Tag: picture framing

Picture Framing : How to finish the back of a picture frame

Post author By alanf
Post date September 8, 2017

This how to guide shows how you seal and finish the back of a picture or photo frame prior to hanging or selling.

The purpose of finishing the back of a frame is to –

Seal it to prevent dust, mites and damp from entering the mount/artwork/under the glass
Make it appear professional and neat to the eye
Provide hanging points to hang the picture
Provide stability from motion and wall protection

The assumption in this article is that you already have a picture frame either custom made or pre-made with glazing, mount and backing board cut to size and attached. The backing board should also be able to provide some degree of moisture protection eg aqua board or similar.

Equipment Required –

The methodology for finishing the back of a picture frame is as follows –

Step 1 :

Secure the backing board, mount, artwork, and glazing ‘sandwich’ in to frame rebate with flexi points, semi rigid points or other similar framer’s points and tabs. these can be fired in with a tab gun or manually pushed in.

Step 2 :

Use a picture frame backing tape like self adhesive ECO-15 or ECo-25 tape on each edge to make the dust seal. Trim the tape with a craft knife after completing each side, being careful not to damage the side of the frame.After taping and trimming the tape edge on all four edges it should look like this –

Step 3 :

Measure the sides of the frame 1/3 of the way down from top edge, mark with a pencil or bradawl, then create a shallow starting hole in the frame with the bradawl. Repeat on other side of frame so you have two matching holes for starting a screw thread on each side of the frame moulding.

Step 4 :

Attach a D-Ring to each side of the frame using a pan headed screw to hole it in place.

The frame should now be ready to attach picture cord or wire.

Step 5 : Attach cord to each d-ring and secure in place by use of a knot. Preferably one that tightens on itself under tension. Details of one picture framing knot can be found in this article.

Step 6: Attach two felt or other similar bumper pads to each lower corner of the frame. This will help stop the frame moving on the wall as well as help prevent the frame from marking the wall. It will also create an air gap and allow air to circulate behind the frame.

The picture frame backing process is complete and it’s time to hang your picture on the wall!

Tags frame backing, frame finishing, picture framing

New Products

New Picture Framing and Picture Hanging Products – March 2016

Post author By alanf
Post date March 18, 2016

New Picture Framing and Hanging Products 2016

We now have the following new picture framing and picture hanging products in stock –

High Quality Masking Tape

A quality masking tape, which tends to be thicker than most masking products currently used. Cream in colour, with an aggressive white adhesive system. This Masking Tape is ideal for wet painting and spray painting. It is used quite often as temporary tape during the creation of double mounts. Dimensions : 25mm x 50m.

Fillet Tape

Fillet Tape is a polyester double sided archival tape which acts as an acid barrier between the two surfaces it bonds. This Fillet Tape has a strong acid free adhesive which has very high tack making this a permanent tape which does not yellow over time. This Archival Tape is designed to attach the fillet or slip to the picture mount in the framing industry. Also works very well attaching and holding slips firmly to a frame. Not compatible with tape guns, but very easy to use. Dimensions : 6mm wide by 50m long.

Linen Tape

This is a white, gummed, acid free (pH 7 neutral) tape. This high quality textured Linen Tape is backed with water activated gum. The high thread count of the linen cloth gives this tape its strength. Gummed archival linen hinging tape is mainly used to hinge mounts(mats) to backing boards and is used widely in the framing and art conservation industries. Our Gummed Linen Archival Tape has a pH neutral, starch based adhesive which sets flat and has high tack. Size: 24mm wide, 20metres long.

Ph7-70 12mm ATG tape

Permanent adhesive, Ph neutral double sided tape 12mm x 30m. Conservation Ph neutral double sided tape ATG tape gun compatible although a tape gun is not required to use it. 12mm wide by 30m length. Ph neutral tapes are acid neutral, they use a water based acid neutral acrylic adhesive system which will not react with board or papers and can hence be used for conservation purposes. Will fit most Automatic Tape Guns (ATG) dispensers.

