Arqadia Claryl Glass

[etched]

hi roboframer - i find distilled water fine for cleaning the glass of light dust but not for a greasy thumprint or heavier stains - thats my experience. im used to cutting glass freehand for many years before i used the wall mounted cutter so i just find it easier, quicker and in the case of coated glass - less hassle. the tip of using the old mountcard to protect the glass is excellent but i have not needed it as my method does not need to protect the glass.....i find many framers are not as adept at cutting glass and thats why the wall mounted cutters are so popular.

[Roboframer]

I too cut by hand for many years before I bought my excalibur - I never had the room for one until we moved to our current location in 2000.

As for fingerprints and heavy stains I agree with you, but not for coated glass - that gets handled with cotton gloves and those things just don't happen - not until the stuff leaves the premises at least! I rarely have to clean the coated glass I use at all anyway.

[Roboframer]

i find many framers are not as adept at cutting glass and thats why the wall mounted cutters are so popular.

Possibly, but the main attraction is speed accuracy and efficiency; being able to cut everything - glass, mount, undermount, backing - using the same stops, no lines to draw, no measuring to do.

[etched]

agreed roboframer - the thumb prints occur at home with the customer and not in the workshop

[Jonny2morsos]

Regarding the "strange" sizes, the dimensions quoted on the Arqadia site are for the "usable" area of the lite. The physical dimensions of the lites are slightly bigger, e.g:-


CMP090130: Quoted Size = 1220 x 865mm; Physical Size = 1300 x 900mm).

Just looking at this topic from a year back as I am still going over the various options available in AR glass. If anyone out there has experience of Claryl can you tell me, do you have to trim of some of the glass around the edges? When using this type of glass I prefer to handle it as little as possible so going round the edges trimming away some non coated area looks like a way of increasing the risk of damage.

The price looks competetive compared to Britannia Image Clear and Wessex/G&M Artglass

Would welcome any other comments.

[prospero]

Only ever used it once. I found it a pig to clean.

[Gesso&Bole]

I use Claryl a lot, and honestly can't see what is difficult about cleaning it. I use the cleaner they supply with it, and paper towels (Regina kitchen towels from Sainsburys). Can be tricky if you have got finger prints on it, but even if you have, just rub hard and they come off.

As to the useable area. I use the sheets that are about 4'x3'. There is about 35mm at the top which is untreated - this is the bit to get hold of, but it does need to be trimmed off. There is also a few mm down one side that is not treated, but this is usually hidden by the rebate, but can catch you out, particularly on an offcut.

Scratching? Yes it scratches more easily than normal float glass, but a sheet of mountboard in the Excalibur, and being careful not to kick it round the workshop takes care of that. NB sometimes when you are cleaning it, there appear to be scratches that are actually just smears, and sometimes there are scratches that you can't see once its in the frame, and sometimes they are real scratches that will be seen. We have got better at not scratching it now that we have stopped treating it so carefully!!

Breakages? I had one pack come before Christmas with 2 of the 4 sheets damaged. A phonecall to Arqadia, and an immediate credit. When it is delivered, it is in an outer case that the carrier takes away with him.

If the purpose is for clarity, not protection, I have found this to be a good product

[Jo]

I've been using Claryl for about 18 months, mainly on the photos I frame for a local portrait photographer but also to whoever will pay for the upgrade. Looks great (particularly on the photos) and the demonstrater has lots of finger prints in the centre where everyone jokingly prods the middle one, thinking the one that isn't there is the one they want, so they can't fail to be impressed when they find out the glass is that good.

The quality of it has improved over that 18 months, I found early batches quite dirty and hard to clean, but each successive pack has come better packed and much cleaner. I only handle them with my Claryl gloves on to avoid finger prints, and clean them with the provided cleaner and a microfibre cloth and they clean easily nowadays. Haven't noticed any scratches of significance (apart from the big one I caused on one piece just before Christmas....) The usable area is normally slightly more than quoted, I frequently use the full 900mm width as the coating goes right to the edges, but the other two sides need to be trimmed.

I keep being told the UV version is on it's way, but was told last summer, then end of 2010, so still waiting. I'll be interested to see how much it costs because I only started offering this glass option because of the reasonable price of standard Claryl, but certainly have occasions where UV and low reflectance would be useful if the price was better than Museum.

Yes, it is delivered in a HUGE box, but this does protect it from breakages in the main. My first delivery was with the usual couriers, and 3 out of 4 sheets were broken. Now it comes on smaller vans, with two men to deliver, and they take the big box away for re-use by Arqadia, which means you can unpack it and check the inner package before they leave.

I think it's a very good buy for the price, and a good entry level specialist glass if like me you haven't tried anything like that before. The only issue I have had is trying to work out what to charge for it! I keep tweaking the figures in BBEst, but still not completely sure it's right.

[stephen34]

I tried Claryl twice. First time fine, looked great. Second time, after completed job noticed streak lines or coloured bands in the glass when light at a certain angle. Cleaning again did not help. Replaced with proper Museum glass. Will not use Claryl again.

[stcstc]

is it the same price are the conservation version of tru vue?

i have a sample set of the truvue stuff i think what my supplier said it was 60 euro ish for the conservation and 400 for the museum

i looked at the arquadia catalogue today and its about 50 something stg

for some reason i had it in my head is was way cheaper than the tru vue