Heat-Activated Foamboard Question

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MerpsMom

MerpsMom

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Jul 30, 1997
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Leawood, Kansas USA
I'm doing a very unappealing project. It's about seventy newspaper/trade journal articles, each individually framed. Some must be cut, pieced, artfully arranged. Backgrounds will be mostly black, six different frames. Here's the ??

If I use BB's heat-activated Black-on-Black Speedmount, will the overmount left from the positioning of the articles look like black matboard, and have no appreciable shine from the heat press? You can imagine how much simpler it would be to do it this way instead of mounting each small cutout column with meltable and then mounting on black board.

I don't have any B-on-B and can't get a sheet until next Wednesday as no one here carries it. Any experience with this? Nona? anyone? pleez o pleez
 
For that kind of project I would mount the articles to a dark-colored, 4-ply, buffered alphacellulose board; trim them out with reverse bevels; and then float-mount them individually on a solid matboard-covered background.

That requires a glass spacer or perimeter mat, but it's a whole lot easier than trying to mount the whole job in one plane.
 
I was afraid the answer was that there would be a sheen on the heatboard. I'm obviously looking for an easier method than what you're describing, Jim. There are potentially 300+ separate little, itsy-bitsy pieces of stuff to touch several times if I do it that way. This isn't a CP project so I can fudge some on the methods.

I've done work for years for a major restaurant chain and rev-bev'd a lot of the pix and articles they use, then surface mounted. It's extremely time-consuming. :(

Right now, I'm whirling trying to come up with a way to simplify this. Substrate must be black to prevent ghosting. Don't want the articles thick so I don't have to use spacers. Can't spray glue as it doesn't hold and is messy.

Jim, if I d/m onto black mat with meltable and then surface mount, I'm thinking I don't truly need a spacer, do I, if I don't squarsh! the points in at the fitting?

Not having fun now, boss.
 
I agree that spray mounting is a bad idea. You could achieve the convenience and speed of spray mounting if you use a wet paste, especially if you can do it under vacuum.

Just roll or brush a thin layer of wet paste, such as SureMount or VacuGlue 300, onto a piece of glass, then blot it up with each pre-trimmed piece of newspaper you want to mount. You may also use a sponge or other gluing device that allows you to control the amount of paste transfer. The paper will curl a little if you do it right, but it will curl a lot if you use too much paste -- which might also ooze visibly. Apply overall with as little paste as possible.

Position the pasted papers quickly on your mount board and apply weight until dry. Desiccated (oven-dried) blotters might speed the drying. We usually do it under vacuum, but by the time you get a dozen or so pieces pasted and positioned, the first ones would be nearly dry.

If you do not want to buy a container of real wet-mounting paste, you could mix up a batch of plain old wallpaper paste. However, if you do that I suggest you run it through a blender to make it as smooth as possible.

Last time I did a job like yours I layered scraps of the newspaper onto the perimeter mat, papier mache style. It was as visually attractive as a bunch of black & white news clippings could be, I think.

Let us know what works best for you.
 
Try using RC glass and maybe the shine won't be as obvious. Double mounting with fushion 4000 and black paper first, but then you would have to cut twice and tack, too much work
 
Thanx for all the replies, guys. It looks like I'm nailed: I think I'll have to do the Fusion4000 trick of double mounting on the original pieces. Some are indeed copies and I'll use those whenever I can, but some of the copies are horrible.

I thought of non-glare glass but budget won't do it. In truth, I appealed to my local folks for help. They cut, joined, cut reg. glass and boxed all 69 frames in a day and a half. And gave me a deal. Do I love my friends in the business, or what.


I'm still boo-hooing over this, but whining doesn't help, so we'll do ten a day and get it over with.

Again, thanx for all the suggestions.
 
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