Nielsen's New Metals

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Shayla

Shayla

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I like 'em! :thumbsup:

Got a new batch in the Gilded line this week, and they're looking pretty good. I might even start stacking with them. Skinny as they are, though, they'd need a wide shallow inner frame. I'm thinking now about times when they might even work with fabric liners.

Quick thoughts about the line:

So far, I love the first Gildeds. Only one real concern. The little hanger dealies seem like they want to pop out of the rails when tightened. I was surprised at this, since I had expected them to be great to work with. Granted, a piece of any size would need something like Wall Buddies or security hangers anyway, but I still don't like how hard it is to get those little hangers to stay tight. And is it only me or have the screws on Nielsen's tapped angle corners started to be made out of softer metal?

The Gilded samples that came in this week have me wishing that the next offering would be wider. I like the line so much that I hope they do keep coming out with more. If they could be at least half an inch wide or so, like the 25 profile is, but still deep enough to handle a stacked treatment. I like the idea of stacking the dark swirly one (sorry, not at the shop) with the #45 Natural Elements profiles. The one that looks like sand paper and is a warm old camel color comes to mind.

One thing I like about these new samples is that one can easily use frame spacers behind the glass with them. The lips on the first batch are so narrow that it's trickier doing that. Still like them, but am happy that now there are some spacers work well with.

I'll hush up now and see if anyone else has comments.
 
Shayla, you might notice they are basically the same profiles as the Nurre Mini's collection, a welcomed answer to the "why can't I put that skinny frame on my huge picture?' kwestion.
I used one on a shadowbox when we first got them, and had no trouble at all with the hangers.

hm
 
I still haven't seen them yet. My rep says that they have shipped so I might be getting them today or tomorrow.
 
Great new profiles...

I saw them last weekend at the Gemini Moulding Open House in Chicago. Returned home to find a box of the samples waiting for me. :) I went ahead and hung them on Tuesday, and downloaded the most recent update on SpecialtySoft - Yeah, they are in the system.

Going to push these more as they simply look great.

John
 
We didn't use the first batch of this type of metals because the lip was too small. Why invite trouble? I'm glad to see these latest ones are new and improved.

I also like the team-colors set they sent. Haven't checked the lip on that one yet.
 
Love 'em! :thumbsup: I'm a one person shop but have used them for many applications. I just got the second set and sold two chops the first day out. I haven't seen the DigitalCustom DVD yet, but I think that the brown with the beads might be on two informational display pieces somewhere in the video.

Susan
 
Hey, Jan, If you are cutting your glass and mat blanks accurately to size you should have no trouble with these profiles. Maybe add 1/16" for a slightly snugger fit. Heck, compared to profile #33, the Gildeds are thick. ;) I love this series, and also the thin profiles #34 and #91.
Only limitation I've found is using acrylic spacers with these profiles, because they aren't adequately hidden below the lip. Other than that, I think they're really elegant. I also like the new #37s, with their nice depth, bold colors, and frame-within-a-frame profile (a great sales feature- it's like a stacked frame for the price of one). Used one for a kid's-room needlepoint yesterday.
:cool: Rick

P.S. If you don't like the "official" hangers for the Gilded line, you can use Euro Hangers, which are more substantial, but you have to slide them in from the end of the rail before final assembly.
 
Nice frames. Mine came this week and it did'nt take me long to get them out of the box and hanging. Nice job Nielsen'.
 
Mine just came too!! Guess I better open the box and see what all the fuss is about!:D
 
I like both the new gilded and the sports frames in th #37.

Does anyone know if LJ is stocking these? I have run my update for LS several times since I received them and they are not in the system. I know I can call LJ and I will, just thought someone might know.
 
Not really a frankenthread, but just a side thought.

A while back there was a thread about what we framers hang on our personal walls. The observation was made that we personally lean towards wider, chunkier, and majestic great looking statement frames.

So why is it that we get excited about a new pencil line of a frame that is a heart beat away from a head ache, for our customers?

Just an observation.

Resume your "oohing" and "awwwing".
 
Baer Charlton said:
So why is it that we get excited about a new pencil line of a frame that is a heart beat away from a head ache, for our customers?

Just an observation.

Resume your "oohing" and "awwwing".
Click to expand...

