Formed Rod Mounts

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j Paul

j Paul

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Feb 23, 2004
Posts
7,299
Loc
Toledo,Ohio
Funny how things work out. Had a customer bring me in these fossilized oyster shells and ask how we could mount them. Laying on my counter was the May 08 PFM, with Jim Millers article on "Formed Rod Mounts". Show the customer the illustration and it set his mind at ease that no damage would be done to these 4 million year old fossils.

This was the first occasion I had to use this method, and after the first couple of mounts got into the hang of it and could visualize the bends that I needed to make. I used the shrink tubing over the wire and then acrylic to color them to match the shell. Will be using this method more often. Thanks Jim!

Frame is L334086 Soho w/Gold
Mat B4224 Black Sea Suede
Plate From: Jerry Ervin / Cedarwood Gallery
Glass No it's not Musuem / Shells stand proud of frame

FormedRodMounts.jpg
 
Great job, John. I like the way you used acrylic paint to match the colour of the shell - it makes the rods almost invisible. When you painted on the acrylic, did you just put paint on the top & sides of the shrink-tubing on the rod (i.e. the visible part) or all the way around?
 
Twin2 said:
When you painted on the acrylic, did you just put paint on the top & sides of the shrink-tubing on the rod (i.e. the visible part) or all the way around?
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Karen, the first couple of mounts I painted all of the way around and then installed them. There is so much color variance to the shells though, that after that, I just had a few squirts of paint on my pallet and mixed and painted the visible parts after everything was attached. That way was so much easier.
 
Thanks, John. Did you worry about getting any paint on the shells when you painted the ones after everything was attached? I'm not so sure my hand would be steady enough :D
 
Nice work. I love the article and have a project to put to the test this next week. JPaul does it again....
 
Twin2 said:
Thanks, John. Did you worry about getting any paint on the shells when you painted the ones after everything was attached? I'm not so sure my hand would be steady enough :D
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I haven't had to do this yet, but when I do I plan to slip a bit of Mylar between the mount and the object. Paint away, and any slop will be caught by the Mylar. Let dry, and slip it out.
 
That's a great idea to use a piece of mylar as a mini drop sheet, FramerDave! I'll be trying out that idea.
 
imaluma said:
I did one recently and didn't think of painting the shrink tubing. I was also wondering if it came in a few basic colors? Has anyone seen anything like this?
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The heat shrink tubing you find at a hardware store is usually black. I've seen assortments of a few colors at Radio Shack; I believe they were clear, black, red and blue. Considering the limited color choice, you should keep the acrylic paints handy.
 
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