Resizing a Ikea frame

[strokebloke]

Well I'm deeply disappointed in you lot.
You've all been giving me a load of spiel about GCF, Professional Trade, skill levels, tee hinges and FATG; and I could have sat down with this guy for half an hour, and finished up being better than all of you.
Go on, admit it. You'd never seen it done like this before, had you?
I'm going to Ikea first thing tomorrow morning to get some of those frames.
Oh, And I've just ordered one of those bandsaws from Axminster.
They did sound a bit puzzled when I explained that the saw blade stuck up in the air.

[prospero]

Ah well Jack. Necessity is the Mother Of Invention.

[strokebloke]

Have you tried posting that on Gardeners World, Prospero?
I do hope that''s not you, and your hedge. Where do you keep the crane when you're not cultivating/trimming?

[prospero]

In the shed. Under all the moulding.

[Amrit]

Just saw is. What a funny post. This guy has a lot of time on his hands. And to see how many he's made. Those ikea frames cost about £30 each anyhow and come with the added bonus of bending if you put them on a wall. My one actually came off the wall as the metal brackets that came with it broke off and the whole thing fell apart. Could have hurt one of my kids or even killed my cat.

It's a exactly because of this experience I bought a Morso and a cassesse cs88, arriving this Saturday

[IFGL]

glad you went for the 88, the sad thing here is I have actually had customers in the shop to buy mounts for frames they have made using Ikea frames cut down.

When asked what I though of the frames he had made I pulled no punches and told him exactly what I thought of them. truly awful, . sometimes you just can't help yourself.

I once witnessed my step dad telling a customer to f**** off back to Ikea and get your mount recut .

[Not your average framer]

Marks and Spensers sell a range of frmes very similar to the Ikea range, except the M & S ones have the glass glued into the frames. It's still the same 1.5mm glass, which of course gets broken in no time at all.

Customers get very upset when I tell them that the glass is not intended to be replaced. I don't know what glue they use, but it pulls bits of the frame moulding away with it and takes far too long to remove to make glass replacement worth doing!

[Amrit]

Would have loved to see the face of the customer.

The only thing I would say we should be careful of is getting protective and having the customers think we are actually threatened by an IKEA or M&S frame. It was because of IKEA that furniture shops around the UK are scarce and far between, however if I'm honest now if I look for furniture to buy such as fitted wardrobes, I would go to IKEA rather than a fitted wardrobe specialist simply because of price. It ends up costing about half as much as a wardrobe fitter (I already once got burnt by giving a £1000 deposit to a wardrobe fitter who then took my money and flew back to his country!!!)

As far as frames are concerned IKEA cannot offer bespoke frames. The "mount" they use is a piece of paper. The "glass" is plastic. There is no strength in the frame. If it falls it breaks, and believe me it will fall especially if it's not reinforced.

During my furniture days my uncle always used to tell me not to look at the competition (when I used to complain about customers referring to cheap argos bunk beds), but to keep your eyes fixed on what you do. That's what Apple did and look where it got them.
The reason somebody will go to a bespoke framer is that it is customisable quality and also in my opinion adds value to the artwork. Putting an expensive piece of art in a cheap frame doesn't have the same effect.

I once witnessed my step dad telling a customer to f**** off back to Ikea and get your mount recut .

[prospero]

I sometimes tell customers - "Would you drink Champagne out of a jam-jar?"

Tastes the same. But the experience is just not the same as drinking from a crystal glass.