Could you do this?

Guaranteed to stop people in their tracks all over the world, our famous collection of stratagraphic pictures - made entirely from many layers of Colourmount board - has a new addition.

Produced for a first showing at SACA, the new stratagraphic features the Leaning Tower of Pisa in an intricate picture compiled from seventeen layers of Colourmount board. Each stratagraphic takes two weeks of painstaking design, calculation and hand-cutting by the American artist, Toby Mercer, and costs around £1,000 plus materials.

To date, we have not found a framer in the UK who is able and willing to take on these commissions, so if you feel that you could match the quality and flair shown in these works of art, then we would love to hear from you.

Accurate cutting made easier with Ultimat Gold

Colourmount has a reputation for being one of the best boards on the market for cutting but, with the right equipment, cutting can be even easier, quicker and more accurate. Part of our development work for Colourmount board involves working with the manufacturers of mount cutting machines and, as you may have seen, we have previously featured the Trucut Alpha automatic cutting machine in this newsletter.

For those framers who don't have a requirement for a computerised mount cutter, we recommend Keencut's bench-mounted Ultimat Gold.

This straight cutting machine is engineered to the highest standards, with an aluminium base for extra rigidity and many unique features designed to make framers' lives easier.

As anyone who has attended a Colourmount Mill Tour will know, a lot of time, effort and expertise is used to produce mountboards with a wide range of distinctive surfaces to enhance the art they are designed to protect. Many of these surfaces, like metallics, will show up mistakes such as overcuts and spoil the effect you are trying to create.

With the Ultimat Gold and its new patented Micro Stops, framers can adjust the length of the cut without any calculations, therefore eliminating over and undercuts, even by eye.

Another benefit of the Ultimat Gold is that the matguide will remain accurate for different thicknesses of board, without adjustment.

When you buy a Keencut Ultimat Gold, it will arrive pre-squared, so setting up is simple. What's more, every Keencut machine is tested in the factory using Colourmount board - after all, the best board deserves the best cutting machines!

For further information and free training on the whole range of Keencut cutting machines, telephone 01536 205181.


Andrew Branton Comments

It was great to see so many framers attending the On The Road Pavilion in Kent since our last newsletter.

The roadshows are a great venue for exchanging ideas and information, and we were pleased that so many other companies, including manufacturers and stockists, were present to make it such a worthwhile event.

Pete Bingham's demonstrations are always a big draw, especially for those framers who follow his useful tips in this newsletter and other trade magazines. We will be at the Autumn Fair on the D & J Simons stand and also at our next roadshow in Belfast in October so, if you can visit, please do come along.

As you will know, Colourmount is only sold through our network of distributors, but we have a commitment to helping framers with information, samples and point of sale material. To make it even easier for you to contact us, we have installed a special helpline in the Colourmount marketing department, so you can be sure that you will always get the help you need by just picking up the'phone. Ring us on 01625 576505.

Our Editor was delighted to receive our first letter, so thank you to David Melville-Hayes, whose interesting ideas for mount inlays are printed on our back cover. As promised in our last issue, we will be sending a Colourmount bag full of goodies to David. We look forward to printing more letters in future issues.