Acrylic Tips/Tricks

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Grumbler
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Oct 21, 2005
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Greetings!

Recently, I've received requests from a number of customers to ship framed work to them. I've tried this in the past with glass in the frames with mixed (and somewhat tragic) results.

I have decided to honor the requests but with the condition that I use acrylic in the framing process.

I've done some research about acrylic and found that most info sources feel that the Cryo product called Acrylite is the best choice for framing. I also understand that it is marketed / rebranded by TruVue.

So, I am wondering what people's experience is with these products and if people have any tips/traps that they can share? Is the scratch-resistant version worth the extra $$$? Is the product really that difficult to handle without scratching the surface? What has been your experience regarding customers interaction with the finished product? Do you provide appropriate cleaner/cloths/kits for your customers?

I've also seen Acrylite AR/OP3 out there without the TruVue branding attached (mainly at plastics suppliers websites). Is this the same product as the TruVue branded product? Obviously, it is not the same as the Optium products, but what about the regular TruVue acrylite products is the qustion.

Anyway, any insight would be welcome and helpful. Thanks in advance.
 
We use Acrylite and I really like it. I know that we can procure truly clear glazing, but I like that the clarity of acrylic is very nice (as opposed to the greenish sheen you get from regular glass)

I find that if you treat it well, it's pretty scratch resistant and it's actually pretty easy to remove the scratches with the right cleaners/buffers. We always lay it out on a sheet of clean paper and use an art tube to roll off the protective coating. Do you use a saw or a plexi cutter when cutting your acrylic? You can use a table saw to cut it, but I find that a good plexi scoring took will make a better cut and you will end up with less nicks that happen some times with table saws.

If you are wondering if it's the same stuff, you could always call up Acrylite and see if they just redistribute the same product under different names?
 
Acrylic is ideal for shipping. It has many times the impact strength of glass, and half the weight. Save the masking paper/film the sheet came with and lay it over the glazing when you ship so the front won't get scratched from the packing material rubbing against it during transit.

Acrylic won't yellow or haze like polystyrene – the thin stuff used over cheap poster frames that scratches easier. Instruct your customer the proper care techniques and acrylic will last long. I have a picture with acrylic glazing framed in '79 and it looks perfect today (aside from the dated looking frame).

Regular acrylic blocks much more UV radiation than regular glass and some manufacturers have a grade that blocks a little more (UF-3, OP-3). This grade blocks the same amount as the UV filtering “conservation” grade glass.

Acrylite is Cyro's brand name for acrylic. You can get it at most plastic suppliers. Framing grades from TruView. I just bought a 4x8 foot sheet of Acrylite OP-3 from my plastics distributer for $110 ($3.44 per sq ft). My question to other grumblers is: Is that a good price? That's 3x the price of Acrylite FF! I thought only TV was distributing it? Perhaps old stock.

Unless your frames are very small or very large, use the 1/8” thickness is ideal (.118” in the plastics biz).

Finally, beware of some guy here telling you to burn your scraps in the fireplace ;)
 
no probs here with Acrylic and we use it for everything over 32 x 40 only because I'm too lazy to try to cut larger sizes of glass.

What no one here's stated is: use an old mailing tube to remove the paper and wrap that paper around as you uncover the acrylic. Also if you have an air gun, blow all the residual particles off the acrylic. We also hit it with a damp chamois--and ONLY use real chamois for this--to get rid of the static which can be a real b---ch to deal with esp. ifyou're using a fabric mat.

We love the stuff, esp for oversize and for all the reasons above stated.
 
Gee belinda: I'm at our lake house as I write this, it was early and I was watching geese on the lake, I hadn't had my fourth cuppa coffee yet and in all honesty just skimmed the posts.

Next time I'll read VERRRRRY carefully
 
Thanks for the input folks! Anyone have any other tips on handling/cutting/storage? Also, what about other sources for the Acrylite AR/OP3 from Cyro other than TruVue? Any thoughts? Anyone found a source that sells it in some size less than 96"x48"? What about pricing ... can anyone give me an idea of what the going wholesale rate should be for this product both as it is remarketed through TruVue as well as under the Cyro name itself?

Thanks again!
 
That seems reasonable. Anyone care to suggest a good supplier for this product (east coast preferred ... around Boston or Albany if possible). Other price checks are also welcome as I'm still trying to figure out the most economical way of getting this product.

Kwaj, was this the TruVue branded product or the Cyro direct branded product?

Anyone else have any experience using the Cyro (non-TruVue branded) product?

Thanks!
 
OT warning:

I didn't know Kwajalein was big enough to have its own framer. We've (MIT Lincoln Labs) got a facility there that I thought took up most of the island.
 
