Broken Polystyrene Frame

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Shayla

Shayla

WOW Framer
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Apr 5, 2008
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Washington State
At least I think that's what it is.

A lady just brought it in, and it's that black foamy
stuff that chunks off if you look at it cross-eyed.
The frame fell and came all apart, and she wants
to know if we can fix it. I would rather not try, as
the one previous frame like this was a nightmare,
but I told her that I'd ask for your input.

The frame was joined with v-nails, which are still
stuck in, and a tad-bit of adhesive. Although the
artwork inside is about 26x40, it's light and had
no glass. Is there some other way these things can
be glued together, or does it only work with that
nasty stuff that kills brain cells? We even thought
about Gorilla Glue, but it's so foamy, and for all I
know it would eat the plastic.
 
I've "repaired"* such a frame one occasion. In my shop, the labor involved to repair it would quickly outstrip the price of a replacement frame.

*Actually, what happened was that the customer supplied pre-mitered poly legs and I was joining them. He thought he could save money by buying the mouldings pre-chopped in India and have them assembled stateside, but that's a tale for another day. It was a VERY large frame, and as I was turning it 180 to join the last corner, two of the other corners burst apart from all the torque. I ended up tapping out the vnails (liberating copious chunks of grainy poly in the process), joining them in a vise, filling the voids with epoxy, then gluing and nailing a plywood reinforcing triangle on each corner. Amazingly enough, I didn't disturb the finish!
 
Just had one of these. Someone from the left coast shipped a photo in a poly frame wrapped in a single strength collapsed cardboard box and the frame got damaged...imagine that.
Yes, it can be repaired. Yes, you will lose grey matter if only from the frustration, but possibly from the Super Glue Gel.
Charge accordingly.
 
I've found that most frames are, Jeff. Doesn't depend on their makeup. A shattered corner is ...a shattered corner.
 
Yes Wally but many of the wood frames can be saved with only a small amount of time. The plastics dissolve and crumble when they fall appart.
 
Jeff Rodier said:
Yes Wally but many of the wood frames can be saved with only a small amount of time. The plastics dissolve and crumble when they fall appart.
Click to expand...

Wood dents & splinters and plastic shatters.

Wood can be often be repaired and refinished ; plastic usually not.

Both type frames can look quite good and both will work well when handled carefully and keep on the wall.

Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth, which is worth almost nothing today
 
I think that we had that same customer with the big poly frame shipped directly from India. We told him how to go home and try it himself after explaining why we wouldn't do it. No other shop nearby would either, we were the only ones who at least explained how to try.

Three weeks later he came in. New frame $800. He realized after working with it a little that it wasn't the quality he wanted for the important piece he was hanging. Plus, the frustration of trying to join it and the look of an amateur join weren't going to fly. Problem solved. Everyone happy.

Broken poly pieces - sell them a new frame. Offer a special discount to replace it. I'm not spending my time rebuilding that stuff.
 
pwalters said:
I think that we had that same customer with the big poly frame shipped directly from India. We told him how to go home and try it himself after explaining why we wouldn't do it. No other shop nearby would either, we were the only ones who at least explained how to try.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's the same customer, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more than one. In my case, he had the frames, canvases, and stretchers shipped in from India. "It's easy" he said, "Everything's cut and numbered, you just have to put it together! I could do it in half an hour!"

Well, in addition to the problems with the poly itself, it turned out that (a) the miters were all exactly 0.1 degree out of true, and (b) the frames were cut to the exact dimensions of the stretchers. Out came the miter sander, and I informed him that I'd have to charge him actual time and materials. (I had to take the stretchers to a friend's shop to shave them down on a jointer). Seeing as there were well over a dozen such pieces, I hope he learned how expensive it is to try and save money :)
 
I've done this a few times, usually to save a matched set or for some sentimental reason. I charged mightily, and made it clear that the repair would exceed the cost of a replacement frame. The stuff is great for what it is designed for, but not so great to work with once damaged.

I found that particularly on the earlier mfr. black polys, that the stuff had a tendency to break out in chunks. Breaking one down that has Vnails is almost always going to require filling. Use an epoxy for filling and a glue made for polystyrene if you choose to try it. Wood glues will fail most of the time. And make sure you have a generous amount of whatever relaxes you on hand. You will probably need it!
 
Thank you, all, for your helpful replies.
When I came back from lunch yesterday,
the lady had come in and taken her frame
home while I was out. If anyone wants
to comment more on this type of frame,
it's fine with me.
 
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