Logan 5000 8-ply Bevel Mat Cutter

I am an artist with some experience making mats and frames. I wanted to save money on frames for a show so I set out to frame all 23 pieces myself. Due to an over-sight on my part I purchased 8ply mat board instead of 6ply, so I had to purchase this to cut my mats.Like any mat cutter YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO IT before you can cut precise windows. The stop/start marks are really more like guidelines that can change depending on a number of factors like how much blade is exposed, what brand mat you're cutting etc... I had to cut several practice mats before I was able to figure out where my start/stop marks actually were. Once I had it figured out cutting my mats was pretty streamlined.NOTE: Buy extra blades!!!!! You have to change the blades often to get clean cuts. I changed the blade every three or four mats to be certain.

I have been a fine art photographer for many years and I do all of my own mating and framing I used the logan 5000 mat cutter for the first time and it worked perfect I was reading the other peoples reviews it sounded like most people had difficulty I did not have this problem I made sure that I used blade # 271 and made sure that the depth was set right and the 5000 cut the 8 ply like butter.

Okay, here's the thing. 8 ply mat is a B@##!%%$ to cut straight and accurately, and even a good tool like this one doesn't change that fact. Get plenty of the correct blades (single bevel) and change them frequently - by design, only one corner of the blade is used and the useful life is measured in inches. Also, I had to adjust the guides to work with my Logan 301 cutter, which takes a 3.5mm jeweler's screwdriver. Luckily, I had one on hand.I bought some odd sized 8 ply mat from my local frame shop to practice on and I highly recommend that you do the same. Working on a mat you need to come out right for your first try is a recipe for grief.

I’ve had a few Logan mat cutters over the years and this is the easiest to use as the design has improved. It includes the plastic guides which fit over my Logan mat cutter.

Easy to use.

Product perfectly meeting my expectations.Perfect, precise and easy cuts on 3 mm.

Item arrived in clearly used condition, scratched and marked (see pic), with a sticky goo on one of the buttons. I tried to return it but before it was picked up I noticed the price had gone from 54 to 70, so I quickly cancelled the return and will have to live with this old, used item. Very disappointing, Amazon!The 271 blades can be resharpened and reused for a long time using an angle of 12.5° on a Work Sharp (fine grit belt) or even just an Arkansas stone.

So I'm finally getting a little more proficient at cutting mats and decided to spring for the Logan 5000, the supposed ultimate 4-ply/8-ply cutter. I did some research on the Logan website and elsewhere and I really like the "engagement light" feature and also the easy swap blade carrier for 4 or 8 ply mats. I even watched the video demo of the 5000 on the Logan website and so had a pretty good idea of the features and operation of the 5000 Model.So today my new Logan 5000 cutter arrives and it IS NOT the same as the one I've been looking at all this time. First, this one has no light for blade engagement. What? Not too big a deal, but still disconcerting. Then, the blade carrier is NOT the double sided, easy switch, 4-ply / 8-ply design, which was pretty much the feature I was interested in for this cutter. The carrier on this model is still magnetic (the blade sticks to the carrier and locks into the cutter body with a screw) but it's only one sided and holds only one blade. It has an adjustment screw to set the blade depth instead of the dual blade carrier described on the "regular" Logan 5000. The 5000 mat cutter on the Logan site says you should use only the 270 double bevel blades, so I bought a big pack of 270s. This Model 5000 says to only use the single bevel 271 blades! At least for 8-ply mats.The instructions and packaging say this is an "8-Ply Mat Cutter" and there is no mention on the box, or anywhere in the meager instruction sheet about cutting 4-ply mats, which is my primary use, with only the occasional 8-ply. This cutter isn't what I expected. Apparently there are several different variations of the Logan 5000 Model cutters out there, or at least several variations of the same cutter. Maybe this one was intended for a different market? I don't know, but I'm at least a little disappointed.So for all that, I inserted a 270 double bevel blade in the cutter and set the depth as best I could (not as easy as you'd think to do) for a 4-ply mat. The cutter works as well as my original 2000 cutter that came with my Logan 301 so I guess I'll keep the new mat cutter anyway. To me, it's more trouble than it worth to return, wait for funds and then risk getting the same thing when I reorder. I guess it'll be okay in the end, but buyer beware! You might not get what you expect if you order this cutter!