KwajPrints,
When did you last check the OP-3 price? Acrylic has increased nearly 40% in cost from several small increases starting in Spring of 04 through Spring 05. My price is current from a purchase last week. If your price is current, I'd better go have a talk with my supplier. Is it possible your supplier had lower priced older stock?

While we're at it, Anyone using Acrylite FF? What are you paying? For the film masked, .118, 48 x 96” sheet, I'm getting it for $36 (~$1.13 per square foot).

I hope discussing supply prices isn't taboo here!

Thanks, John
 
Anyone else care to share what they are paying for acrylic sheets? I am about to put in my first order for this stuff and would like to get an idea of the average prices out there.

Thanks in advance,
 
Those are current prices from my west coast supplier although they are a 5 sheet quantity. Single sheets are 10-15% higher but to economize on shipping I always buy at least 10 sheets.

Kwaj is relatively small but there's more than enough business for a part time framer (in fact there are two). I did 347 frame orders in the past year which isn't bad from a population of 2000.
 
Peter:

In central Ohio, the 19th-largest market in the USA, we have two ways to buy acrylic for framing: framing distributors, who sell the Tru Vue/Cyro repackaged acrylic; and plastic sheet & tube distributors, who sell 48"x96" sheets. They will cut it for a fee.

How much acrylic are you planning to buy? If you buy a dozen or so sheets at a time, you should expect a price break from most sources. But would that kind of quantity be practical?

I use more acrylic these days, but it is still most practical for me to buy Tru Vue/Cyro in box quantities from my local framing supplier. Free delivery & convenient sizes more than offset any savings I could find from plastic distributors.
 
Should I reply to this post? The acrylic repackaged by TruVue is the Cyro "Gallery Series". The material is .090 in thickness. We have had that material for a couple of years. We sell it by the sheet rather than the box. We carry 32 x 40 and 36 x 48 in all the types. The ususal sheet acrylic is .118 thickness,commonly call 1/8". Regular acrylic comes in many sizes from 48 x 96 to 75 x 100, the special products such as OP3 (UV filtering) comes in 48 x 96, 51 x 100, & 72 x 96 in both 1/8" & 3/16 for the 48 x 96 & 72 x 96. The non-glare and AR products are available in only 48 & 96. Just a little information I thought you'd like to know for future reference.
 
KwajPrints, what is the cost of freight on those 10 sheets?

Peter. I only know the costs on the 48x96. I got prices for the smaller multi sheet packs from my same distributor and sheesh, the price per sq. ft. really goes up.

I am fortunate to have a plastics distributor down the road. I back up to their dock and load up my pickup truck. 4 x 8 foot sheets are hard to handle and store, but they are the most economical. Plus there is less waste.

I used to use Optix brand. It was great, but seems to have a problem with consistent quality lately. I switched to Acrylite FF (only $3 per sheet more). I used it in 4 pictures so far and not a single problem! I need to use it much more to get a feel of its consistency in quality.

John
 
Freight cost is a bit of a tricky question given that I'm a bit over 5000 miles from my supplier. I actually don't pay anything for delivery from my supplier to my freight forwarder as they are local. Then I pay by the cubic foot from there to my location. If all I bought was 10 sheets of acrylic it would run about $85 from California to Kwajalein, but I typically do large orders every 90 days so that my total freight has been running 4.9% of material costs.
 
protection. I have seen fine scratches on the film that did not cut the film all the way through but they did put a fine scratch on the acrylic. I use paper unless I am in a crunch and cant get film. Brillianize is the best product I found for getting rid of the static charge on the acrylic. I also After I coat it with that I prefer working with acrylic to glass. like Craftics smooth micofiber cloth for safely cleaning it. Acrylic is not scratch resistant so I would not want to use it for a coffee table, but I have no problems with it hanging on the wall where it just needs an occasional dusting. Acrylic is the best for shipping but I have discovered even that can get broken in shipping. You will probably get a better price from a plastics distributor than a tru-vue distributor. You just need to call around. The distributor moving the most Cyro will have the most ability to give you the best price, but that doesn’t mean they will give you a good price, just that they are getting it for the lowest price.

Acylic is more optically pure than glass, no green tint. Get a sample and lay it on a white mat next to a piece of glass and you will see what I mean. The OP3 does have a yellow tint which will warm the image a little. 97% UV filter glass has the same yellow tint. UV protection in Acrylic is more durable than UV filter on glass since it is built into the acrylic. It is just a coating on glass. I have not verified this, but have heard the coating can fade on glass in 5 years on some brands.
 
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