So I finally bit the bullet and invested in some giant sheets of 640 gsm hot pressed Fabriano paper. Now, I'm wondering how to cut them. They're thick as cardstock, and my usual box cutters aren't working very well for a clean cut all the way through. How to cut these sheets of paper? I am thinking of taking them to a framing shop and seeing if they can cut them into A4 size papers or the like.
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Thank you @Kathlyn Powell . I have tried some version of this but I don't own a bone folder so have been using a sharp agate burnisher. I still don't love the results but that has more to do with my lack of precision and not owning a high quality long metal ruler.
I know it is way too late, but what I do is (after washing my hands) first score the paper with a heavy metal ruler and either a scoring bone or a blunt butter knife, back and forth, then fold along the score using a bone folder, first one way, then the opposite, several times, then gently moisten the crease with a wet tip of a finger, then fold back and forth, back and forth, using the bone folder to smooth the fold down each time, each way. Eventually, it will give way, leaving you with a lovely deckled torn edge. I do this even though usually, when you go to frame it, the mat covers it up anyway. It's just an aesthetic thing.
I know I answered this in class too but I'll answer it again as it's a really good question. My first thought was 'get a framer to do it' and my second thought was 'perhaps a guillotine' - but those come in all shapes and sizes and may or may not be suitable for that thickness - 640gsm paper is basically card, and cardboard is basically wood, which is basically a tree, and it's really hard to cut trees! Framers have all the right equipment and actually if you are framing stuff regularly then they may just help you out either one-off for free (as it's really nothing to them to make one cut) or if you're doing it regularly then for a small fee. Which is probably worth it as you'll get a professional job... it could also be that you have the equipment already set up in your own studio if you do this a lot!
There is a way to cut thick card using a mat knife. Instead of one clean stroke with an Xacto blade, you use this heftier knife with a metal ruler and score maybe five to ten times, stroking and not digging in or hacking. Heftier knife, lighter strokes. Wiki how has this https://www.wikihow.com/Cut-a-Mat-Using-a-Utility-Knife