Double sided 19mm ATG tape

Double sided roll of adhesive tape. Suitable for ATG tape guns, although a tape gun is not required to use it. Size: 19mm wide by 33m long. Non acid free adhesive. We now stock both 12mm and 19mm versions.

ECO-25 38mm frame backing tape

A self-adhesive flexible sealing tape is used by many framers. It gives a cost effective yet attractive finish to the back of the frame. The flexibility of the ECO tapes, allow them to be easily shaped over the rebate steps at the back of the frame. ECO-25 tape is similar to ECO-15 tape in almost every aspect except that it is thicker, stronger, and more opaque, but also a bit more expensive.

Angled D-Ring Hanger Bronze Plated

The Angled-D-Ring Hanger (one pair L+R) gives you the security of a two-screw fixing on all types of moulding, including narrow patterns. The D-ring is angled to give the correct alignment of the cord or wire, minimising stress in the frame.

Stretched Canvas Frame Stands

A canvas frame picture stand for small stretched canvases up to around 300 x 300mm (12” x 12”). The stand fixes with one screw and is easily bent to make the stretched canvas print stand at any chosen angle. It is designed to fit into the hollow back of the canvas frame. Dimensions: 75mm x 15mm, zinc plated steel. Included with bumpers and screws.

Graphics Panel Picture Stands

For making small and medium sized flat graphic panels of Aluminium, Acrylic, Di-Bond, Glass, Steel and similar free stand on a surface. The panel stand clips into the supplied steel self-adhesive base plate stuck onto the back of the panel. The stand is easily bent to fine adjust the standing angle. Dimensions: panel stand 75mm long, base plate is 80x40mm.

Handy Wrap and Cardboard Protective Frame Corners

Packaging for picture frames, including handywrap, handy wrap handles, cardboard picture frame corner protectors and packaging tape. Useful for the packaging, protection and transportation of picture frames safely. Also useful for presentation of completed frames when ready to return to customer as it can create a professional touch.

Picture Perfect Wireless Magic Marker Hanging System

Picture Perfect Wireless Magic Marker Hanging System™. Picture frame hanging made easy. Hang your picture frames quickly and easily with these benefits –
– Pictures are hung exactly where you want them, the first time and level
– No more measuring or marking, no pencils, tape measures, wire or calculations needed
– Eliminate guesswork and trial-and-error measuring
– Reduce wasted time
– No D-rings, saw-tooth hangers, picture cord or wire is required
– Position the framed art exactly where you want it
– Your framed artwork will remain safely and securely in place and permanently level
– Fits most wooden or plastic frames of => 16mm (5/8″) width

Tags canvas stands, cardboard corners, double sided tape, handy wrap, mount tape, picture framing, picture hanging, picture stands

picture frame joining

Picture Frame Construction – Corner Joining With An Underpinner

Post author By alanf
Post date March 3, 2015

Picture frames require precision cutting to achieve 45° mitred edges. This process is usually achieved by using a guillotine, which leaves perfectly smooth 45° edges.

The next step is to accurately join the four equal mitred edges together to form the frame.

Traditionally, this used to be done by hammering picture framing pins in from the sides of the frame and was not the most efficient way of creating perfect joins. You sometimes come across very old frames that have been joined this way and, although they have lasted a long time, their corners usually show gaps. Sometimes those gaps can be large as well as dangerous looking!

The industry standard method for joining picture frame corners these days is to use V-Nails (“V” shaped nails) to join the 45° corners together.

The V-nails have one sharp ‘V’ and one blunt ‘V’ end. The sharp end gets pushed into the 45° mitre wood corners. They are also designed to pull the joints together when inserted.

The industry uses underpinners to insert V-nails, and smaller types of over/under pinner are available for the hobby/enthusiast markets which do an equally good job, albeit perhaps at a slower pace.

V-nails themselves are made of hardened steel (for hard woods) and softer steel for soft woods. They come in a variety of heights to reflect the wide variety of moulding thicknesses available. They commonly come in 7 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm and 15 mm heights.

