The Framers Forum

I'm a big fan of taping up the glass/mount/undermount

The idea that if the glass breaks and the customer can't pull out the glass sounds great to me, surely the glass being held in place and not falling out on to the picture is a pretty good thing

I find it convenient to just tape up the package and then put in a drawer till the frame is ready, (which can be a few weeks) then just assemble in the frame.

When I have a reglaze job with lots of shards, I put the frame face up on some cardboard and remove the pins holding in the back from underneath, then just cut round the tape to remove the glass.

Framemaker Richard wrote:I find it convenient to just tape up the package and then put in a drawer till the frame is ready, (which can be a few weeks) then just assemble in the frame.

That's what I do

I've just dismantled a frame I did in 1992. It's having an upgrade to AR glass.

I originally taped it around the inside with masking tape.

Just ran a blade around and bingo.

The tape was still tacky and not a critter had got in. Despite the masking tape and the MDF back it was
in the same condition as 25 years ago.

btw. When I do the sandwich taping I wrap the tape around the glass and back. Not on the undermount.

Framemaker Richard wrote:I find it convenient to just tape up the package and then put in a drawer till the frame is ready, (which can be a few weeks) then just assemble in the frame.

I'm surprised you do it that way round. A mounted and glazed package takes up a lot of room and is vulnerable. It also means you have to handle the picture one extra time, so it's fractionally inefficient.

Moreover, and it's doubtless a result of my incompetence, but I find I can cut mounts, glass and board to the exact size required, but wooden picture frames can vary by a mm or sometimes two from what I intended. So I always make the frames first and make the contents to fit them at the end of the process.

I do the same as Richard.

A loose piece of glass, backing board and mounted artwork is a lot of clutter and an vulnerable.
Less so when they are all in one secure lump.

prospero wrote:A loose piece of glass, backing board and mounted artwork is a lot of clutter and an vulnerable.

My way you don't even need to buy the glass and board before the frame has been made...

When I had a framing shop/gallery we (my wife, one part timer and me) always worked in "batches" (frames first) and I am convinced that this system was more efficient and much less wasteful. Cutting batches of glass, mounts and backs accurately was not a problem. In those days the number of items framed were in the low hundreds each week.

Now my workshop is a double garage and my work rate is much more sedate (now only a handful of items a week) I use the "sandwich" method and then make the frames, not surprisingly, I am accumulating much more waste/offcuts.

Peter