamp Handle. Use a sharp pencil
(never ink) and draw a line along the left edge of the
Clamp starting and stopping about 1/2" (13mm) from
the edges of the mat. Rotate the mat 90 degrees and re-
peat drawing the pencil line until all four side have been
penciled. Also pencil the mat where the border will join
the "fall-out" at one side so you can maintain the same
orientation later during V-grooving or cutting Double
Mats.
4. Press down on the Clamp Handle and pivot the bevel
cutting blade into the mat for the start of a cut. Figure 6
shows the starting position by lining up the Sight Gage
(H) with the upper pencil line (K).
F
D
E
6
G
Figure 5
C
5
16
H
L
G
Figure 7
A
B
A A A A
Tabla de contenido