The strength of a picture frame joint comes from two main factors – the choice of V-nail size and also the adhesive that holds the join together. It’s really a combined effect.

glue on mitred joints of picture frame — PVA glue squeezed onto mitred joints of frame.

Wooden mouldings use PVA wood adhesive. Other types, like plastic mouldings, use other types of adhesive, eg fast bonding super glues.

To join a wooden frame moulding, the PVA glue is squeezed on to the mitred faces of wood. If these faces were joined like this, the glue would likely be squeezed up and onto the wooden face which is not desirable. This is especially so if you are using wood stains as the PVA leaves areas which resist wood stain penetration.

To prevent this, and to create a nicely bonded joint, it is best to spread the glue out smoothly and thinly on each face you are about to join, working the glue into the grain. You should also make sure to wipe any excess glue off before joining. This ensures an optimally glued joint and reduces the possibility of the PVA creeping onto the face of the frame.

The mitre joints are now ready for the insertion of V-nails.

V-nail size is usually chosen based on the thickness of the moulding being used. A good rule of thumb is to choose a V-nail that goes somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the depth of the moulding being used. If shorter V-nails are used, the joint may fail and start to open. If longer V-nails are used, you may actually punch through the front face of the frame, rendering it useless.

It is sometimes possible to use several different V-nail heights on one corner depending on the profile of the moulding. It is also possible with an underpinner to stack V-nails one on top of another, eg 2 x 10 mm V-nails go in to a 20 mm depth. This can provide some uses when you encounter deep rebate mouldings.

In this example I am using an Alfamachine minigraf underpinner to do the job. The V-nails are pushed up into the underside of the frame by a hardened steel head that is operated by a foot pedal. The upper cushioned pad descends and presses down firmly from above.

frame mitred joints on underpinner — Frame mitred joints on underpinner

Back of frame showing mitre join with V-nails

This process is repeated around every corner until the frame is completed. If you don’t have an underpinner, the hand tool pinners/underpinner versions can be used in conjunction with clamps or strap clamps to do the same task.

A pile of underpinned, assembled wooden frames can be seen in the first image of this page. For this particular moulding, I used single 15 mm V-nails at three spacings along the mitre.

Tags corners, frame construction, joining, mitre joints, picture frame, picture framing

glazing picture framing information

Picture frame glass cleaning explored

Post author By alanf
Post date December 18, 2013

I recently had the opportunity to confront head on an issue that had become apparent while cleaning some ageing 2mm float glass. It made me explore the possibilities as well as finding a solution!

The problem : the 2mm float glass that is commonly used in picture framing is normally supplied in a bulk quantity to the picture framing shop. Bulk can be upwards of 50-100 sheets at a time, which is difficult heavy work to shift all at once. The glass is supplied usually in 1.2m x 0.92m size sheets. They come with a large piece of very thin white paper sandwiched between each glass sheet which offers some scratch protection during transport.

Glass mottling from paper residue (click image to enlarge)

The downside to having these sheets of thin white protection paper is that they are very susceptible to moisture ingress and if not immediately stored in a non damp environment can themselves wick moisture up into the face of the glass sheets leaving a residue on the glass surface. The residue looks like a very faint mottling effect. It is also almost invisible unless viewed at an angle under artificial lighting conditions.

This residue has proven very problematic to remove, resistant to just about every common glass cleaner, and a glass supplier once told me, “Once it’s there, nothing can take it off”. Up until this week, I believed him!

Having received a large delivery of glass quite some time ago, and having chosen to store it in a convenient but slightly damper environment, I proceeded to immediately remove all of the paper from between the sheets when it first arrived. I erroneously though that this would take care of the issue, but now that I’m coming to the end of the supply, I have found that this same glass mottling effect is still prevalent despite the absence of the paper. I can deduce from this that the paper must leave some residue on the glass which remains even after it has been removed. This lingering residue then appears to react to dampness which hardens into the slightly visually mottled effect, resembling a faint “etched” like appearance.

