Large composite moulding

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Pam

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Joined
Apr 4, 2002
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Minneapolis, MN
I just read a post on HH that has me a bit nervous.

I put together a large plastic frame using 3M cyanoacrylate ester glue and about 6-7 v-nails in each corner... Used a 50# wire and d-rings with two 1/2' screws in each. I did NOT put glue in the screw holes. (argh)

should I chase this one down and put glue in the screw holes?
 
Pam, being a woodworker as well as a framer, I just figured that the screws, or screw eyes wouldn't have anything to "grab" to in the polystyrene frames. That's why I added the glue in the screw holes. I don't know for sure that they won't hold. That was just my opinion.

Betty
 
Pam, I think it'll be okay. I haven't had any problem with hardware pulling out of that stuff, though I have had problems with the moulding itself flexing, so I have avoided using even the wider profiles on anything very big.

Of course, if it all comes crashing down, I will personally disavow any knowledge of your activities.
 
While we don't use much Emafyl anymore, some of the wider profiles do well on price point. It does indeed flex; and to prevent that, we use either matboard straps from top to bottom, or one of the more expensive systems to reinforce. (Can't remember the name of the latter. :( )

Right now, I looking up an Emafyl for a poor pathetic who hung a 48 x 58 for his client using two little hooks. He did NOT buy it from me or I would have warned him. Crashes later, he's replacing the frame, probably using Emafyl, hence this reply.
 
I'm sorry, but I would not give that stuff away. But, that is not what you’ve asked.

I've seen hangers brought in from other shops where they pulled out of cheap **** wood moulding also. Knowing the type of materials we deal with is just as important as the hardware we use, and how we use the hardware we have. I have seen a lot of D-rings installed straight up and down, meant, I'm sure, to be used without wire, only to have a framer, or more likely the client install wire without repositioning the D-rings to be inline with the wire. Not making this adjustment puts undo strain on the top screw only, which has a tendency to twist and pull the D-ring out of shape, and often out of the frame.

Greg Fremstad's post about framing wire angles in the tips section was enlightening to me. I wonder why we don't hear about this more often? Since I needed to prove it to myself, I did a quick little test. I tied one end of the wire off to one of the screw eyes and wrapped the other end of the wire around the other screw eye without tying it off, so I could adjust the length of the wire when I needed to. I started by pulling the wire tight and applying upward pressure on the wire to see how much it would deflect the moulding. I was amazed at how easy it was to pull the moulding out of shape. I released some slack in the wire and progressively tested and lengthen the wire to the point where the same pressure could barely deflect the frame at all. I was amazed, and I am now conscious of this when wiring my frames. Sorry to run on, but, I thought this was a good place to add these comments.

My advice is that you are the only one who knows how heavy this project is, the size of the D-ring installed, the size of the screws used and the density of the moulding, but again, if in doubt... change it out. Your client can only respect you for the added attention.
 
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