Graphics Compact Classic Versatile Portable Mat Cutter Model 301-1

I've cut a number of mats now with this tool and find it precise, easy to use and economical for its cost. The bevel cuts are indeed precise and, with careful use, come out professional-looking. The bevel cutter itself guides along the unit and doesn't take much strength to push along the bevel, and there's a very well-calibrated parallel ruler that holds the mat in place for the bevel cuts. (One caveat: you probably should stick to 2-ply mats, although it's possible to get a layered look by doubled mats, the wider one outside the inner one). The unit also comes with a knife for cutting larger mat sheets (which usually come 32x40" and fit in the cutter, which the knife uses as a guide). While you can get precut bevel mats at art stores, I use a Canon PRO-10 photo printer, I do my own digital photography, so I find that the printed photos are usually sizes that the precut mats don't match, so I need a tool like this, both for bevels that fit the pictures and mats cut to fit the art-store frames. A professional-looking bevel-cut mat goes with exhibit-quality prints, and I'm getting that with this cutter. The unit ships with extra blades and a DVD that includes very helpful instructional videos, though the videos are also on the Logan website along with more material. Calculating the size of bevel cuts is tricky and Logan well-demonstrates how to measure and calculate the cuts. Logan does sell more elaborate cutters, but for me, someone who does this as a hobby, this particular product is a very good value for the money, saves considerable money in precut art supplies or custom framing, and very well-suited for what I do. Strongly recommend, esp. for hobby photographers or framers.

I waffled between getting this, and getting a cheaper bevel knife and straight-edge. This was the right call. It's easy and intuitive to use, and you can absolutely get a perfect cut on your first try. If you're paying attention, it's going to come out great. The only negative about it is that it takes proprietary blades for some reason. It seems like it would have been trivial to design it to use standard double edge razor blades, which are generally sharper than the blades in this kit. It's not even that the blades for this are very expensive. They're actually on-par with the cost of any decent razor blade. But because they're proprietary you have to keep track of special blades for it, and you can't just buy a 1000 pack at the hardware or drug store like you could have if it took standard blades. Oh well.

Unboxed last night. Directions aren’t very good, but it’s pretty intuitive and I figured it out. Cuts are accurate. Mats look great. It’s solidly built and it does what I need it to do. With that said, I recommend you buy additional blades. I matted 12 pictures and I blew through 2 blades. Also the slip mat gets trashed pretty quickly. I am going to buy one of those self healing cutting mats instead. Instructions say I shouldn’t cut so deeply into the slip mat but I couldn’t figure out how to adjust the blade height so I didn’t cut so deeply. Overall with the pros and cons it’s a good unit and I’d recommend it to create a professionally matted picture.

Works very well for amateur work. This model allows cutting up to 32 inch mat board, the shorter dimension of standard mat sizes, which should be adequate for most purposes. I typically cut four 16" x 20" boards by cutting the 32" dimension first. Both straight and 45 degree beveled cuts are available using the two supplied cutters: For straight cuts, a modified box knife an adjustable blade and a circular ridge that sits on the edge of the sprung, aluminum guide rail to control the depth of cut for single or double mats. For beveled cuts, a somewhat ergonomic, palm-grip, mounted blade that can be adjusted for single or double matting solidly hangs on the rail and slides the length of the cut accurately and easily. An index line on the outside of the cutter shows precisely where to start and end the cut, as is explained in pretty good instructions supplied. While not necessary for straight cuts, beveled cuts require the use of a backing board, because the cutting blade extends beyond the mat being cut which is required for a clean cut. This backing mat is hard to align because one cannot see the grooves from previous cuts which can channel the present cut off the straight line. The backing board is soon "used up." Bevelled cuts cannot be made without the backing mat, because the groove machined at the factory in the board below the guide rail edge goes only straight down; it would seem that a valuable and easy to implement would be to manufacture a "dovetail" groove in the chassis board would allow precision cuts with the bevel knife without the necessity of a backing board, a very simple engineering modification to the manufacturing process. The aluminum width guide is properly calibrated in inches and centimeters and the "parallel rule" grooves maintain parallelism very well over the length of the cuts. The aluminum cutting-guide rail is sprung with steel springs at each end; these are set to a reasonable pressure to keep the mat in place until the operator exerts more force during cutting to prevent slipping. I expect that curvature of the aluminum rail will occur from inelastic deformation over years of use. The use of chip board as the main mechanical part is a double-edged sword: it keeps the cost down and is mechanically strong and stiff, so that the system doesn't bend or stretch during use; it is susceptible to spills and changes in humidity.

