Popularity of Polcore

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Trinity
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Popularity of Polcore

Post by Trinity »

Do many of you use it.
I've just done a frame in Polcore and was pleased at the way it cut and jointed, I used Bison plastic adhesive. Every length was shrink wrapped and end to end consistent, so I just wondered at the extent of it's use..
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by StevenG »

I use it sometimes - and I agree, the cut & joins can be great...... when all conditions are 100%. When that isn't the case I think that issues are more apparent than when using wood. I think a wood moulding can be easier persuaded regarding movement. Does that make any sense? :D
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Jamesnkr »

Ghastly stuff. I bought a few lengths once. Gaps at the outside of the corners, even if putting the pins no closer to the edge than half way. And it looks shocking.

But it cuts nicely, joins well (if you forgive the corners and get the pins close enough in) and can look quite smart. Wouldn't ever buy it again mind!
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prospero
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by prospero »

On the whole I'm all for it. From an eco pov it saves a lot of trees and as it's extruded there
is no 'waste' to speak of. That is you don't have to cut it from a square piece. I particularly
favour the large chunky stuff. Much cheaper than the wood equivalents and any ornaments
are contiguous in the structure so no risk of shrinkage and bits dropping off.

For my own purposes I would refinish it. Not worth it on skinny stuff, but big gains on a large section.
I've only done a few as try-outs, mostly re-purposed frames but the results were good. Thick profiles
don't suffer so much of bendyness, but a strip of PSE pine fixed behind would solve a lot of that. Or if
it were combined in a stacked combo with wood moulding(s) even better.

The only snag with me at the moment is cutting. I would prefer to saw it, but the blades I have are not
ideal for plastic and melt the moulding. Not bovvered about minor gaps as refinishing will cure any. But
it can gunge up the blades. I'm looking to replace the present blades with negative rake tooth ones which
I think would work better.

So I would say - take time to learn it's characteristics and how to handle it and it can be good stuff. :yes: :D
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Trinity »

I bought 1/2 dozen lengths of POL4101 from Wessex a cushion black with silver edge and the one I've done to date looked well, surrounding 3 photos in 1 frame with a black core double mount. I also think the black black core is a good way to go too.
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by DCS »

We get through mountains of it in all shapes and sizes. Our best seller in Polcore is the 20mm, 28mm and 40mm textured black
which joins very well with no gaps especially after a tiny squirt of their glue (superglue).

The only downside is consistency between lengths which can be a pita but all in all a great company to deal with as
any problems in products have been dealt with straight away

Unfortunately someone in the stock planning department has managed to allow levels of the black we use to fall to zero at the moment
which has forced us to buy from their competitors at the busiest time of year, hopefully he or she will donate their Christmas bonus to the Salvation Army
or other good causes in penance.
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Keith Hewitt »

prospero wrote:On the whole I'm all for it. From an eco pov it saves a lot of trees
:Slap:

Prospero - trees are like potatoes, apples or anything that grows in the ground.
You plant them, they grow, you cut them down and use them. At the same time planting more
Its a crop :clap:

There is so much duff information spread about Saving Trees and how eco friendly plastic is.
Can someone tell me where does plastic come from ?
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Ian Kenny Framing »

We never use it. We work on the presumption that if customers are coming to us, they are coming for a proper wood frame. I've seen the look of bewilderment when a customer brings a frame in for repair, it's been bought bespoke with the presumption it's wood, it turns out it's plastic, and they haven't been told.
We did the maths a long time ago. If wood costs £3 a foot, and similar design plastic is £1, the saving on a 20x16 is about £12. Even if you bin the rest of the length, it's £20. Do you pass all of that on to the customer? Go 50-50? Or keep it all to yourself?
Ecowise, it's a petrochemical byproduct, and is not biodegradeable so far as I know. Nowadays, moulding wood tends to come from sustainable managed sources
Each to their own though, and there's no doubt it's near impossible to tell the difference from a few feet away. Polcore (other brands are available!) has its place, just not in our workshop.
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Jamesnkr »

& you can't burn the leftovers.
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Steve N »

we use a very small range of it, you have to be choosy, as Jamesnkr point out some of it has bad gaps on the outside of the joints

Fed up with seeing cheapskate framing with it, :head: the other day customer brought a picture 60cm x110cm , glass broken and the frame was also, so a complete re-frame job,. turns out to be a white plastic moulding (have replaced with econ/0013 almost the same) plastice moulding could hardly support the glass, also the framer had used bendy tabs on the back, so to stop the frame from bending out, had to use two wood battens glued across the backing board with a metal plates screwed to the plastic moulding !! whatever cost they saved from cheapskate use of materials and techniques they wasted on the time it took to sort out , still didn't stop the frame bending! and breaking :head:

Moan over :giggle:
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by prospero »

Plastic comes from the same place as trees. Same place as everything else come to that. Out of the ground. :roll:

Although I do take Uncle Keith's point. But you can't take wood and melt it down and turn it back into wood.

