Where to buy mat board these days?

[Kevin Crisp]

I haven't purchased any in quite some time, I'd appreciate suggestions. Thanks.

[Ulophot]

I get mine from Archival Methods. You can order a sample set. Good people. They have a strange shipping calculator that may tell you that there is $10 shipping or something for the small $2 item. I called them about this and they kindly shipped it for free. Dick Blick art supplies also carries board, and their prices are good, but they do not offer samples and trip to the store would be quite a hike from where I live.

[Steve Goldstein]

Other sources are University Products in MA (their in-house brand is Lineco) and Frame Destination in Texas. I've mostly used Lineco lately but have to take care that inclusions are invisible in the final mount. Lineco doesn't seem to have a "side", which is nice, but shipping from MA to CA might be high. They do occasionally have "free shipping" offers.

[LabRat]

If you drive into Burbank, Valley Framing and Moulding is the wholesaler galleries and framers source from... Great prices, selection, even classes... They have the best stuff in stock, but some minimum purchase requirements...

Steve K

[Doremus Scudder]

I've bought Bainbridge Alpharag board in pre-cut sizes from Redimat, 1-877-883-1011, redimat.com. They are in Santa Rosa, CA.

I buy 11x14, 16x20 and 22x28-inch sizes usually, pre-cut (I don't have time, space or patience to buy large board and cut it down) and have been happy with price and service.

Best,

Doremus

[Greg]

I can highly recommend LODIMA PRESS
https://www.lodima.org/archival-materials/matboard
Ask for small samples of the board(s) that you are interested in.

[Kevin Crisp]

Thanks, everybody.

[John Olsen]

I've been ordering mine from Dick Blick. They're shipping from Chicago and doing an outstanding job on the packaging. I order 10-12 sheets (32x40") at a time in order that it's worth the shipping cost, but not too heavy for the delivery people to handle carefully.

[Drew Wiley]

I've been filling in from Archival Methods. Their Museum board is high quality, and their pre-cut sizes are convenient. My normal dramatically more affordable (in volume) wholesale sources locally all dried up, not due to lack of local demand, which is still strong, but due to warehousing businesses in general having the real estate sold out from under them, their structures outright demolished, and absurdly expensive condos and retail spaces built in their place. That cannibalistic gentrification formula might not be working very well at the moment, with more an more vacancies. The wholesalers had their own delivery trucks, or I could pick up board and moulding in my truck. If I ever have another large show opportunity or big commercial installation, I'll need to buy everything wholesale again, and would probably have to re-align to companies delivering out of southern Calif. But I'm too busy just doing b&w drymounted portfolios now, and the pre-cut Archival Methods sheets save me some time, with just one downsize cut : 22X28 down to 22X26, my standard for 16x20 prints. I have enough full sheets still in storage if someone comes along wanting a number of large prints framed up. At my age, if I were to get seriously back into the game, I'd invest in an Esterly SpeedMat cutter. I once had an earlier version of that, and it saved a lot of time and finger strain, but wasn't anywhere near as rugged as what they offer now. I also have my own cold-mounting roller press, and the ability to mill my own hardwood moulding for an extra elegant touch when desired.

[Greg]

I've been filling in from Archival Methods. Their Museum board is high quality, and their pre-cut sizes are convenient. My normal dramatically more affordable (in volume) wholesale sources locally all dried up, not due to lack of local demand, which is still strong, but due to warehousing businesses in general having the real estate sold out from under them, their structures outright demolished, and absurdly expensive condos and retail spaces built in their place. That cannibalistic gentrification formula might not be working very well at the moment, with more an more vacancies. The wholesalers had their own delivery trucks, or I could pick up board and moulding in my truck. If I ever have another large show opportunity or big commercial installation, I'll need to buy everything wholesale again, and would probably have to re-align to companies delivering out of southern Calif. But I'm too busy just doing b&w drymounted portfolios now, and the pre-cut Archival Methods sheets save me some time, with just one downsize cut : 22X28 down to 22X26, my standard for 16x20 prints. I have enough full sheets still in storage if someone comes along wanting a number of large prints framed up. At my age, if I were to get seriously back into the game, I'd invest in an Esterly SpeedMat cutter. I once had an earlier version of that, and it saved a lot of time and finger strain, but wasn't anywhere near as rugged as what they offer now. I also have my own cold-mounting roller press, and the ability to mill my own hardwood moulding for an extra elegant touch when desired.

Losing one's being able to purchase materials at wholesale costs is really a bummer. My local warehouse business (small building on a lot of land) also sold out. Owner happily retired. Made a good bit of money selling his acreage. Building and business are history. Think another big box store (honestly who needs one more of them in the neighborhood) to be built on the land.

[Willie]

Lodima is a good way to go. You are supporting an enterprise owned and run by a very good Large Format photographer - Paula Chamlee. While you visit their site order a copy of High Plains Farm, a book by Paula of the farm she grew up on in Texas. All photographed in 5x7 and 8x10 with the images the size of the original contact prints. The printing is excellent and only surpassed by the quality of the images.

[nbagno]

I've been ordering mine from Dick Blick. They're shipping from Chicago and doing an outstanding job on the packaging. I order 10-12 sheets (32x40") at a time in order that it's worth the shipping cost, but not too heavy for the delivery people to handle carefully.

Same here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[peter schrager]

Lodima is a good way to go. You are supporting an enterprise owned and run by a very good Large Format photographer - Paula Chamlee. While you visit their site order a copy of High Plains Farm, a book by Paula of the farm she grew up on in Texas. All photographed in 5x7 and 8x10 with the images the size of the original contact prints. The printing is excellent and only surpassed by the quality of the images.
first quality board; packaged perfectly; and supporting a small business!

[Drew Wiley]

Greg - the mere 1/2-acre bare asphalt parking lot right across the RR tracks from my old office sold for 66 million dollars. Then they still have to tear it up, pay huge hazmat fees due it being adjacent to a railroad, and then build Class A condos and apartments so expensive that it baffles me who would want to live in them. Even houses here are cheaper. The business where I worked, consisting of about three whole city blocks and quite a bit of warehousing, is protected by zoning, but everything around it is now like dark tunnels amidst highrise condos. One thing I am glad to see torn torn down and gone are all the defunct warehouse art colonies. They were infamous fire traps. One reached national attention when over 30 people died in a fire; but I also saw a number of stores and businesses lost due to fires spreading from these places. The usual suspects : illegal indoor pot growing, illegal fireworks storage, an unlicensed scented candle factory with wax build-up all over the walls, wood furniture shops with idiot employees leaving oily rags all around, "street artists" with their brains melted by aerosol can solvents - you name it. Stupidity seems to run in herds.