Framing picture puzzles

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blueeyes

blueeyes

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
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209
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Milwaukee
Any tips for framing picture puzzles?
 
Slide any type of sheet underneath the puzzle and slip it on its front, Tape all the behind is each piece is covered, then you can flip it back, without the puzzle falling to pieces. Just frame it as any other artwork.
 
I do a lot of them and most just get dry mounted to heat activated board then framed with or mostly without matting. Just had one picked up a couple of hours ago and I sent them home with a sheet of cardboard since they were using felt to assemble them. This one had several thousand pieces to it and was a bit difficult to slide off the felt onto the FC.

Best advice I can give is to mount them as soon as they come in or you might find yourself assembling a several thousand piece puzzle.
 
don't drop them.

we use a hot press uv laminate then mount to 3mm Custom Board, frame can then go directly around or you can just laminate and frame however.
 
i-FRAMER said:
don't drop them.

we use a hot press uv laminate then mount to 3mm Custom Board, frame can then go directly around or you can just laminate and frame however.
Click to expand...

I have three comments about puzzles.

Some puzzles might be flat enough to accommodate laminates but generally in the USA the puzzles have been die cut and the compressed edges can leave tunnels of unmounted laminate that is cloudy and visually distracting. Since vinyl laminates are used for framing they stretch when warm and will look better than after the memory kicks in. Even with proper sponge overlay...the sponge will depress the vinyl into the depressions but will retract in time.

Second comment...in USA most puzzles are printed using wide format digital processes and color laser and solvent inkjet are heat sensitive making the photo easily damaged when mounting at temperatures of 150F or more. The perfect new board might be Gilman MountCor at 130F since that low temperature does no heat damage and the board is fabulously aggressive and permanent. I have tested applying 4ply mats to MountCor and it holds fabulously.

Last tip...I would avoid pressure-sensitive tapes of any kind to the verso side. A coat of clear acrylic medium is far better as it will never release or cause another chemical reaction.
Chris Paschke
 
we have never had a problem with the hot press laminate. Generally with heat and foam, this compresses the laminate around the edge of the piece and very little silvering.
The lamiante is a satin/matt laminate to reduce reflection.

had no problem with colour shift to jigsaws from heat or lifting of image.

Most customers don't want to spend a lot on jigsaws that only cost them $20. so this seems to be the least inexpensive way to frame.
Every customer over happy so far, we have several that just drop them in when finished, and leave us to laminate and frame as we please.

Varnishing could work well, but seems more time consuming and messy.
 
I have done a few by mounting a piece of dry-mount film to a suitable board (usually dark color), just smaller than the puzzle. Then when it's cooled, slip the puzzle on top and back in the press to give it a quick squeeze. You usually have to equalise the margins afterwards. Shallow spacer in the frame - job done.

Of course there are folks who want it done so they can remove it from the frame again. I just set the dogs on them. :fire:
 
We put the puzzle between 2 sheets of cardboard, flip it over, and then glue the backside. Nothing special, we just use Elmer's glue. Once dry, the puzzle can be treated like a print or a photo. If the puzzle is not a rectangle, we mount it on mat board. If it is rectangular, then sometimes we mat them, and sometimes we don't. Likewise, sometimes we drymount them, and sometimes we do not, just depending on what we are doing with it.

We did a puzzle last week that was about 5 feet long and had a clock mounted in it that we had to assemble. We did what I described above, in a shadowbox.
 
A jig saw puzzle that comes in a box and is mass marketed is easily dry mounted. A jigsaw puzzle made from a photo might be a little different, as it is printed one at a time. They might not dry mount safely.

While I hate to admit it, there is a glue called "Puzzle Glue". The customer can brush it on the back of the puzzle, and it will hope the puzzle together. Then they can use the glue to glue it to foam core, and put it in a frame.

(I have hung three different puzzles in my house, one used the puzzle glue (And was done before I started framing) and was frames without glass, one was dry mounted on mat board, and then glued to a foam core backing, and hung with foam core hangers, and the last one was dry mounted and framed with mats and glass. All three were enjoyed for what they were, and hung for many years. None of them were worth anything other than the price of a puzzle.

Don't over think puzzles. They are not meant to be long term artwork. If it is a mass produced puzzle, dry mount the sucker. If it is a single print of a photo done on a puzzle, it might need a little different treatment... but don't forget the glue. It can be used on the back with harming the front at all.
 
Thanks for all the ideas!
 
prospero said:
Of course there are folks who want it done so they can remove it from the frame again. I just set the dogs on them. :fire:
Click to expand...

Yes! And the dogs will do it willingly! :thumbsup:
(at least my dogs will)

Susan May said:
Don't over think puzzles. They are not meant to be long term artwork. If it is a mass produced puzzle, dry mount the sucker. If it is a single print of a photo done on a puzzle, it might need a little different treatment... but don't forget the glue. It can be used on the back with harming the front at all.
Click to expand...

