Large vintage posters - help please

[vintage frames]

I have to say I'm a bit queasy about mounting this to an equal size mountboard and then securing it 'loosely' within the frame enclosure.
Or am I seeing this wrong?

[Justintime]

I'm not sure how you're seeing it Dermot, but the method entails tight hinging on the top and very slightly looser hinges on sides and bottom, to allow for some expansion and contraction. My point about not fixing the mountboard tightly was that we are inclined to think that the package must be pushed tight into the frame when points are inserted, when the package simply requires holding in place and not forced in as tight as possible, crimping everything in its path.

[vintage frames]

Yes, I understand everything you say Justin. I'd just be concerned that for such a light-weight poster, it would still be inclined to balloon out no matter how careful you are when closing up.
But then there's nothing like trying it out and seeing what happens.

[Gesso&Bole]

I get queasy when the customer wants me to do something that has too many compromises. I'm uncomfortable with trying out new techniques on Customer's artwork.

I've been watching this thread to see if there was a gap in my knowledge, and there really was a good way of achieving all of this Customer's requirements without risk to the framer. There have been some good ideas, but they are all attempts at compromising because the customer says they don't want a mount.

I think in this instance I would insist that the practical considerations (ie how do we protect and secure the artwork) are considered and agreed first, before even discussing the design concept. If the customer was still insisting on a super skinny frame and no mount, then I think I would refuse to do it.

I certainly don't advocate turning down work (particularly when its in short supply) but I have learnt the hard way that if you let the customer talk you into doing something that wont work, they will bring it back for you to fix when it breaks down. Invariably that will mean doing the job again, but at your expense. I can't deal with the stress of that.

[vintage frames]

I don't see why you couldn't do this the way I suggested - float onto a slightly smaller board, fix to some foam-board and have it raised from the back mount.
Then with the aid of a simple sub-frame, encase it in the skinny moulding of customer's choice.

[JKX]

What would be the advantage of raising the mounted thing away from the back mount?

I can think if a couple of disadvantages.

Extra space required in the rebate, You’re going to need as much of the rebate as possible for spacers and a bracing frame

If this is to be done to the highest levels then everything inside needs to meet conservation spec and the centre of foam board won’t; you’d be lucky if the surface papers did as well. You could of course build up conservation boards to the same thickness.

This is usually done for visual effect and there won’t be any if it’s close framed

The mounting board being made smaller than than the art puts wet hinges further away from the edge of the paper.

[vintage frames]

My suggestion was for a visually pleasing effect.
Raising it slightly from the back mount and with a 'considered' gap between the paper edge and sight edge of the moulding could give it a bit of 'presence' within the frame.

After that just use all the usual museum level materials - sandwich some sheets of mountboard instead of foam board if you wish.

[JKX]

OK, well that would be absolutely fine, but it’s another idea that doesn’t fit the brief, the customer wants it close framed and if that is how it is to be then it’s best to have the edges of the paper just under the rebate lip (but not under the spacers.

The effect is lost without space around it and if the customer can be persuaded to have some, then you wouldn’t have to float mount it anyway and could use a window mount and little to no adhesive at all.

[Justintime]

John, can you explain how the paper can be just under the rebate lip, without being under the spacer? Am I being thick??

[JKX]

The spacer would just need to be a fair bit narrower than the lip.

I touched on it earlier

“……an acceptable, but far from ideal method, is to float mount it on to a board just slightly larger, so that the spacers sit on that board but not the art, the art would be very close to those spacers and if the frame lip could be made wider, that would make life a bit easier”

So without making the lip wider the paper edges would be just in view, as close to the spacers as possible.

Even if you were capable of making the lip wider it wouldn’t be on with a skinny moulding.