Sealing the Moulding - 810??

Val

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
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Carson City, Nevada
Yesterday I ran across two publications (books?) by LJ, squirreled away in a file cabinet. (My predecessor went to the LJ class). One is "How to Frame Original & Limited Edition Prints", published in 1993. It recommends "sealing" the package (backing, art, mat, glass), using the Linco frame sealing tape, OR 3M's 810 tape, to provide a barrier from dust and the acid of the wood. Another chapter recommends lining the inside of the moulding with 810 as an acid barrier.

Has anyone heard of using the 810 tape this way? For sealing the dust out of the package before fitting, I have, but not for lining the moulding. I use the Linco tape. (Used to use wax! Oldtimer's showing here again)

How safe, acid-wise, is 810 tape? (NOT FOR MOUNTING! Just for the moulding) Sure would be less expensive than Linco (I wondered why he had boxes and boxes of that 810 tape!), but I question the validity of that now. In fact, I question the validity of anything I USED to do now, and for good reason. Framing Times have changed.
 
A true "seal" (vapor barrier) can't be achieved with anything but metal (as in the Lineco frame sealing tape) or with glass. Other treatments to the rabbet or the edge of the frame package may slow the exchange of gasses, but won't stop them.
 
Wally, you forgot "gold leafing" the rabbit.

Oh wait, that's duck. As in Peking Duck.. :D

Val, in THIS generation, only glass and metal is going to pass as acceptable. No matter what the evidence is.
 
Val

810 tape is an acrylic tape and you will find many many publications that state that acrylic is a good barrier. I agree with sealing the package with a good acrylic tape.

Never forget the fact that for maximum preservation you should not frame an item at all. It should be kept in a temperature and humidity controlled environment and away from all light.
 
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Good thing not EVERYONE wants that MAXIMUM protection, or we'd all be out of jobs, wouldn't we? And how many museum curators does the world need?
 
Originally posted by Jerry Ervin:
810 tape is an acrylic tape and you will find many many publications that state that acrylic is a good barrier. I agree with sealing the package with a good acrylic tape....
Which publications, Jerry? I do not recall one, but I'd like to read about the justification for acrylic tape as a rabbet liner. The older books in my library recommended water-borne polyurethane varnish, but the newer ones recommend glass or metal as a liner.

Never forget the fact that for maximum preservation you should not frame an item at all. It should be kept in a temperature and humidity controlled environment and away from all light.
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Do you tell this to customers often, Jerry? It seems like a car dealer telling a prospective buyer, "In order to get the best gas mileage, leave the car in the garage and take a bus." Is it not contrary to the purpose of the business?

I don't know about you, but I'm in the framing business. My interest is in helping customers present and preserve their art & objects in frames, and those are the reasons they come to a place like mine. They seem happier to have their favorite things on display, rather than in a box -- where? Under the bed or in a closet?

In the retail consumer's real world, the closest thing to the "temperature and humidity controlled environment" you mentioned would be in a properly fitted/finished picture frame hanging in a living area of the house. The temperature and humidity may be the same under the bed, but bugs are more likely to find it under the bed, and the dog or cat is more likely to chew on it there.

Probably the worst residential environment would be in the attic, and the second-worst would be in the basement. These might be the places where anything stored in a box might eventually end up. Would a retail customer remember the reasons to keep that special box in a special place? Maybe, maybe not.

I say it's safer framed, and displayed on a wall with limited light exposure. At least there, it is not "out of sight, out of mind".

Life is full of compromises. Perhaps the neatest trick is to make informed choices.
 
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