The Framers Forum

Can anyone advise on the best adhesive to use to secure a painting done on board, which needs to be fixed to a Gesso painted MDF board. I understand that Gorilla glue had been used previously but has not proved to be strong enough.

I can't say that I'm all that surprises that the glue did not hold, as gesso is not an ideal surface to a board onto. You are trying to glue onto a surface that has been coated with a mixture of chalk and rabbit skin glue. How is the glue expected to create a strong bond to that?

If that's a tray frame, why not sand back/remove the gesso from where you want to adhere and clean with spirit.
I have just been advised to use water based silicone to adhere board to ply. As silicone is firmer than adhesive, it can adhere with a little weight on top, rather than squashing it flat. It leaves a shadow gap and the possibility or removal in future.

Justintime has the right answer. Sand through the gesso and use those areas as fixing points. I also like his idea of creating a shadow gap between the board and the gesso back. As an alternative to the silicone, why not sandwich the art board with some thin foam-core or thick mountboard to the gesso'd backing and use a good PVA as your glue. Gorilla glue is a bit oversold now. Most good framers would be using Titebond 3 as their standard PVA.