Question Where do you buy acrylic glazing?

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SmallCorp

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Hello there-

We here at SmallCorp make a lot of picture frames for framers, galleries and museums. (Thank you for that, all you loyal customers). We only sell glazing to accompany the frames on occasion, though. I assume most frame shops buy their glazing in full sheets and cut it up as needed, eliminating the middleman and getting a better per square foot price, but I don't know that.

Anyone have any thoughts? How do you all do it? Suggestions on how we could change things to make it more appealing to order the glazing with the frame?

Cheers,
Mike Dunphy
 
Larson for some - I stock and cut it like Ylva does.
I also buy larger or custom acrylics from local plastics company for the rest - they don't carry "museum/optium" but most everything else and more.
http://www.alliedplastic.org/

They are a better priced on Gator up to 60" x 120" and cut /deliver/fab, they also carry coroplast from "archival" to normal everyday corrugated plastic.
 
Lairdplastics.com

60 locations across the USA and Canada. Nice people who wholesale, with better prices than Larson.
 
I buy 4x8 sheets from local plastic company. I will call and pick up a couple of sheets at a time. Doing this gives me the best price. IMHO best way to serve framers would be to cut to size and be competitive in price.

Doug
 
SmallCorp said:
Anyone have any thoughts? How do you all do it? Suggestions on how we could change things to make it more appealing to order the glazing with the frame?

Cheers,
Mike Dunphy
Click to expand...

I would begin by surveying your customers as to what percentage are using acrylic with the frames and the type of acrylic. I rarely sell acrylic due to the cost of the product so keeping it in stock is not a money making decision. I have 32x40 and 40x60 in stock only due to the need to buy multiple sheets on the rare occasion when a customers orders it.

If my primary need for the product was to be used in a custom ordered frame I would prefer having it shipped with the frame as long as the price was competitive. When I buy it I am having it added to my glass and mat board order from one of my two primary vendors. Even though I get very aggressive discounts my customers almost always opt for glass due to the lower price.

I would make some calls to your more regular customers and find out what you would need to do to have them add it to the frame order. As long as you can be competitive on price most shops would prefer not to end up with the extra scrap piling up in the shop when cutting it themselves.
 
Regular acrylic I buy in 4x8 sheets from a local plastics supplier. We pick up as they are only a few blocks away.

UV acrylic I sometimes buy 4x8 sheets from the same supplier and sometimes buy smaller sheets from LJ. Optium Museum I buy from LJ or another supplier that can deliver. Freight costs and freight damage keep me buying locally or from a supplier who delivers whenever possible.

I use acrylic in less than 10% of my framing.
 
I buy it in 4x8 sheets from DonMar. I am almost 100% acrylic. I have a Panel Saw and Table Saw with Tenyru Plastic Series Pro no-melt blades dedicated to cutting acrylic.

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It depends on the project.
I frame some for corporations and they prefer OP-3 or regular acrylic on everything. For that I send a cut list to the local Farco Plastics and usually pick up the next morning (about 40 minutes round trip). The orders usually use up anywhere from 5 to 15 48" X 96" sheets so I get better pricing, and the fabrication is included. Their base pricing is well below LJ for comparable products.
Optium I get from LJ since they are the only game, but the price seems to be competitive, and they do deliver for free. I've ordered both 49" X 96" 1/8" sheets and the 1/4" chopped to size. The 1/8" comes from the regional warehouse on their local delivery, and the 1/4" comes from Chicago on their intermodal delivery to regional warehouse, then to me at no additional cost.
 
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