I'm not a professional artist in the sense that I make my living from art. I do enjoy creating paper crafts and alcohol ink art. Looking online, pre-cut mats are expensive and limit you as to the dimensions of your work. Now that I have this mat cutter, I can cut mats to any size I wish and create double mats if I want. Again, the ability to custom size the double matting lends much more flexibility and adds another layer of creativity when matting/framing my work. Also, the cutter came with a straight edge blade and a 45° bevel blade and the guides make cutting almost effortless. This cutter is not too big and can be stored easily. I'm VERY pleased with this purchase!

Works well for his business

Met all my needs ! I’ve never used or tried to mat a picture myself. This tool made it almost too easy. And basically paid for itself on the first use. I needed a play bill framed that was a unusual size and did not it taped or glued in any way. No one understood what I wanted So I did it myself. Worked on my first attempt.

With a little patience, I can cut mat openings more precisely with this baby than I can with the heavy-duty Logan Elite I use at work. Little to no over-cuts on the edges, and I've never had the blade wobble on me (a frequent problem at work, which results in curved cuts) I've never had a problem with the black cushion under the straight edge leaving lines on my mats, and even if it did, I rarely do reverse-bevel cuts. The only real downside of this design is that it is very difficult to use it to cut your mats down to size. The bottom black bar isn't connected all the way to the bottom board (which allows your slide bar to move up and down), so you have nothing to level your sheets against to guarantee you're cutting at 90 degrees. Other than that, I have had no problems at all. It is DEFINITELY worth the money.

La cizalla está bien y viene con todos los complementos que constan en la caja EXCEPTO LAS CUCHILLAS. Si se quiere usar hay que comprarlas aparte. Deberían especificarlo y eliminar esa información engañosa.

Ha soddisfatto abbastanza le mie aspettative. La taglierina fa il suo lavoro. La guida è utile per tenere fermo il cartoncino e agganciare la taglierina a smusso, che così procede sicura nella sua guida, senza spostarsi. Il taglio viene preciso e pulito. Il prezzo per il tipo di prodotto è abbastanza alto. Ho preso la n°301, che è molto basica, al costo di 209 euro. Avrei preferito la 350, che in più ha il righello laterale, ma i 100 euro in più mi hanno dissuaso.

Arrived 2 days earlier than promised by the suppliers Hyatts Graphic Supply Co Inc of Buffalo, NY, USA .👍 All items were in the package and were in good condition. It took a few moments to locate the spare blades as the packet looked like padding, but once that was sorted I took a breath and had my first go. As with other users it took a little while to get the hang of it, but once I had it was easy and quick. The blade cut through the mount card easily leaving a satisfying sharp bevelled edge. I’ve now framed **10 of my paintings using old pictures with mount card included that I picked up in charity shops. As far as possible I tried to match each painting to the frame and made sure it was slightly bigger than each mount, so I could recut each one to fit. Next up is to cut newly bought A1 sized various subtle coloured 1.25mm mount card to fit frames and paintings, which I’m excited about.😀 Would definitely recommend this quality product and the suppliers. *Bought it for far less than it cost in the UK, even with shipping costs from the USA.😀 *With plenty more to go!

Me gusto mucho es esencial para mi

Works