Brass rod mounting question

Framing Goddess

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 18, 2000
Posts
4,317
Loc
Cleveland, Ohio
I need some ideas/advice for an upcoming project.

I am framing a somewhat valuable contemporary porcelain bowl that my customer hauled back from Africa.

Cornel made one of his gold leaf frames into a gorgeous 3" deep shadowbox and tweaked the finish to complement the bowl. I have some nice linen mounted to 8 ply rag board and I am planning to thread some heat-shrink-tubing-covered brass rods through the backer to fashion into 'clips' to support the (lightweight) bowl.

Here's my concern: The edges of the bowl are faily thin and slightly 'ruffled.' I am worried about the edge of the bowl resting on shrink tubing'd rods. Will it want to chip the slightest bit with time and handling ?

Is there something I can use to pad the rods under or over the tubing?

If any of you have used this mounting technique and have any ideas, do let me know.

Edie the hmmmmwhatnow goddess
 
With similar concerns in a few cases, I have:

1. Added a second layer of shrink tubing.

2. Added a wrap of Volara foam tape -- the thin stuff with which we line canvas frame rabbets.

3. Padded each rod mount with small-dimension clear plastic tubing.

4. Placed a small, shaped glob of clear silicone on the rod's contact point, letting it dry at least overnight before it touches the ceramic item.

One more thought: The stress of gravity on the mounts would be reduced if you place the base of the bowl in a shallow sink mount -- perhaps a hole cut into 4-ply board...just enough to hold the base of it in place.

Yet another thought: If you use the shallow sink mount idea, how about using AR glass to hold the plate, instead of rod mounts? If the edge of the bowl would have overall contact with the glass, it could work. Condensation probably would not be a concern in this project, but abrasion from the glass & bowl having different coefficients of expansion might be.

No more thoughts, I promise.
faintthud.gif
 
Jim's concern about holding something like a bowl
with small supports, at its edges, is well founded. When one sees this sort of mount in a museum, remember that such a mount will never be moved. Heavy objects in frames are safer if their weight is distributed more widely, as the sink he suggested would do. The deeper the sink, the more
broadly the weight is spread out. Acrylic glazing
would be softer than the ceramic of the bowl and
its use would prevent possible abraision.


Hugh
 
Yupyupyup, the sink mat will do the trick, I think.

I did add another layer of shrink tubing over the first layer (with the tiniest piece of cotton batting tucked in) and it looks okay, but it does not add much cushion. The clear tubing I saw at the hardware store today was not very cushy, either, nor was the silicone glob I tested. The volara looked stuck on- I wish it were in a tube shape...

Looks like the sink mat will offer the most protection. It's back to the mat cutter...

Stay tuned, framelings!

Hugh and Jim, as always, thanks much!

Edie the pondering goddess
 
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