mounting a watercolour done on board

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 7:41 pm

hi, what would be the best way to mount a watercolour done on board? Would a t-hinge be too weak to hold the watercolour to the mountboard? i want to put a double mount over the watercolour. any suggestions would be most welcome. apologies for asking lots of questions, im a complete novice

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 7:59 pm

Put your mount face down and place the piece over it, secure across the corners with FP90 then make it flush with mountboard strips to the full width of the frame. If it's thicker than mountboard then build up the strips or use foamboard.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:08 pm

ok, thanks roboframer. Just to get this right in my head.... place the watercolour face down on the mount, position it, tape the 4 corners and build up with mountboard strips so the mount is the same thickness as the board the watercolour has been painted on. do i use fp90 tape to stick the mountboard strips?

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:21 pm

No - double sided tape, you don't have to use tape at each corner either, just the top would do. The strips, butted right up to the board prevent slippage.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:23 pm

excellent, thanks roboframer. I do appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:23 pm

No big deal, I don't have a life.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:27 pm

would normal mdf backboard be ok right behind the board the watercolour in painted on or would i need ph neutral backboard, then mdf?

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:32 pm

Depends what quality of board the thing is painted on.

Pointless using preservation grade board if the painting is stuck to carp, if it's stuck to 'acid free' board then it's already backed OK. Even if you backed it with MDF it would take donkeys before it had any adverse effect.

'Artbak' type board should be fine.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:33 pm

ok... thats fine. cheers

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:37 pm

could you use the same prodecure for oil paintings on board?

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:40 pm

The medium is irrelevant, anything on board should be made flush if mounting it, and if it's painted on plywood there's nothing wrong with making it flush with plywood either.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:42 pm

righteo, i'll stop asking questions now, thanks again.

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:44 pm

Bar the extra weight and the fact that foam board and mountboard is easy to cut.

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Wed 09 Apr, 2008 8:58 pm

'are easy to cut' is what I should have writ.

Post by **prospero** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 12:30 am

What Robo said....

I get these all the time. Great way to use up all those silly long bits of mb that accumulate. To save a bit of time, don't bother measuring /trimming the strips to fit. Stick oversize bits on first, turn the mount face-up and trim off the excess.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 8:47 am

those are great tips, thanks for your help.

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 8:49 am

do i only need to put the strips below the painting to prevent it from slipping or should I surround the entire painting with strips of mountboard?

Post by **prospero** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 9:38 am

Surround the whole board. Makes the whole thing neater. If everything is level at the back.
You are using what is basically scrap anyway.

I tend to put the strips round without sticking the painting down first. Then attach the painting to the strips with a short bit of tape on each side. easier if you ever want to remove the painting from the mount. (which I sometimes do).

ruimar · Post by **ruimar** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 10:02 am

makes sense i suppose, cheers

Roboframer · Post by **Roboframer** » Thu 10 Apr, 2008 7:35 pm

prospero wrote:To save a bit of time, don't bother measuring /trimming the strips to fit. Stick oversize bits on first, turn the mount face-up and trim off the excess.

But also use a straight steel edge or a kevlar glove, or both, the straight edge will prevent the blade going off track and trashing your mount; the glove will prevent this............