The Framers Forum

I've been asked to frame a table cloth. I havent seen it yet but from its description and a brief discussion on how the owner wants it hung its going to be an intresting challenge. The size is I belive 6x4 feet or there abouts and it is to be framed fully open to show dozens of embroidered RAF signatures from the 1940's. This is very much a conservation job, and a big one.

So, large sheet of UV acrylic, ok with that, asuming I can order some large enough and the budget will stretch. And ok with the general construction of the frame (thanks Prospero for the 'Big Jobby' thread).

My main concern at the moment is how to attach the cloth and to what? Over size foam core or rag boards? Hand stitching direct through the board will be a handfull so im thinking along the lines of velcro hand stitched to the cloth and boards. I think I might need to devise a stronger method to support the weight of the cloth.

What about the glazing? I've seen 3mm acrylic listed on the Wessex catalog but would this be rigid enough as it won't be touching the cloth so there will be a large expanse of unsupported glazing. Is UV acrylic available in 4 ot 6mm sheets? That is going to be heavy.

Luckilly I have plenty of time to think this through and to plan it out.

Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Last week I framed a 6 x 4 inch print, next week a 6 x 4 foot table cloth!

One way that might work (never actually done it) would be to assemble a large canvas stretcher frame and mount a suitable fabric to it. It would have to be something heavyweight and something that would hold tension. Maybe even heavyweight raw linen covered with a more decorative fabric. Once you had that done and stable (plenty of cross-bracing) you could stitch the the cloth to it. This would save quite a bit of weight. You could almost get away with not having a back on it, or just a light foamcore back to keep the muck out.

3mm acrylic would be very floppy at this size. I got away with it on the Big Jobby as there was no gap and at that size the vacuum effect holds it tight to the back. 6mm UV acrylic is going to be very pricey, but having the UV filter is a must with old fabric items.

For a project that size you need to use 6mm acrylic. Might I also suggest that you open the rebate width to 12-18mm to assist in the support of the acrylic. A wood strainer should be used to contain the acrylic.

This is a lesson learned from experience!

I've just done a job that was 1630mm long, after promising to myself that I wouldn't do anything over 1200 again. This customer is loyal and far too good to turn away. Anyway, bit of a shock to find that the morso only goes up to 1500, found a way in the end, not pretty, but I'll put up a picture if anyone wants to see it. Also found out that it was too big for both my wizard cmc and my spare 1500 keencut ultimat. Got there in the end, but expected the glass was going to be the big problem, not the frame and mount.

Dave

done 2 jobs recently where I have had to splice mount board together to make my mount .one was over 2m long .

I believe that is a standard feature of both the wizard and gunnar software I had to make the halfs in my valiani software but not too much hassle.

6mm anti-reflective, anti-static museum uv acrylic would be very pricey. Maybe £3000 for the sheet.

4 or 5 or 6 mm 99% UV acrylic (Perspex make one) would not be so expensive - maybe £200-300. I'd say you could get away with 3mm - if the client is not too fussy and wants to keep the cost down and it is supported well enough at the edges. It's not the same thing as "UV stablilized" acrylic which I believe generally means sunlight doesn't turn it yellow.

Lion do a book on framing fabric art. Options include - tagging, stitching, drymounting, taping, glueing, pinning and so on. You seem to want the least damaging, which may not mean the best presentation.

Maybe a micro tagging gun is the best thing - you can puncture through mount or foamboard with the needle - but don't be too rough and break it.

You may get a static problem with acrylic if you are spacing the glaze away, so may need plenty of micro tags in the centre.

A wood strainer should be used to contain the acrylic.

I'm not quite sure what this means, is this like a brace bar across the width?

I have the table cloth in my posession now, 4ft by 4ft. Signatures include Bomber Harris, Johnny Johnson, Guy Gibson et al. It is made of linnen and has been poorly framed in the past. time to figure out the best framing option...customer wants an not to exceed estimate!

4x4 ft is a bit better than 4x6 ft but still too big for 2 or (2.5)mm UV glass, safety-wise - I don't think that comes bigger than 60x40" anyway - could be wrong.

Also still too big for 3mm acrylic and apart from TruVue optium museum I don't know of any acrylic with a UV filter thicker than 3mm.

Both Wessex & Arqadia do optium museum in 6mm; at this smaller size you may get away with the 4.5mm version - but either is horrendously expensive.

Your other option is laminated glass, which has an unintentional but very high UV filter, but that is heavy ..... and still very expensive! Flabeg do an AR waterwhite laminated glass with a 100% UV filter - Glass & Mirror used to sell it, as they did other types of laminated glass, not sure if Wessex continued with those after they took them over.

As for a wood strainer for acrylic - I think this means backing the frame with a complete inner bracing frame, so you're not depending on the usual framers points, this would also be a good idea if heavy glass was used. Your outer frame needs to be very strong with a seriously deep rebate or a stacked combination to achieve it.

I think if I had to use thick glass, I would dispense with the 'frame' concept and build a box straight on the wall. Once you have the thing mounted on whatever, just pop it in from the front, fit the glass and contrive a light frame just to hold the glass in.

Or.... mount and frame the thing, weatherproof it and stick it on the outside of a window.