A medal Question

[MacGyver]

I'm framing seven medals which the customer wants shadow boxed with the ribbons attached. I have always used Mylar-D in securing medals to the mount and can't see any problems attaching the ribbons to the matboard.

Just curious though-I'm cutting the ribbons short so the entire medal/ribbon each will be just 5 1/4" inches long.

Am I violating some "Grumblers' Ethics" by doin' so?

Just askin...

 

[JFeig]

Hi Raymond.

I would cut a slot in the mount board the width of the ribbons and push the excess behind (out of sight) the board. Make sure the slot is wide enough to not stress the ribbon from side to side or for thickness.

 

[Handy]

Raymond, we usually will cut a slot also and feed the top half of the ribbon to the back and fold it inside the backing.

There HAVE been times when we'll cut the ribbon - but only with medals that aren't valuable (say, someone's kid's baseball medal) and we always ask permission before we do it. We don't cut them very often though - only if the frame doesn't have much room.

At Christmas we did 2 frames for a lady and we took the ribbons right off of them and they turned out beautiful! we were able to get some interesting design combos with them that way.

 

[Framerguy]

Yeah, I would agree. The question here is not one of "Grumbler Ethics" but of customer awareness. I guess if the customer suggested it or you talked over the possibility of cutting the ribbons and they thought it was a good? idea I guess .......... well, I STILL wouldn't do it.

The medal winner's grand kids may tear that piece down sometime in the future to use the medals for part of a really neat shadowbox in honor of their grandpa/ma and would be sorely disappointed for find the ribbons cut in half!

I'd use Jerry's and Handy's suggestion and put the excess behind the mounting, it's out of sight but still in one piece.

Framerguy

 

[MacGyver]

I have done two medal jobs for this particular customer in the past and in both the ribbons were hidden neatly in the back of the mount through slots 2 inches long. This time, however, she wants the ribbons,( these were school awards) arranged like they were wrapped behind with the medal sitting on top of the ribbon rather than hanging on it.

Some way or another I missed out on askin' the customer's permission...must be one of those days when you were so sure it's the right thing to do, then doubting it the next minute..

 

[Jim Miller]

I suggest leaving the ribbons intact as much as possible. In the framing depicted here, the ribbons will be eventually creased, but otherwise OK.

 

[Ron Eggers]

Never mind "Grumblers' Ethics," since they will be all over the map.

How 'bout common sense: Don't do anything irreversible to anything you can't easily replace?

 

[HB]

I must be missing something - in order to have the ribbons go through the back through two slanted slots, the ribbon has to be cut! (Unless the slits in the matboard meet - Correct????

 

[Twin2]

Originally posted by HB

I must be missing something - in order to have the ribbons go through the back through two slanted slots, the ribbon has to be cut! (Unless the slits in the matboard meet - Correct????

I was looking at Jim's photos, too, HB, and was wondering the same thing as you were. It looks like two separate slots in the mat.

Jim, could you give further instructions on how you passed the ribbon through two slots without cutting it?

 

[Jim Miller]

There was one long slot, covered by the elevated window mat. Ribbons on the top row were passed over the top of the mount board, which was reinforced by a 3/16" sheet of black Coroplast.

Here's the front view, before the mat was added:

Here's the back view, showing the ribbons folded and covered with clear polyester film. No adhesive of any kind touches the ribbons, and they were not sewn.

This angled view shows how the ribbons are covered by the mat.

Each medal is strapped by two 1/8" wide strips of clear polyester film. No glue or tape contacts the medals.

 

[MacGyver]

Thanks everyone for the helpful inputs! I informed the customer this morning that the ribbons will have to be cut in order to pull through with her design, after explaining the consequences, she said " no problem!" so..., I'm off the hook!

Ron: the medals were quite impressive, and I suspect, irreplaceable...surprisingly, the ribbons were cheap and can be easily had at almost any craftstore.

Jim: I appreciate the photos you posted, I must say that I never felt comfortable with the creased ribbons though...hard to explain to customers that the job was indeed done properly and neatly. The top mat covering is a great idea!

I had another customer come in this morning, with two sets of medals each with a dozen sports medals weighing almost a quarter pound each, shadowboxed with double mat and gold lining on the undermat edge... No messing with the ribbons this time!

Thanks Jerry, Handy and Framerguy!

 

[Jim Miller]

Originally posted by MacGyver:
...the medals were quite impressive, and I suspect, irreplaceable...surprisingly, the ribbons were cheap and can be easily had at almost any craftstore.

...I must say that I never felt comfortable with the creased ribbons though...

You would rather cut than crease?

While it may be true that similar ribbons are available from a craft store today, the same may not be true at some point in the future when the customer (or an heir) wants to display them differently. And in any case, they would not be the original ribbons.

 

[HB]

Thanks Jim

The latest pictures are a help - great idea.

I'll remember that!

 

[Jim Miller]

Here's a better picture of the finished job. I don;t know why Shutterfly cropped it...

 

[Twin2]

Thanks, Jim, for the explanation and extra pictures. Your framing of those medals looks terrific.