MDF yes, but not proper wood. :D
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Glimpse

Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Glimpse »

Isn't Polcore made from recycled polystyrene packaging?

If that's right (and I hope it is as that's what I've been telling my customers!!) I think it's great that we can make a usable, good quality material from waste.

OK, so it might not be particularly easy to recycle Polcore, but the majority of it should end up being used on a frame that has the potential to last decades. I think people sometimes get a bit hung up on the future recycleability of materials when in reality, it's not a huge problem.

For what it's worth, I like them... Particularly the bigger chunky blacks and metallics that I use for most sports shirts etc.
And I also carry a stock of thin black, white and oaks for cheap and cheerful stuff.

Most finishes are far more robust than their timber equivalents...
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Jamesnkr »

Glimpse wrote: it should end up being used on a frame that has the potential to last decades.
Potential maybe, but likelihood? Cheap frame around cheap art; in the bin within a decade very often I suggest.
Glimpse

Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Glimpse »

Possibly, and more likely with the contract framing business, but most of the stuff I use it for will most likely be displayed for the same length of time as it would if it was framed in timber...

I have a customer that specifically asks for it as it's a recycled material... Makes her feel like she's saving the planet! :wink:
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by DCS »

There seems to be a lot of dissent and snobbery to using plastic "cheapskate framing" "proper wood framing" etc.etc.

Not all customers can afford bespoke real wood frames so we happily fill the gap and to be honest the time taken on
a piece of oak, ash or whatever we can probably make ten "cheapskate" frames and triple our profit.

We offer both wood and plastic and buy mouldings from companies like Polcore and Emafyl usually in boxes or two at a time as it moves very quickly so Polcore and ourselves must be doing something right and believe me we have some very wealthy people here in the north east who have more disposable income than anywhere else in the country.

One of our regulars is a professor at Durham University who could easily afford to buy whatever framing he wanted but has half of his house covered in Polcore and Simon's Emafyl!
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Steve N »

Sorry DCS I didn't mean to offend you, by using the term "Cheapskate Framing" , or to have implied that because you use Polcore, that you are a Cheapskate Framer, as I said we also use Polcore, it does have it's place in today's picture framing world.

What get me upset, are those framers, which give all of us framers a bad name, are the ones that use the cheapest materials and techniques that are questionable, not bothering to use glue on the mitres, just underpinning, using readymade bendy tabs (not taped up), where you grab hold of the sides of the frames and pull them apart, no better than an IKEA frame, just so they save £0.10 on the frame. I have had occasions where a customer has brought in a frame and photo and they want a mount, gone to take the cardboard corner protectors off the frame and one side of the frame falls off!!!, spraymounting posters onto the MDF backing , I could go on...............

So what I meant was, where you do see "Cheapskate Framing", it's either has Polcore or MDF paperwrap ( now I have offended those framers that use that :sweating: ) frames, which is a pity, as I like a lot of the designs you can now get in plastic, we are looking to increase our range of Polcore/Emafyl in the New Year
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Glimpse »

As far as I'm concerned, it's just more choice for the customer. Some of the bigger ornate styles look fantastic and it's great to be able to suggest them as an alternative when a customer's budget simply won't stretch to a similar timber moulding.

I also find that the bigger styles cut perfectly on the Morso, whereas I'd probably order a timber moulding of a similar size on chop. So we have more flexibility and make more profit.

I've just done a gorgeous batch of 5 deep timber box frames using a narrow brushed silver Polcore moulding stacked inside. It's transformed an average job into something really special without a massive increase in material costs.
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by StevenG »

Interesting post actually, I might have to reconsider. Can anyone give examples of "chunky blacks and metallics" :) or anything that cuts nicely with a Morso. On larger items such as sports shirts are there any concerns with rigidity?
Glimpse

Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by Glimpse »

I tend to use the Metro range of Minerva mouldings - Lion's version of Polcore for brushed-finish blacks and metallics. Never had any problems with it. I also like their Simple Metallics for stacking - they have a nice smooth gloss finish...
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Re: Popularity of Polcore

Post by StevenG »

Cheers Glimpse - I'll take a look :)
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