The Framers Forum

Hello,

Well, it is my first week trading and I have 3 jobs - woohoo, it's a start! But I need a little advice if you would be so kind, pretty please?

The customer wants two vintage magazines framed in a way that won't damage them so I am intending to use Melinex/Mylar wrap and Jim Miller's method. This makes sense to me and will do the job nicely, but I am struggling to find where I can purchase just small amounts. Lionpic have a 20 meter roll, but at the moment I can't really justify spending £50 on a roll until I have healthier cashflow. I have found a slightly smaller roll (500mm wide) on another website but it is still £26 and I'm unsure if I would ultimately wish I had bought a wider roll anyway.

Is there anywhere I can buy smaller amounts, or even individual large sheets that I could cut down instead? I have found many places selling types of polyester sheets for graphics, but I am getting confused if they are one and the same.

Or indeed, is there another method you would recommend instead?

Thanks as always,

Janine

I think the Larson Juhl Conservation Wrapping Film is the cheapest I have seen. I don't think that you'll find it in sheets anywhere.
This is the best method. To be frank and believe me I understand not having cashflow at the beginning, £25 is a small amount to pay for materials. I think we lived on credit for the first few years, as I invested most of the profits back into having the right materials, it seemed endless...
Don't forget that if you have an artist who wants work mounted and wrapped to put it gallery viewers, you can offer to wrap them (for a fee), it's a job that most artists hate to do because it's fiddly but is easy to get quick at.

Thank you Justin, its reassuring I am on the right lines!

Yes, the list does seem endless! At the moment I am trying to buy things as the need arises, and a profit seems a long way off at the moment while I am getting settled.

Sorry, me again. I will bite the bullet and get a roll.

The cheapest smaller quantities I can find are:

75 Micron Polyester Roll 500mm x 20M - £21.95 + VAT
50 Micron Polyester Roll 1067mm x 20M - £28.95 + VAT

Which would be the better all-round option? 75 micron is the same weight that Lionpic sell, Larson Juhl says 40 micron.

Thanks!

You've made a great investment in Jim's book - a couple of rolls of clear archival polyester will be another one. I only ever used 75 micron upwards, from PEL

https://www.preservationequipment.com/C ... ster-Rolls

The magazine mount uses two sheets of polyester, one wrapped vertically under the front cover, which does all the work, and another wrapped around the whole thing horizontally, which serves only to prevent the thing from sliding out to the side and to keep the cover closed.

So you could, in place of the first sheet, use a piece of watercolour paper of suitable weight, scored and folded to suit, and then a narrow strip of polyester across each corner, or even ribbon, which of course would be more conspicuous.

PEL sell polyester in reels as well, in fact just search for polyester on their site as they sell it in all sorts of formats.

https://www.preservationequipment.com/C ... ester-Tape

But if you buy half metre or so rolls, they'll last forever and be very useful as the stuff is just so versatile.

(Shipping on the lower priced stuff may make things far less economical, I don't think PEL do free shipping, the sort of company that are great if you have a decent order and the shipping is only a small % )

I use the LJ mylar. Its polyester so I'm not sure if there's a big difference between 40mic and 75mic for encapsulation purposes, I might be wrong. The 500mm roll size is fine for everything I've needed it for. As John says, shipping is an issue when starting out. I've limited myself to three suppliers, one delivers two ship. It's easier to build up an order and spread the shipping cost over a few jobs.

Another little tip (and expense) if you don't already have them is to get some cotton gloves. When using sheet material I don't like getting finger prints all over the surface so wear gloves, I also use them whenever handling the roll for the same reason. Not such an issue if cutting straps.

Thank you all, these are really helpful replies and very much appreciated.

Well that was a steep learning curve! But I got there in the end and the customer was pleased, which is what matters.

Thank you for all your help and encouragement.

They look great, good job !