So what exactly is the potential head ache?

They filled a needed niche. Like any moulding choice, beyond aesthetics it should most importantly be technically appropriate.

So what's your beef?

On a side note, how often do we see innovation from moulding companies anymore? It's nice to see an effort put in, IMO.
 
I'll go ahead and Frankenthread this.

Along with the samples came some new marketing material. The one I found most interesting is the flyer with the USA Pennant display sample that "You too can purchase for your store for only $99" Now, the display is nice. However, one would think this would have been a nice piece to have out BEFORE THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!
 
Pricing updates on metal profiles...

j Paul said:
....Does anyone know if LJ is stocking these? I have run my update for LS several times since I received them and they are not in the system....
Click to expand...

jPaul,

I blieve that I have the option to upload new pricing on Nielsen metals as Nielsen metal or Larson-Juhl metal and a few other regional vendors as well. That is the option with SpecialtySoft - and I use the N-B metal option, and the new profiles/prices were there.

If SSS has this update then you would think that they were also sent out at the same time to LifeSaver and others as well (assuming they do this all at the same time).

John
 
John, thanks for the advice. I do have the pricing from Nielsen and can order chops from them if need be. Apparently at this point in time LJ isn't stocking these new gilded (although they are the first batch) as well as non-stock on the new 37's
 
I like comparing notes on subjects like this. Thanks Grumble.

Hi Rick, good point, but none of us at the shop like the first bunch of frames enough to want to deal with them. Maybe we should reevaluate them and give them a try. What kinds of projects have you used them on?
 
Jana I used one on a butterfly a customer framed floated on black with a raised black silk hand wrapped mat around it. I was thrilled, as was the customer with the end result.
 
I used one of the first batch on a little watercolor and it was lovely. It was a whimsical painting of a happy naked lady in a martini glass. Floated the piece off of the backing mat 1/8 inch, and then framed it with 1/4 inch spacers holding it away from the glass. It looked great. So I suppose, in retrospect, that only some of the first line had really narrow lips. This was the rounded platinum colored Gilded and worked great.

If you can't find them at LJ, have you tried Nurre Caxton? They have a great policy of three chops, free UPS. Plus they'll send out coupons sometimes for $10.00 off an order of $50.00 or more. Another benefit is that, because they are owned by Nielsen and Bainbridge now, you wind up paying a bit less for your metals. Any other company has to charge that little bit extra for the waste of cutting the frames. Because they make them, though, they charge less footage and can melt those scraps down for re-use. I order from Larson Juhl, Nurre Caxton and about nine other companies. These two have always been great to work with.
 
The little Gildeds are great on anything small and delicate, including old or restored photos. You can get the desired formality and still keep it feeling light. Plus, with the crummy finishes we're finding on woods these days, I've found the finishes on these to be nice and consistent.
:cool: Rick
 
PLUS THEY TASTE GREAT! :D
 
Steph said:
So what's your beef?
Click to expand...

My beef is raised by my sister. Angus, Herferd, Limosien, Piedmonties, Beef Master blend for lower colesteral, higher licopin count, leaner marbling and stronger flavor. She hangs it for 45 days for me. Very tender and the only beef the wife will eat.

As for the frames, I have no beef. I was just making an observation. Just found it interesting and so noted. Sorry to have ruffled your feathers. I'll go back into my hole now. :kaffeetrinker_2:
 
I framed some 5 x 5 matted watercolors from Venice that looked great in the gilded.

I also framed 36 x 48 vintage circus posters and those turned out gorgeous as well. Same gilded frame.

Pictures? Yeah right... I never remember. :cry:

-Sarah
 
Darn it. I was about to write that Baer's beef was most likely registered Black Angus, but he beat me to it.

I prefer to think of him as having a den. Although, busy as he is, he probably doesn't spend much time hibernating.
 
Baer Charlton said:
As for the frames, I have no beef. I was just making an observation. Just found it interesting and so noted. Sorry to have ruffled your feathers. I'll go back into my hole now. :kaffeetrinker_2:
Click to expand...

Nope....no ruffled feathers here. Just sensed an undertone of dislike and was curious as to why. It was the "hearbeat away from a heart ache', line that left me befuddled.

