Making a framed magazine removeble

[FramerBill]

I have a complete magazine (premier edition of Playboy w/Marilyn on the cover) that a customer wants framed. Easy enough as I've done this before using Jim Miller’s Mylar encapsulation method. However in this instance, the customer wants to be able to remove the magazine from time to time and show it off. We will be using a double mat on the top and a nice thick Roma moulding to surround it.

So my question to you all is how can I securely mount a valuable ($3,000 at auction) magazine inside a frame, and still allow the customer to open the back, remove it and easily replace it once done?

[MerpsMom]

How about a sink mat and place the magazine in a Mylar-D envelope inside that?

[jframe]

We would use a Swingframe. I think you can find them in Decor, sorry I'm home and don't have any info.

[FramerBill]

The frame has already been selected - its a Roma with a very sensual texture and shape - so the swingframe won't work.

As far as the mylar goes, I have a big old roll of mylar, but the way I wrap the magazine would not be condusive to removing the magazine from time to time. Do they make a finished mylar envelope sized to fit a magazine (about the size of today's Time magazine)that can be opened and closed in the back?

[PurplePerson]

We get prints in mylar that have a tops that folds down. You could put it in one of these envelopes. They could just lift it out and pull the magazine out of it. We get all sizes in our store. I am not sure of their consevation value.

You could also go to a scrap booking place and get folders there. They are achival quality.

I would put turn buttons on the back, so the backer could be lifted out and the magazine could be lifted out of the sink mat.

[jframe]

A wood frame can be attached to a swingframe.

[Larry Peterson]

Take a look at my web site www.MagazineFrames.Com. (http://www.MagazineFrames.Com.) This is what I specialize in. I use a 4 mil Mylar D sleeve to hold the mag with a sink foamboard on the back of the mat with another hingable piece of foamboard on the back. I use an 'S' hook on the hanging wire so that it can be removed and turnbuckles on the back so that it can be opened. If the final depth is more than the rabbit depth, I use offset brackets instead of turnbuckles. There are pictures of changing a mag using the first and second issue of Playboy on my site. You can buy Mylar sleeves from bcemylar.com or bagsunlimited.com. You get Mylar sleeves in magazine size either with or without a top flap. They are sealed on 3 sides.

When I first started, I bought a SwingFrame to see what they had. The frame sticks out from the wall at least a couple on inches. Adding a wood frame to it woulde make for at least a 3" profile. I use frames with a rabbit of at least 9/16" and it has a normal wall profile.

I make these for magazines, comics, comic art, stock certificates and generally almost any kind of ephemera. You can get Mylar sleeves up to 31x42 for encapsulation.

[Jim Miller]

Originally posted by FramerBill:
...the customer wants to be able to remove the magazine from time to time and show it off. ...how can I securely mount a valuable ($3,000 at auction) magazine inside a frame, and still allow the customer to open the back, remove it and easily replace it once done? I know of three ways to mount a valuable magazine:

1. The clear film Book Mount is the best way to give the magazine good overall support and visibility within the frame -- you can float mount it. It is an easy-to-make, protective, and completely non-invasive mount, if not quickly removable.

2. The sink mount is the 'traditional' way to mount a magazine for removal. And if the sink is carefully constructed of buffered alphacellulose boards (with or without zeolite), it will be moderately supportive, protective, and non-invasive. But a window mat must overlap the cover, and the edges of the book are not shown.

3. The Clear Film Book Sink is a hybrid of the two mounts described above. Instead of wrapping the magazine, the clear film is sharply creased to enclose its cover and edges. But rather than folding the film over the back of the book, crease it the other way, making a sink the depth of the book, with flaps folded out, level with the back of the book. (Laying on a table, the clear film would appear to be vacuum-formed over the cover and sides of the book, with the flaps laying flat on the table). Those flaps are to be attached to the back of a window mat with an opening slightly larger than the book. The book's corners are the tricky part; you must make a perfect right-angle cut at each corner, so there is no overlap of film, and as little gap as possible. (When you try this method, you'll see what I mean. Plan to practice at least twice before getting it right.) Finally a reinforced, museum grade mount board is placed behind the book, which may be removed from the back.

The appearance of the closed-up frame shows the cover and sides of the magazine, covered with clear film. But it may be removed from the back, like an ordinary sink mount.

The Clear Film Book Sink would be OK for most magazines, but would not adequately support a thick, heavy book.

(This new mount will be included in "The Complete Guide to Shadowboxes & Object Framing" at the East Coast Art & Framing show in Philadelphia next month.)

All that aside, if this magazine is worth $3,000 it should be framed in the most protective way, and never handled again. Every time the owner takes it out, it will lose a little of its value. And while it is out, it is most vulnerable to accidents. Picture him taking it out at a dinner party, with all the greasy-fingered guests flipping through its pages. Or "Can I get another Martini? I just spilled mine on your magazine..."

Please suggest that he have good color copies made of the pages for show & tell, and leave the original book untouched in its frame.

[preservator]

If a color copy of the magazine's cover is made
it can be placed on top of the magazine and
should keep the actual cover from fading, as fast.
Placing a sheet of light excluding material, such
as Marvelseal 360 or Metalized Polyester, between
the copy and the cover should eliminate fading.
If the copy is printed on a sheet of paper that
is larger than the magazine, its extra paper
can be carefully folded aroung the edges of the
cover so that the copy will stay in place.

Hugh