Is Static Good Enough?

Val

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Posts
6,729
Loc
Carson City, Nevada
I have 4 huge very old and rare (the owner claims) movie posters to frame today/tomorrow. The biggest is 40 X 75. We are using plexi. Don't want to use any adhesive, corner mounts show, one has been mounted on linen so it's heavy. Will the static from the plexi be enough to keep them from sagging? Very low humidity here in Nevada, lots of static with or without plexi (not often a plus!)Suggestions please? What's the best way, if not static, to mount these safely and invisibly, or the least visible? Owner is very paranoid, will only let me work on them (pressure here!)and I'm leaving in 3 days. I should have asked this sooner, but....Help!
 
I've heard of sticky wickets before, but you might just win the prize...

Static mount is not going to work with paper based art. It works primarily with photography that has a good deal of plastic in the carrier. And a static mount is done from the back of the art, not the front.

I'm assuming that you are planning on not using any kind of spacer or matting...not such a good idea for vintage or valuable. The glazing shouldn't come into contact with the art.

The best way to mount these is to hinge them using Japanese paper and starch paste (Nori) to 8-ply rag mount board. The linen backed one will have to have industrial strength hinges, and lots of them.

They can be straight framed using spacers as long as you don't exert too much pressure on the backing when fitting, but judging from the size, you are tempting fate in regards to the pieces cockling in the near future.

If these are as valuable as the owner says, and if he is truly interested in getting it done right, you might want to step back and talk to him about redesigning the framing so they are properly mounted and matted (or at least floated) so the pieces can contract and expand with seasonal environmental changes, and they are not in contact with the glazing.
 
Oh...I think I've been caught in the "plexi is safe to use against the art as it "breathes" myth, haven't I? I've also been told it has UV protection - also not true? I'm new to the Grumble, and just finding out how much I don't know after all these years framing. Oh dear. The cusomer is in fact interested in doing it right,but also insisted in trimming these things herself, against my advice, to "square them up" Sticky wicket is right. More on this later....
 
Originally posted by Val:
Oh...I think I've been caught in the "plexi is safe to use against the art as it "breathes" myth, haven't I? I've also been told it has UV protection - also not true? I'm new to the Grumble, and just finding out how much I don't know after all these years framing. Oh dear. The cusomer is in fact interested in doing it right,but also insisted in trimming these things herself, against my advice, to "square them up" Sticky wicket is right. More on this later....
Acrylic glazing does not "breathe". It is not completely gas impermeable, but it is rather slow -- about one breath every hundred years or so.

98% UV-filtering acrylic is available, but standard acrylic is not much better than ordinary glass. Ask your distributor for Tru Vue Conservation Clear Acrylite, or Cyro Acrylite OP-3. They are the same product; Tru Vue packages the Cyro product in convenient framing sizes.

If any part of the poster is cut, folded, or otherwise permanently changed, its value would be reduced. If the customer does it, you may be off the hook, but it would be a good idea to inform her about the consequences. Proper hinge mounting is completely reversible, so it causes no permanent change to the poster. That's the preservation way, as Wally described.
 
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