Is that an obsidian encrusted hole?:D
 
Lauri, I just spent ten minutes trying to find a picture of these somewhere on line and came up with a big zip. One or two private sites mentioning them, but nothing where you can see them up close. The Nielsen Bainbridge site was really wierd, just listing the kinds of frames people would by online. The Nurre Caxton site makes you enter the number of a particular metal, and if you've never seen it, how do you know what number it has? Sigh.

All I can say is that I love the designs and finishes. I'm more excited about these than I've been about any new metals that have come along in a while. These companies are robbing themselves of customers by not showing pictures of the product in a way that you can be easily found.

Something I'm curious about. The back is designed so that you can put a dust cover on. We don't do that yet. Do any of you? What materials do you use for the cover and adhesive?
 
When fitting metal frames, we ditch the spring clips and instead fill the rest of the channel with snug-fitting stacks of foamcore strips. It's very neat and professional looking, and serves as an effective substitute for a dust cover. Putting paper on the back of a metal frame seems superfluous to me.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
 
Rick Granick said:
When fitting metal frames, we ditch the spring clips and instead fill the rest of the channel with snug-fitting stacks of foamcore strips. It's very neat and professional looking, and serves as an effective substitute for a dust cover. Putting paper on the back of a metal frame seems superfluous to me.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
Click to expand...

I agree Rick!
 
I've done the strip thing some, but we mostly use spring clips. Reading comments on here has affected the way I think about it, though. I always thought that the package should be pressed fairly tight, but what people say about giving it some breathing room makes sense. Now, if it fills the frame to where spring clips would be a really tight fit, I let it be.

Susan, we order these little square spongey bumpons from United for metals. They're hard to find in the catalogue, but the number is either HA15 or HA45.
I think it's the first one, but a customer service rep. could tell you. One of those is a sheet with a hundred of the little black squares on it. I request that they just put them in the box loosely. One time some rocket scientist folder the sheet carefully in half, then in half again, squishing all the bumpons in both middle directions. I guess I should just be glad that person wasn't my car mechanic.

The time I never use spring clips is if someone wants acrylic. Took me a long time to realize that spring clips will make that bow. Probably took a long time because the combination is only requested once every couple years. Now I build out to depth with foam core.
 
In reference to Baers post, I always thought the frame companies like the big wide mouldings. As a framer and also speaking for the majority of my clients they like thin mouldings, 1/2" (to 1" at most) wide on average. Most companies have quite making nice thin mouldings. I know it might be a sign of the times, many companie sthat offered such moulding are gone, like Ivy and Art o Rama. I say we need more, we want more.
 
Hey Baer,

Crawl out of your comfy den a moment. I have a comment on your observation. Yes, most of "my" customers do like a nice wide, carved moulding , but the younger set are definately asking for a more stream line design. The reason I like the new Neilsens so well is I don't have to worry about the weight of everything in the frame package being to heavy for a smaller wood moulding. With the new designs I still get a traditional look.

The sportier #37s are great, and I love how well they match the glossy new 8000 series of matboards. Don't rely totally on the specifier Bainbridge icluded in the package. Although I commend their effort to help us, I have have found better matches than given for some of the sports teams, especially Cleveland colors.

Lori
 
RParrish said:
As a framer and also speaking for the majority of my clients they like thin mouldings, 1/2" (to 1" at most) wide on average. Most companies have quite making nice thin mouldings. I know it might be a sign of the times, many companie sthat offered such moulding are gone, like Ivy and Art o Rama. I say we need more, we want more.
Click to expand...
I agree, Randy. Those two were my biggest vendors for years. Ivy closed for other reasons, of course, and I still miss them. I had already quit AOR bec. they kept discontinuing the classic styles and bringing in freakish ones I had no use for. If I remember correctly, you use Nurre Caxton, right? Their "Mini" line is one of my mainstays nowdays, and some are dead-on subs for old Ivy profiles. Every time my rep comes, I beg her to ask the company to extend that line, and to make some "Midi" size versions of it too. I guess the Nielsen Gildeds are essentially like more Minis.
:cool: Rick
 
I agree Rick, they didn't go out of biz because the moulding size. AOR self destructed.
 
I love em! I have so many customers that want to put that fillet on a 24x36. If I say metal to customers, they are turned off because they associate it with a poster frame. I never say metal anymore.
 
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