Using a handheld mat cutter

The next step is to take the mat cutter, and we're working here with a Dexter handheld mat cutter.…They're pretty reasonably priced, and it's one of the most affordable ways to cut a good-quality mat.…And the retail on these is around $30, and it's a very ergonomic handle that you can…grip comfortably, and it holds the blade at a consistent angle, so we can make a beveled…cut for the window of the mat. Blade depth positioning is real important.…You do that by loosening this, and you can slide the blade up and down, and I will always…verify blade depth by holding the blade against the edge of the matboard.…

You want it to just penetrate the board, and you can test this by drawing the blade through…the part of the mat you're going to discard. So I just pulled it through there real quickly.…We want to make sure we came through on the other side, and we did.…We have got a nice clean cut through.…So now I'm going to position my matboard and get my heavy straight edge again, and I'm…going to use the thicker side of the straight edge when I use the mat cutter.…