Framing marbles

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Kit

Kit

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Aug 31, 2000
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2,512
Loc
Rochester, MN
Anybody done this?

I'll experiment with setting them into little holes and slathering the back with hot glue, or making an inset box with a mylar window, or maybe even tiny tulle tutus.

But if anyone already knows what works and what doesn't, I thank you for saving me some time.

Kit
 
Kit: we did a catseye marble shadowbox. Cut squares in black fabric using our CMC--one great reason to own one, by the bye--then did a buildup of foambaord to the depth of th marble then surrounded each marble with mirrors and sat each marble on the bottom mirror with silicone.

Totally nonarchival but customer loved it and paid the $800+ for the whole shootin' match. Beat trying to float them in midair too.

Had about 15 as I recall, all kinda neat in their designgs as only catseye mrbles can be.
 
Just a rhetorical remark. How archival should be a job with only marbles? Do they prefer acidic or alkaline enviroments? Good luck Kit maybe you can convince the customer to make it a piece that just sits on the coffee table.
 
Hey Kit,

The tulle worked out great for my pool balls, hot glue sounds much easier though.

Just have fun and don't loose your marbles on this one. ;)

Mark
 
I don't know if I would use hot glue. I am more inclined to suggest using E-6000 or Goop. A tiny dab should do the trick. You do have to wait for it to set up and off gas.

When I first started framing, I thought hot glue was the greatest thing. I had a small shadowbox I did for a customer. I hot glued the glass into the box, being ever so grateful that someone invented the hotglue. Project came out beautiful!!! The customer was delighted...... that is until she got home. It was about 85 degrees out that day, she had left this in her car while running errands. By the time she got home, the glue had softened and the glass had dropped down onto the item that was framed. My next solution at that time was to use small dabs of E-6000 in several spots. It held well. If the glass should break, I would be able to get the chips out and replace just the glass if need be.
 
Do you want to arrange your marbles in a random pattern or just line them up for display? If the latter, keep your eye open at yard sales and such for an old Chinese checker board. You could cut a section out of it and cover it with your choice of cloth and mount your marbles as you wish.

I am also against hot glue for this job. I would use clear silicone as it doesn't sound like preservation is an issue and silicone isn't as heat sensitive as many other adhesives.

When I first started designing collector plate frames, I wanted an adhesive that would be strong enough to hold the plates in place. And I wanted something that could be removed easily without using tools to chip it off the plate surface. I called the AIC and asked them what their recommendations were for mounting the plates that wouldn't do harm to the plate and could be removed easily if needed.

They suggested using clear silicone as it doesn't cure in a hard state that would have to be chiseled off the surface risking damage to the glaze. And it holds well without softening or turning brittle.

Marbles aren't absorbant, they won't discolor from the adhesive, and they aren't prone to acid damage of the kind normally found inside a frame package.

I would make some suggestions to the customer and see what they choose to do.

Framerguy
 
FGII, I'm surprised that the AIC would tell you that. But if they say so.....

If I remember correctly at a national competition I once saw a piece that had a channel cut in a wide mat, sort of like a wide v groove. It was just wide enough to hold the marbles. It was lined with black, for a shadow box effect, and the marbles were allowed to roll around. At least that's what I remember. I don't remember what was in the middle opening, probably a photo or something.

Really, you wouldn't have to have anything in the middle, you could cut a maze pattern for them to roll around in.

You could also frame them between 2 pieces of glass.
 
Originally posted by MarkG1:

don't loose your marbles on this one. ;)

Mark
Click to expand...
I'm glad you got that out of your system, Mark. Somebody had to say it.

The design for this project is at my discretion, so naturally I want to do a scattered placement since that will be more complicated, even with the CMC.

Nobody - not me, not the customer - wants to see marbles sitting in little puddles of glue. That's why I was thinking about sinking the marbles into round holes slightly less than half the diameter of the marble and putting glue on the back. Silicone is a good idea.

Ah, creative problem solving. Gotta love it!

Kit
 
Originally posted by jframe:


Really, you wouldn't have to have anything in the middle, you could cut a maze pattern for them to roll around in.

You could also frame them between 2 pieces of glass.
Click to expand...
In my earlier post, I neglected to thank everyone for their helpful suggestions.

Kit
 
Take a look at Tacky Glue, might be a little better than silicone, but I'm not positive.

John
 
Originally posted by jframe:
FGII, I'm surprised that the AIC would tell you that. But if they say so.....
Click to expand...
Jo,


I framed my first collector plate in 1992 so I am not necessarily condoning a practice that is over 10 years old. My suggestion is based on a combination of what the AIC said way back in the early '90's and a bit of horse sense.

What would there be on a collector plate that silicone adhesive could possibly damage? I have torn apart one plate that I framed for a display back in '92 and I examined the surface of the plate back where the adhesive had been placed under 30X magnification and also with my naked half blind eyes and I could detect no apparent visible damage to the glaze on that one plate.

My concern was back then that the adhesive not turn brittle or harden to the point that I had to chip it off of the plate if the need arose. The silicone served this purpose quite nicely as it came off very easily and left no visible signs of removal or of being on the plate at all.

I am simply saying that, in certain cases where the only conservation concerns would be maybe dropping the item and breaking it, any item that would have an impervious surface should be OK to mount using something that we don't normally use in the framing trade.

I can't prove that outgassing would have or not have any negative effects on a fired glaze or on glass for that matter. But, I would be the first to bow to tangible proof that this process is the wrong thing to do with an impervious surface such as glass or hard fired glaze.

In light of what we have learned in the last 10 years about methods we considered "correct", I would not argue with anyone's study on the long term effects of silicone on this type of surface.

Framerguy
 
Kit, Cut two mats with sightly small circles as you described, one in front of the marbles and one behind. Or have foamcore behind with the smaller opening, force the marble in to hold it.
 
Kit: I framed a collection of marbles a customer's grandpaw had in his attic. There were 27 marbles. They estimated the marbles were at least 67 years old and were made at home... not bought (they were NOT perfectly balanced... appeared to be some type of clay). I put the marbles in three openings (9 marbles per opening). Each opening was recessed a little deeper than the thickness of the thickest marble and FREELY sat on a "shelf". The openings were big enough to hold 11 marbles per opening, although it only held 9. The reason I did it this way was when the frames was jerked around a little or tilted, the marbles rotated and you could see the other side of all the marbles. Some of the marbles looked different on one side than the other because of the patters. My customer really liked it this way. Good luck. ajh
 
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