I had previously found no glass cleaner that could clean it. I was convinced it was surface contamination rather than an actual ‘etching’ effect, because I found that you could actually remove some of it with a flat sharp blade. I found that this worked even better when the blade was combined with some glass cleaner as a lubricant. However using the blades could have the downside of leaving hairline scratches on the glass which is a non-starter with picture framing. I had to find another solution to clean these sheets or risk having to throw them out completely.

To start with, I identified that the mottling effect was only happening on one face of the glass. This I surmised was likely due to the paper surfaces having one face different from the other, and one side being prone to leaving the residue. I then tried a few different methods of removal listed in the table below along with the outcomes –

Methods tested	Results
Greenline Glass and Stainless Steel cleaner	No visible removal of mottling
Greenline Glass and Stainless Steel cleaner + mount cutter blade surface scape	Partial or whole removal of mottling but with risk of fine glass scratches and slight streaking.
Selden Glass & VDU cleaner	No visible removal of mottling
Mr Muscle Window and Glass cleaner	No visible removal of mottling
Zest-it solvent	No visible removal of mottling
Tesco White Wine vinegar	Used raw, undiluted led to immediate removal of surface mottling, although sometimes required a light second finishing wipe. Then cleaned with a final standard ph-neutral glass cleaner clean afterwards.

As you can see, the only really reliable approach was found using one of the oldest known glass cleaning substances – undiluted vinegar and kitchen roll. The effect was immediate and repeatable with clean kitchen roll used to wipe it off.

Cleaned glass ready for picture frame (click to enlarge image)

Now this raises another issue in that vinegar is essentially acetic acid with water, and has a ph of 4-5 (acidic). It also has the usual pungent vinegar smell, which is hardly going to appeal to anyone picking up a picture frame!

To avoid leaving acidic residues which could in turn affect the longevity of the mount and artwork, I gave the glass a thorough dry before applying two coats (and clean off) with my regular glass cleaner which has a more ph-neutral rating and a much less pungent smell.

Top tip: If you have to use this technique to clean your glass, just remember to clear away all the vinegar soaked kitchen towels as well as the vinegar bottle before the customers arrive to pick their frames up, other wise they might just think they turned up at the local chip shop!

Tags cleaning glass, dirty glass, glass, glazing, picture frame, picture framing

commentary

The Trials of a Picture Framer

Post author By alanf
Post date April 4, 2012

The trials of a picture framer.

“Do you have one just like that moulding but smaller?”

“Do you have that one but a shade lighter?”

“Do you have that in a warmer shade of gold?”

Sometimes, being a picture framer can be frustrating. You never have enough mouldings to cover the infinite breadth of consumer needs and desires these days.

There are usually two types of customer, one who trusts you as a framer, and trusts your judgements and will generally say “I don’t mind, just make it look nice”. And then there are those who are more, shall we say, picky. They tend to want to micromanage every aspect of the framing job right down to requesting a moulding that you have never seen before, to controlling the width of backing tape used! (OK, I exaggerate a wee bit!)

We are always driven to try to expand our collection to incorporate latest trends and fashion. This, as you can guess, can be challenging. Our collection of mouldings has evolved to try to cater for everyone, but there is always the risk that it just keeps getting augmented. We risk becoming a stockist of old, hard-to-find mouldings in 20 years’ time! We have some mouldings that have not been used in several years that we really wished we’d not bought, and some that fly off the shelves quicker than we can buy them in! An annoying one (annoying in colour as well as history) is the BRIGHT RED one. The supplier shipped it to us in error and, when informed about it, offered to sell it to us at a huge discount rather than pay for shipping it back. Of course, we chose to take it at discount, and it has subsequently resided untouched in the workshop ever since!

In reality, the difficulty lies in having too much choice. I have long thought that, if we were to start over again, we’d stock 4 mouldings: one black, one cream, one gold and one silver. Just think on how simple life would be!

Challenges for the framer don’t end there, we also have the different mount board colours and thicknesses to add into the mix too. It’s not much wonder that eventually, whether we like it or not, we are driven into becoming a framing stockist.

If anyone wants some narrow, bright red moulding, just drop us a note!

Tags commentary, picture framer, picture frames, picture framing