It Was an Interesting Tuesday - Today Will Be Lots of This and That

I spent more than four hours at the shop yesterday, deep diving into information about my framing equipment. I joined a chat group for framing questions, and I also had a lovely conversation over the phone with a gentleman from Fargo ND who has operated a framing shop for more than 45 years. He was a fountain of knowledge and we chatted for almost 30 minutes about this and that. He has a huge handout/help sheets on his website and I'll be printing that out tomorrow. I would have printed it yesterday, but apparently my printer at the shop is out of ink. *sigh* Getting new ink cartridges is HIGH on my "ToDo" list for today. 

I had a totally lovely conversation with "The Frame Guy" from 
Fargo, North Dakota. He was a total delight. We were on the 
phone together for about 45 minutes - a long chat. I could 
learn a lot from him, but I actually do know framing, I just need 
to relearn it - not learn from scratch. Getting my equipment back 
into operating condition is task #1 before I can cut or frame 
anything. 

I'll also spend some serious time pulling the horizontal mat cutter apart (carefully) and making sure it's completely clean, oiled, and ready for operation. Right now, DH's idea of "cleaning" my mat cutter is completely insufficient. It's absolutely filthy! I'm actually looking forward to taking it apart, though. I'll be very careful (of course) because I need it to get back together again - LOL. But it will also give me a chance to look carefully at the blades that I use in it. 

I have a Carithers Signature mat cutter. I thought I had a 
Fletcher for my mat cutter, but I was mistaken. DH took 
a photo of the nameplate for me. It's a good cutter, does 
straight and 45 degree bevel cuts without muss or fuss. I just 
need to get new razor blades for it. 

It has two different blades, one for a straight cut, and a separate one for a bevel cut. I don't think we have replacement blades available in those shapes, so I'll have to order some before I can jump in and actually do some cutting on something that I actually want to sell. I'll probably grab a scrap piece or two from the shop that I can waste in practice cutting before I cut into colors that I actually need for a piece. I always enjoyed framing - the challenge of it was great fun. So I'm looking forward to getting back into it in many respects. Of course, it's time I really don't have ... but that's neither here nor there. 

The other major piece of equipment that I own is this 
one - the Fletcher 3000 Glass and Mat cutting machine. 
It's a fabulous piece of equipment and we've actually 
been using it quite a lot to cut the foam-core backing 
boards for our artwork pieces. It's slightly out of true, 
and that will have to be resolved before I can use it 
for glass again. I also need a new glass cutting 
wheel for it, and I should probably change the 
razor blade in this one too. It's a specialty razor blade, 
of course - LOL. 

So, as I head off to the swimming pool to work out some of my general frustration, I wish all of you an excellent Wednesday. I have my first load of laundry in the washer, I have a pork tenderloin to make for our July 4th meal on Friday, I have a large watermelon on my counter waiting for me to cut it into pieces. I guess I won't be bored - LOL. Enjoy your Wednesday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.