Word! It's a puzzle, it's not the Mona Lisa...
 
I usually vacuum-wet mount puzzles to foam board using SureMount or VacuGlue prepared paste. I have dry mounted some to Kool Tack with good results, too.

This caution is worth repeating...Don't drop it before it's glued.
 
Don't necessarily assume that the customer wants it cheap because it's a puzzle.

One of my employees showed the customer the triple mats, suede on the top, nice frame option. The customer thought $500+ was perfectly reasonable for a puzzle of Santa Claus. She liked it so much that she worked one for each of her three kids....
 
i-FRAMER said:
we have never had a problem with the hot press laminate. Generally with heat and foam, this compresses the laminate around the edge of the piece and very little silvering.
The lamiante is a satin/matt laminate to reduce reflection.
had no problem with colour shift to jigsaws from heat or lifting of image.
Most customers don't want to spend a lot on jigsaws that only cost them $20. so this seems to be the least inexpensive way to frame.
Every customer over happy so far, we have several that just drop them in when finished, and leave us to laminate and frame as we please.
Varnishing could work well, but seems more time consuming and messy.
Click to expand...



Even a little silvering is still a bad end product, there should never be any silvering.
The cheapest way to is not using a vinyl laminates at all--which should be about the same price as glass--coating the surface with thickened ModPodge or puzzle sealer is the way to go instead. It is an acrylic that dries clear and seals the front. Mounting is as mentioned before.
Chris Paschke
 
DesignsInk said:
Even a little silvering is still a bad end product, there should never be any silvering.
The cheapest way to is not using a vinyl laminates at all--which should be about the same price as glass--coating the surface with thickened ModPodge or puzzle sealer is the way to go instead. It is an acrylic that dries clear and seals the front. Mounting is as mentioned before.
Chris Paschke
Click to expand...

Well when i get an unhappy customer, i will look at changing, but while the customers are happy, i will continue to do it the way we have been doing it for the last 15 years.
Not one has bought one back, and they all bring in more, so it can't be too bad.
 
I had to build a section of a puzzle blind from the back once :)

I'm not sure whether I use a stupid method, but I put a firm board on top and make sure there is one underneath the puzzle as well. I then clamp the puzzle between the two boards and flip it.

I then use cold glue on the mounting board and adhere that to the bottom of the puzzle, flip it again and put a sponge on top and pop it into a cold vacuum press.

All the flipping around is quite stressful, maybe there are more intelligent ways to do it :)
 
I had one in fixed with this, it was a piece of cake to handle. Not sure I'd want to do it to someone else's but they left us the box so we knew what had been done, we're considering taking the kits on, we sell jigsaw puzzles.

[video=youtube;Yi66hcaYCKY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi66hcaYCKY[/video]
 
Jeff Rodier said:
Best advice I can give is to mount them as soon as they come in or you might find yourself assembling a several thousand piece puzzle.
Click to expand...

Yep. Been there. Done that. It wasn't pretty. Learned a valuable lesson the hard way.
 
EllenAtHowards said:
Don't necessarily assume that the customer wants it cheap because it's a puzzle.

One of my employees showed the customer the triple mats, suede on the top, nice frame option. The customer thought $500+ was perfectly reasonable for a puzzle of Santa Claus. She liked it so much that she worked one for each of her three kids....
Click to expand...

Very cool.
 
Once - I had a frame crash on a puzzle right in the middle and denting a number of pieces
a group of us repurchased the puzzle and spent a week putting it together....
"A social event" for all!

(then I almost got fired for working "off the clock" (JA's)...but I did get back pay!! go figure)
 
i-FRAMER said:
Well when i get an unhappy customer, i will look at changing, but while the customers are happy, i will continue to do it the way we have been doing it for the last 15 years.
Not one has bought one back, and they all bring in more, so it can't be too bad.
Click to expand...

It's only my job to teach the correct methods. It's up to each individual framer to choose their own method and materials. Good luck.
Chris Paschke
 
Paint it with Modge Podge or a puzzle glue to fill in all the gaps, let it dry, pick it up and place on a self adhesive peel and stick board (like Perfect Mount), vacuum press at 100 degrees (equivalent of a hot day) for 5 minutes, sink mount, mat, glaze and frame or frame with a glass spacer. Fool proof.
 
Our customer had a thin, wood, laser-cut puzzle that was not held together in any way save for the interlocking of the pieces. He wanted it framed without any gluing or taping, he wanted the entire image to show, and he insisted on glass directly on the surface of the puzzle -- in spite of our warnings. We precisely sink-mounted the puzzle and cut a reverse-bevel mat that overlapped the face of the puzzle by the width of the bevel. It worked beautifully. The Museum glass did not actually touch the glass, although it was close. The reverse-bevel provided some stability, and the glass held everything tightly. Our customer was delighted, and we breathed a sigh of relief to see all those tiny puzzle pieces go out the door.
 
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