sealing glass against shavings and whining

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JeffreyPrice

JeffreyPrice

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Jan 10, 2008
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Norwalk, CT
I've just had a good, but fussy, photographer call in a huff because one of the 9 rush frames he picked up yesterday had 'pencil shavings' under the glass. I'm pretty sure those 'fish' weren't there when we fit the picture, and I wonder how we might prevent this from happening. I talked to my fitter, and apparently the frame moulding was rather brittle and did flake off, though she cleaned it often while beating back her frustration. I'm thinking we might seal the glass, mats and backings together with framer's tape before fitting, and though we have done that on occasion it's not a common practice for us. Hey you framers out there, do YOU seal your mats and glass together... what do you think are the pros and cons of this... and how do you tell the customer 'we do the best we can, but things can go wrong..." without whining.
 
On frames like that, or refits for antique frames that flake off the gold sealing is a great option. Either tape the rabbet or tape the glass and mat package.
 
I occasionally do this with brittle mouldings or re-fits.
 
Seal the package. I do this with anything that I see a potential problem with.
 
ditto..seal pkg if any forseeable problem fitting.
 
I always seal the inner sandwich together. I originally did it to keep the little black flies out, but I find it makes things easier all round. You can assemble with the glass on top, so that you can spot the flumbs and once done you know nothing is going to slip in. I generally do all this before making the frame.
 
I seal the frame package 90% of the time. It's a pain, but it DOES save me time in the long run....and I have a happy customer.

Do I charge for it? Absolutely!
 
So THAT's what Framers Tape is for!

What other type of tape works for that, preferably something that adds less size to the package and also has guaranteed never-flow sticky stuff?

I have sometimes painted the rabbet holes of flaky frames with the same water-based stuff I use to coat canvases. Very easy to wipe excess off the front of the moulding.
 
I prefer to seal the rabbet rather than the glass sandwich.

For me it seems to go more quickly, especially if I misalign the tape slightly when I try to seal the glass so that it peeks out from under the lip of the frame. At that point it is a major pain to trim the excess tape and remove the adhesive gunk residue.
 
Tape sealing the glass-art-backing package is a good idea, especially when you have to increase the depth of the rabbet space. I have a difficult time getting a tight fit when using FrameTek's RabbetSpace unless I tape the package. Are you familiar with FrameTek? They have a great website <http://www.frametek.com/index.html> from which you can learn a great deal. They even have videos to help people like me, who are otherwise challenged when left to figure out stuff exclusively from a manual.:confused:
 
more_so said:
So THAT's what Framers Tape is for!

What other type of tape works for that, preferably something that adds less size to the package and also has guaranteed never-flow sticky stuff?

I have sometimes painted the rabbet holes of flaky frames with the same water-based stuff I use to coat canvases. Very easy to wipe excess off the front of the moulding.
Click to expand...

J-Lar is very thin and easy to align lift and realign before smoothing it down. No added size and if you need to get back in you can slice through it with a razor and lay another layer over the top with no added size. I do it only when there is going to be a problem.
 
Joe B said:
Jeff - where do you get the J-Lar?
Click to expand...

I buy it from United but LJ also sells it. J-Lar is Mylar with an agressive adhesive. Once it touches paper it can not be removed/repositioned without a solvent. It meets archival standards but not for direct contact with art of any value because of the adhevise being so agressive. I use it anywhere I need to be sure there will be no slipping.

When I use the Lineco corners on larger or heavy pieces I lay a strip over the Lineco corner not touching the art. Corners stay put for life. J-Lar remains crystal clear.
 
Unless there is a compelling reason, you don't have to seal all around. We use small tabs of 3M frosted tape perpendicular to the edge of the glass, overlapping it just enough to hold but not enough to show. Depending on the overall size we use maybe two tabs on the short sides and three on the long sides. The advantage of this is that if you do see an offending bit under the glass it is easy to peel back a tab or two and fish it out, then reseal. It only takes a minute or so to do this, but it saves all kinds of time and frustration by avoiding refits.
:cool: Rick
 
Check out this article on the FrameTek web pages: http://www.frametek.com/HTML/Articles/dust.html

I know that this method saves a lot more time than it takes. It also prevents rapid shanges in humidity in the frame - the major cause of paper art and mats buckling.

3M's #810 (magic mending tape) is perfect. It's "acid free" and the tape itself will probably ut last all of us. Cheap too!

Don't try to line it up exactly - let it stick out over the face of the glass a bit and trim the excees off with a dust cover trim blade or razor blade.
 
prospero said:
I always seal the inner sandwich together. I originally did it to keep the little black flies out, but I find it makes things easier all round. You can assemble with the glass on top, so that you can spot the flumbs and once done you know nothing is going to slip in. I generally do all this before making the frame.
Click to expand...

Same here (although initially it was leafed mouldings rather than thrips that sent me down the sandwich sealing path), and I charge for it too (not a lot!).

With regard to sandwich vs. rebate sealing, I find I'm quicker at the former method.
 
This is my preference for sealing the sandwich:
ZCLO9727.JPG

:icon11: Rick
 
Jeffery---
if I worked where you do(with 2-3 different people doing the fitting) I would have everyone sealing their pieces(and perhaps initialing the backer for future finger pointing???). It isnt the worst habbit your will/could acquire(to start with). If you saw/assemble in proximity it is also necessary. costs you a little more $$ and maybe 5 more min but will cutdown on the headaches

oh yes, and do NOT forget to put that photog on your "PIA list" for extra $$ the next time he comes in the play!
 
I have been dust sealing in my shop for 20+ years. As Greg said, it's a HUGE time-saver. We use 810 tape for this. Simple, fast, neat.

I have never figured out why all framers don't do this.

There are several threads on this topic, btw.

Edie the tapewielding goddess
 
Isn't 810 just plain old scotch tape? The 3 for a buck at XMas tape?

I've had customers bring in frames to be refitted and the tape along the edges is brittle and cracked and coming off. Is that a different tape? Does 810 degrade over time like the other tapes?
 
810 inside the rabbit will become brittle and crack. 810 is the one called Magic Transparent tape. 811 is the same thing but it is removable.
 
Yes, 810 is the 3M invisable tape - been using the same. I haven't found that it gets brittle like some of the old tapes; it could but once the piece is out my door I generally don't have to take it apart again. I haven't been around long enough to refit something that I have framed years back.
 
I have taken many pieces (let's just say hundreds) apart that have been framed and dust sealed with 810 tape for 20 plus years.

I have yet to find one with brittle tape. The tape usually just peels right off.

Maybe it's our perfect climate!

Edie the wheresmysunglasses goddess
 
I'm with Edie on this one - the 810 goes on as easily as it comes off - unlike JLar which costs the earth and leaves a gooey residue on glass (that is, if you can pry it off at all!).

Don't try to remove 30 year-old 810 from paper without a conservator, however! ;)
 
Then I don't know what framers use around here, but this stuff is yellowed, there's no adhesive left on it and there's usually some yellow crumbly stuff where the tape used to hold!

Guess generic tape is not as good as the name brand stuff. ;)
 
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