Mounting a very thin flag

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GhostFramer

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
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Jul 9, 2009
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Arizona
I have a small very thin flag that I need to float on a mat board for framing. If it were heavier material I could pin or sew it, but thats not going to work in this case. I really dont want to put any damaging tapes behind it either. There will be a space maker in the frame to keep the glass away from it so it needs to be secure. I am looking for ideas and materials that would work for this project. All opinions and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
 
Be very careful with it. Old silk is extremely fragile and might disintegrate with the slightest stress of handling, especially if it has had exposure to light.

How about framing a digital reproduction on new fabric, and keeping the original in safe storage? Be sure to inform your customer that framed display of the original would surely cause the end of that old silk in a relatively short time, because it can not withstand light or gravitational stress. If it has value - whether monetary, personal, or historical - the value would be destroyed by framed display.

That said, if he insists on framing it, I suggest not declining the job. If the customer fails to heed your advice, then he would probably take it to a framer unaware of the hazards, or perhaps less concerned about preserving it.

If framing of the original is inevitable, my first choice would be a fine mesh fabric DCO on a padded, fabric-covered backer. A generous air gap and UV-filtering acrylic would be recommended, and plead with the owner to display it in a dark or low-light environment.
 
Jim Miller said:
Be very careful with it. Old silk is extremely fragile and might disintegrate with the slightest stress of handling, especially if it has had exposure to light.

How about framing a digital reproduction on new fabric, and keeping the original in safe storage? Be sure to inform your customer that framed display of the original would surely cause the end of that old silk in a relatively short time, because it can not withstand light or gravitational stress. If it has value - whether monetary, personal, or historical - the value would be destroyed by framed display.

That said, if he insists on framing it, I suggest not declining the job. If the customer fails to heed your advice, then he would probably take it to a framer unaware of the hazards, or perhaps less concerned about preserving it.

If framing of the original is inevitable, my first choice would be a fine mesh fabric DCO on a padded, fabric-covered backer. A generous air gap and UV-filtering acrylic would be recommended, and plead with the owner to display it in a dark or low-light environment.
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Or even do a combination of Jim's suggestions. Frame the flag as suggested. Before framing the flag, create a reasonable reproduction. Create a display case setup with your chosen frames where it will open like a book through the use of piano (or other) hinges. Essentially, frame the real flag in the inner piece facing forwards and the reproduction in the front frame facing forward. The reproduction displays all of the time and when needed the "door" can be opened to display the real flag. But with the appropriate choice of materials you will be able to further protect that flag from harmful light.

Now if you could make it a counter-top case, that would help with the gravity issue as well and might actually make for a better presentation, depending upon what the customer has for display space.
 
I would definitely use glass for glazing, to avoid the inevitable static pull from acrylic glazing (anti-static Optium is not static-free) for something that fragile, and for most textiles.
Pwalters idea is great.
 
Thanks for linking that excellent article, Rebecca. Nice job on the mat, too...hand-cut, I presume?

GhostFramer, what Rebecca calls a press mount or pressure mount, I call a DCO (Direct Contact Overlay) mount. They are essentially the same concept.

Now if you could make it a counter-top case, that would help with the gravity issue...
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Yes, Paul is right. If horizontal display is out of the question, slanting the top of the mounted item toward the back of the frame would help to relieve gravitational stress. A 45-degree slant would be quite helpful, but even 30 degrees or 20 degrees would be less stressful than vertical display. In any case, the frame would have to be considerably deeper.
 
So Jim, would you use acrylic for DCO framing? I sure would as it has a completely different heat coefficient. I would not use glass and disagree with Sam's recommendation, especially for valuable pieces. The static pull of acrylic can be mitigated with adequate space (or the lack thereof - i.e. direct contact.)

Also, I think Preservator is on vacation or I know he would jump in here-

SILK exposed to light, even under UV filtering glazing and low light level conditions will deteriorate- this is a dangerous situation and one that the OP needs to have in writing - that he informed the client of the potential effects of framing and exposure to light.
 
Sam said:
I would definitely use glass for glazing, to avoid the inevitable static pull from acrylic glazing (anti-static Optium is not static-free).
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Ordinary acrylic has a lot of static charge, but actually, the optical coatings on Optium Acrylic and Museum Optium Acrylic make those glazing products lower-static than ordinary glass.
 
Rob Markoff said:
So Jim, would you use acrylic for DCO framing? I sure would as it has a completely different heat coefficient. I would not use glass...
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Yes, Rob, I would use optically coated, abrasion-resistant, UV filtering acrylic, aka Museum Optium Acrylic. Ordinary acrylic, such as OP-3, would have similar thermal properties and would be equal in resisting condensation caused by dew point. However, its soft surface could be abraded over time by direct contact. The static charge of plain acrylic could be an issue in some cases, but usually, it would enhance the holding effect of the direct contact overlay.

Glass would be OK for a DCO/Press mount if it could be isolated from the external environment sufficiently to avoid condensation caused by dew point. I have used glass overlays in frames where a second, outer glazing was used. In fact, the antique map on page 30 of the July PFM is one of those.
 
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