The Framers Forum

One of my customers is thinking about having UV acrylic fitted to a framed poster. I can see that TruVue Optium blocks up to 99% of UV rays (at an eye-watering cost) but I can't find specifications about other brands. Lion has discontinued Artglass and Wessex is selling unbranded UV acrylic which doesn't seem to have a specification.

Is there a specialist UV acrylic seller, maybe in the framing industry or maybe not, who sells various brands/qualities so that I can give my customer some quality/cost options. I think Optium is out of the question due to the cost. I would need it supplied cut-to-size.

Also, the customer wants to use the existing frame, which is currently fitted with standard acrylic. Will it be OK use UV acrylic directly against the poster?

Thanks for any input

Hi Rainbow
I would give David Palmer a call at Wessex Leatherhead. I went to a FATG talk given by him yesterday and he was discussing a wide range of products at a range of costs. His knowledge is huge and I am sure he will be able to give you good advice.
Good luck
Jonathan

If you look on Wessex website, it has the following

Steve, thanks for that link. I searched for "Acrylic" and the result I got bypassed that "Plastic Glass" page and took me straight to the "Acrylic Plastic Glass" page which doesn't mention the 99%.

Jonathan, thanks for the David Palmer heads-up

Have a look here for info on all of Wessex's glass and acrylic. Page 54 for conservation plastics. https://issuu.com/chapter2design/docs/glass_catalogue

Also, if you log into the Wessex website, they now have an excellent cut to size calcilator https://www.wessexpictures.com/glass_products.html

The Optium is so expensive as it also has an anti-reflective coating.

A couple of points of interest, ordinary float glass has a UV rating of around 40 - 45% UV absorption whereas ordinary clear acrylic is 65 - 80%. Also, UV 99% acrylic has a colour shift compared to clear.

An alternative supplier here https://www.theplasticshop.co.uk/perspe ... sheet.html but you will need to get a quote for cut to size.

And yes, if you are going to glaze in direct contact with the poster, acrylic is better than glass, thermal properties and all that

You have to be a bit careful with UV claims on plastic glass. Often it refers to the material's own resistance and
not any filtering qualities. Won't yellow or go brittle etc. The easy way to test it is the get a colour image cut from
a magazine or other newsprint and cover half with a small piece of the acrylic. Leave it in a sunny windowsill for a
few days and compare the covered/uncovered sections.

Rainbow

We were also at the talk last night from David Palmer at Wessex. He explained really well exactly how the UV elements are added to glass and acrylic and the differences between the different types. I would definitely give him a call.

You could try Artglass AR99 acrylic available CTS from Centrado. At well as the AR and UV 99 qualities, it is scratch resistant and anti static. It isn’t cheap but not as expensive as the Tru Vue equivalent. We’ve just used a piece and it seemed pretty impressive ( in terms of the AR, tough coating and anti static qualities - will have to take the suppliers work for it on the UV!).

Many thanks for all these replies. A lot to get my head around methinks, but I'll start with reading the links and take it from there. Thanks again, the replies are really helpful