Mounts with Slips

[Glimpse]

I've just ordered some slips to have a go at a board mount with slip-edge, having never tried one before, are there any useful tips? Should the board be cut straight or bevelled underneath? Can the slip be pinned or is it likely to split?

Any advice greatly appreciated...

[Graysalchemy]

I cut with a reverse bevel so the bevel is underneath. I also cut another mount 12mm bigger (or however wide the slip rebate is which sits underneath and will accommodate the thickness of the slip. I stick it all together with archival tape completely covering the wood. Really you should also have another card barrier between the artwork and the slip for archival work.

[Glimpse]

Thanks Grays... The piece I'm experimenting on isn't of any significant value, but that's a good point about a barrier between the artwork and the slip.
Do you just glue the slip corners?

[An Old Master]

I always use a slip that I can pin. Flat gold half inch is my staple and has been for years.

[Graysalchemy]

No I have them so they are fairly tight in the aperture and then just tape in place. You may also need some pieces of card under the mount just to keep it of the bench whilst you are fitting the mounts unless the mount is made up of multiple mounts.

[prospero]

Is it a slip or a fillet? A slip is flat and a fillet has a ridge on top. (At least in my philosophy..... )

Tip for fitting fillets on a manual-cut mount......

On a manual cutter you can't rely on each side being spot-on the same length. If the outside of the board is a tad off re. squareness, then the sides of the window will parallel the outside. Not the same on a CMC (or shouldn't be). So to fit the fillet, cut the first long side a tiny bit longer than you calculate and try fit it.

I might be too short, in which case leave it to cut a short side with.

It might be too long, in which case shave it down until it fits perfectly.

It might fit perfectly. But before you stick it in, try it on the opposite side. If it fits OK there, cut another bit (using same stop setting). If it is too long or too short you can cut another bit a smidgeon longer or shorter. We are talking very small amounts here.

Repeat for short sides.

You can get special narrow fillet tape, but my usual method is to use 1/2" d/s and slice it in half after you have attached it, but before you peel the backing. The bit you slice off is used on the opposite side.

As the OM said, you can use flat slips which you can pin. In this case use a standard bevel.

Fillets vary in the hight of the ridge. You can add a extra layer of scrap mb behind the window to sink then in so they are level with the front. Personally, I don't like them sticking up too much and touching the glass. In the same way you can use a std bevel. This looks better if the core of the mb is not too dissimilar tone to the facing of the mb or is black.

There is this gizmo that is designed just for cutting/fitting fillets. Never used one but have heard good reports. Great if you are doing fillets all the time.

[An Old Master]

That's summat I've never been able to get a really good reason for - if you ( moulding manufacturer ) are making a fillet (sic) to fit on the bevel of standard thickness mountboard, why make the ridge 2.5 - 3.0mm high when it's obvious the mountboard is 1.5 - 1.75mm thick ? Also, assuming that most framers will use the reverse bevel technique, where the cutting of the bevel will take up around 1.3 mm of the back of the board, or mounting surface, then why only give 5mm of flat area to stick to, which, in practise is now reduced to 3.5mm of available mounting area? 10 - 15mm would be far more sesnsible, and give us struggling framers at least a fighting chance.

[Glimpse]

Thanks for all the advice... According to Prospero's phylosophy, it's a fillet that I'm using, although Wessex call them slips...

I thought a fillet was against the frame, a slip against the mountboard...

[prospero]

Slips are more often seen against the frame. A lot of old prints are stuck to board and framed with a slip under the glass. (Slipped in between ) One chap I knew called then 'stretchers'. As with a lot of trades people tend to evolve their own personal nomenclature. We hear what they say, but we know what they mean.

[Steve N]

Old Master wrote
" then why only give 5mm of flat area to stick to, which, in practise is now reduced to 3.5mm of available mounting area? 10 - 15mm would be far more sesnsible, and give us struggling framers at least a fighting chance."

I find it useful to have it only 5mm wide, then you find it can fit a lot of mouldings, thus giving a plain moulding a gold/silver site edge

[Graysalchemy]

I do that as well with Larson Juhl Brittany I add a little silver slip looks great but can be a fiddle when you have an exhibitions worth to do

[prospero]

If you use a lot of 3mm foamcore, keep the offcuts as they are very close to the thickness of many fillets and you can fill in behind the fillet to make everything level. In a lot of fillets the foamcore is slightly thicker, which is good as it lifts the fillet off the surface of the art just a nidge.
I always use a barrier tape over the back of the fillet. As well as isolating the wood, it locks the whole thing in place a bit more firmly.

[Roboframer]

This little number from Arqadia, also available in gold and antique gold is, at 3mm, the thinnest mount fillip out there. I think it's made by an Italian company called Albor and used to be available from several suppliers in other finishes, including unfinished. It can be made flush with 4 ply mount board.

Most of the Larson Juhl moulding range has matching fillips and I don't know why other manufacturers don't catch on, they're great sellers/clinchers.

I only fit the chunkier ones with DS tape on the rebate and never pin and/or glue the corners - but I only use the ones designed for edging mounts, not flat ones.

[Graysalchemy]

I have always used the 177301 which is 1mm deeper, I think I will have a look at that one next time I order.

Cheers

[Trinity]

Don't forget to look at a specialist piece of equipment if you start to get serious aboout fillets - see www.filletmaster.com - I sell these in the UK so pm me if interested, or see an alternative - the Fillet Pro in the Lion catologue item 7125
ps for anyone having the Fillet Master I now have the length and height extenders in stock.

Keith

[An Old Master]

How much is a Filletmaster now ?

[Trinity]

Happy to tell you Old Master, hopefully I'm not tempting the fate of the bargepole!

The two gizmo's - Fillet Master and Fillet Pro do the same thing, but with the Fillet Master you need an extra bit of kit - a Morso. Might be a problem for some. The Fillet Pro is a self contained unit.

Fillet Masters are £188 including (no) VAT + postage

By comparison
Fillet Pro's are in the Lion catalogue at £393 .75 inc VAT plus postage if appropriate.

My own experience is that the FM gives you the confidence to add value through the addition of the perfect fillet, every time.

There you go!

[StevenG]

The Fillet Master is a neat little tool, I have one but to be honest I rarely use it. As Prospero said the internal corners have to be 100% exactly right for things to work right, I have an old Artist Plus (that really needs to be changed) and getting that level of accuracy can be awkward. Mostly, when I'm using fillets I just measure each side individually, takes a bit longer but when it's done it's done.

I have a workshop shopping list that makes me cry sometimes (but in a manly way)

[Ray]

Should a slip sit behind the glass or in front of it. Prospero mentioned they would sit beneath the glass to provide the gap between glass and artwork. If you were using a mount as well as a slip is there any correct or preferred method of where to put the slip?

[prospero]

I would only use a slip under the glass if there were no window mount. Otherwise it's not really serving a purpose other than cosmetic and in that case better on top of the glass. Mounts can curl around the opening if they aren't pressed against the glass.

You see a lot of old prints that have a wide border framed with slips under. The wide border then serves the same purpose as a mount visually, but you still have the spacing. This sort of print was typically stuck to board.

Adding a gold slip to a wood moulding is great as long as the moulding itself doesn't have a gold edge. Two golds together that are not quite the same looks very shonky IMHO.