Frame Maker SA
CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
A good customer brought in this piece on vellum and wants it to be floated between glass. I will use spacers but other that that I am not sure how to go about mounting it. It is 31 x 23
Piece on vellum to be floated
- Thread starter Frame Maker SA
- Start date
05
Conservator
Thread mount onto an 8-ply cut-out, which would be mounted between the frame sides? If you do it that way it might stay kinda flattish for more than twenty minutes.
05, are those threads attached to the back edges of the item by starch paste? If so, how far do they extend onto the back?
05
Conservator
Both ends of size 32 linen thread are fanned out, as in the picture. Only the fanned-out part extends to the verso of the parchment; to attach it I use a 50/50 mix of paste and Lascaux 490 HV, the latter to keep the moisture (and therefore distortion) low, the former to give me enough working time. I let it dry overnight, under weight. When dry, this will remove as easily as paste.
Only the fanned-out part of the thread on the other end is attached to the board (you can use anything to do this, I tend to paste): the length in the middle floats. The thread is given an extra bit of twist as it is adhered to the board. Again, it will dry overnight under weight (just about everything here does).
How it works: Rising humidity expands the parchment, but shortens the threads by making them twist more tightly.
It is not a technique for the impatient or the thrifty.
Only the fanned-out part of the thread on the other end is attached to the board (you can use anything to do this, I tend to paste): the length in the middle floats. The thread is given an extra bit of twist as it is adhered to the board. Again, it will dry overnight under weight (just about everything here does).
How it works: Rising humidity expands the parchment, but shortens the threads by making them twist more tightly.
It is not a technique for the impatient or the thrifty.
Frame Maker SA
CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
This is a very interesting method, and one I want to lean more about. But I dont see how this method would help me mount the vellum to glass in order to be float mounted and seen from both sides.
05, thanks for sharing the details of your method.
Frame Maker SA, the threads would have to show in a recto/verso glass mount, and their attachments would be visible on the verso. Another alternative, less invasive and much easier to create, would be to use rare-earth magnets to hold the document in place between two sheets of glass or acrylic separated by 1/4" or deeper spacers (FrameSpace recommended, which clips to the edges of both glazing sheets).
For an example, see the May 2012 PFM article titled Mounting Options for Documents, page 31. Your large document might require 6 or more pairs of 1/8" cube magnets, half of them attached by cyanoacrylate to the inside of the back glass. Be sure to pad them from the skin by tiny slips of lignin-free tissue. Sometimes I literally wrap the magnets in the tissue using starch paste.
I would not want to use glass in direct contact with the document, due to dew-point issues. Acrylic would be better in that regard, but might have abrasion troubles.
Frame Maker SA, the threads would have to show in a recto/verso glass mount, and their attachments would be visible on the verso. Another alternative, less invasive and much easier to create, would be to use rare-earth magnets to hold the document in place between two sheets of glass or acrylic separated by 1/4" or deeper spacers (FrameSpace recommended, which clips to the edges of both glazing sheets).
For an example, see the May 2012 PFM article titled Mounting Options for Documents, page 31. Your large document might require 6 or more pairs of 1/8" cube magnets, half of them attached by cyanoacrylate to the inside of the back glass. Be sure to pad them from the skin by tiny slips of lignin-free tissue. Sometimes I literally wrap the magnets in the tissue using starch paste.
I would not want to use glass in direct contact with the document, due to dew-point issues. Acrylic would be better in that regard, but might have abrasion troubles.
Greg Fremstad
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Our FrameSpace 1/4 Double will make this a very easy job. See it here - bottom left drawing: http://www.frametek.com/HTML/FrameSpace/FrameSpace_2.html
I would bond this piece to the back piece of acrylic with cooked wheat starch paste and very small, wet-torn Japanese hinges along the top and some loose "safety hinges" along the bottom. Yes they will show a little.
Remember the wise words for our late friend Vivian Kistler: "We're picture framers, not magicians".
To remove the hinges piece later for any reason, "saw" through the hinges wiith a long piece of dental floss between the acrylic and the vellum.
I would bond this piece to the back piece of acrylic with cooked wheat starch paste and very small, wet-torn Japanese hinges along the top and some loose "safety hinges" along the bottom. Yes they will show a little.
Remember the wise words for our late friend Vivian Kistler: "We're picture framers, not magicians".
To remove the hinges piece later for any reason, "saw" through the hinges wiith a long piece of dental floss between the acrylic and the vellum.
Frame Maker SA
CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Very intresting responses, thank you for your time and knowledge. I will persue these ideas further.