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This was the biggest job I have had so far. The rifles have been behind his bedroom door gathering dust for ages - wife got fed up and brought them in for framing.
Long and heavy, the customer wanted the frame to open so he can take the rifles out from time to time. After some very helpful comments on here (and looking in Jim Miller's book) I made a 'slider' frame in the end, which fits over the main frame which is attached to the wall.
(The gap in the mount board will not be visible when mounted on the wall. 100mm strip of the back board each end is removable so frame can be screwed directly to the wall, mountboard is then replaced with a dab of glue - edges are bevelled and are a perfect fit)
The hooks were made by a local blacksmith and turned out rather well.
Interests: Movies, always trying to get things better, Wasting money on things I don't need, reading stuff on here, eating sandwiches & being thankful for the small things
I immediately recognised the Lee Enfield and know that it is really heavy. So could I ask what you used for a backing board in order to support so much weight.
Very nice job and professionally executed.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Both rifles were about 10kg altogether. I reinforced the box with 4 struts at the back - 2 at the edges and 2 where the hooks screwed in, then lined it with 9mm ply, then the mount board.
Gus wrote:(The gap in the mount board will not be visible when mounted on the wall. 100mm strip of the back board each end is removable so frame can be screwed directly to the wall, mountboard is then replaced with a dab of glue - edges are bevelled and are a perfect fit)
What was the reasoning behind this? It seems like a once-only method.
I wanted to hide the way the frame is fixed to the wall. Thought of z bars and mirror plates, but thought they wouldn't be as secure. (I phoned wessex for advice on how to fix it and Gary suggested screwing it directly to the wall - seemed sensible to me). Once the frame is screwed to the wall it will not be moved (until they move house), so it is a more permanent option than usual.
The 100mm strips that form the edges of the backboard, and hide the wall fixings, will only be secured with dabs of glue and will be able to be pulled off when the frame needs to be moved. I put thin strips of Mylar on them, a bit like a tag, so they could be pulled easily without damaging them.
I had thought of securing the end pieces with magnets or Velcro, but as this is going to be a semi permanent fixing decided on a dab of glue as the easiest option.
The mount board chosen is not available in jumbo size (frame is 1400mm long), so there had to be a join somewhere.
At the very worst, I thought that if it doesn't come apart as planned, it will only need a sheet of mb to be fixed over the existing backing!
Nice job and well done, I never felt comfortable about framing complex items such as firearms made of wood and metal in sealed displays. Even if the customer had specified that access was not needed I would try to sell the option of a Front Lift Off cover or as you have called yours a 'sliding frame'. Ease of access puts the onus of maintenance back onto the client, however stable the internal environment a sealed box might seem, temperature variations can create condensation under the most unlikely circumstances. Over a number of years this could cause spots of corrosion in hidden parts even with the most careful preparation.
