Turning a 4-ply mat into an 8-ply mat?!?

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framinzfun

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Aug 28, 2002
Posts
893
Location
eastern pa
We had a customer in yesterday who wanted a double thick fabric mat. So, of course, I said that would be no problem,
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,and charged them accordingly. So now I have to figure out the best way to do this. I made a little tester mat by using spray mount and vacuum pressing the mats together and cutting it like an 8-ply mat. It turned out pretty nice. I was wondering if there was a better way to do this? The mats are going to be fairly big, one of them around 31 x 39. If it makes a difference, the fabric mat is one of the Bainbridge New Threads. Thanks.
 
I would use a different glue than spray mount. The thin edge of the adhisive on the bevel will pick up dirt and darken very quickly. I would try rolling on some thing like Miracle Muck or Matte Medium and then put in the heat press.
 
I use Acrylic gloss medium to bond the two 4 ply boards together and I do this quite regularly. I brush it on one, let it dry and bond it in my heat press. Then cut as usual. No seam shows.

The huge bonus to using this is that it is c/p.

edie the inlovewith8ply goddess
 
The cheapest way to do this is with cooked starch.
It can be rolled onto the surface of one board in
a generous coat, with a clean roller and the other
board can be aligned and weighted in place. It
can be dried in a stack of board or in the heat
press. The stach costs almost nothing, cooking in
the microwave is quick, and you get no line at
that level of the bevel.

Hugh
 
Before my CMC cut 8 ply mats, I would make the opening 1/16" larger and stack them. I would ATG close to, but not on, the opening and put the mat in the vacuum press. You can stack as many mats as you want to get a really deep bevel.

Did you know that if you stack mats of different colors, you will get a very thin colored line in the bevel? Looks cool. I did one where I stacked blue, bright yellow, and red mats with a white top mat. Another time I used a black center with white top and bottom mats.
 
Thanks for the great suggestions. But most of them seem to require a heat press, and right now we only have a cold vacuum press. Our heat press probably won't be installed until after this piece is finished. Any ideas for a cold press?
 
Recently we have been rolling a thin layer of Frank's Fabric Adhesive (ph neutral) and sticking
them under the 3/8" plate of glass. 42"x60".

I don't know that I would call it a "cold press", after all, we do keep the shop around 70 degrees....
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But I'm also with Hugh, starch is CHEAP! and a micro is FAST. It's not like the old days with the double boiler.... :D
 
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