Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Get help and framing advice from the framing community
Post Reply
girlfromkent
Posts: 130
Joined: Tue 29 Oct, 2019 9:02 pm
Location: Kent
Organisation: None
Interests: Printmaking & ceramics

Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Post by girlfromkent »

Hi

I need to reduce costs as my business grows.

I frame almost all items with a full book mount, not just window, so get through a lot of mountboard as undermount (the back part of the 'book'). I use LJ mountboard almost exclusively.

At the moment I use fallouts for the undermount, and have tried the value 2 duo which is OK but still quite pricey for the conservation grade.

What do other people use as their go to for this? I know there are cheap whitecore boards but I really want all packages to be as Conservation friendly as possible, plus it would be nice to just have one board for all to keep things simple.

Thanks
Megan
Not your average framer
Posts: 11014
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Post by Not your average framer »

Choosing your favorite good quality budget mountboard, will still always be a personal decision, because not everyone will have he exactly the same requirements. I like the colurmount 300 range as they have quite a lot of useful, but muted colours. However the core materials is also a softer white colour and some framers much prefer much brighter colours and and really bright white core material. Part of the Colourmount 300 range is the same as the Simons Key range, but it's only the conservation one's from that range. Simons also selling lower cost conservation range which I also stock. Also Lion and Wessex have their own budget conservation ranges, it's quite a competitive markets so prices will vary and also the different types will be from different manufacturers. I can't speak for anyone else, but I buy my mountboard in quanity sized packs and get a special offer price which is quite a useful and significant cost saving. I also have a discount framing idea for local artists, where there is a limited range of mouldings and frame sizes. They get a 25 percent discount off from my normal prices by only for three different glass sizes. The glass and backing boards are all pre-cut specially and in these sizes there is no waste. I can cut these sizes down from these standard sizes, but they still pay the same prices.

It's also quite a speedy way of working, as my glass, backing board and mountboards blanks are already cut to three different standard sizes, I also cut up my scrap flat materials into standard sizes as it is easier to store them in standard sizes ready for use. Since certain of these sizes are one's that I use for making ready made frames, it is very quick and easy when I'm not doing anything important to fit the glass, backing board a black pieces of mountboard into my read made frames made for scrap pieces of mouldings. There is a definite technique to selling ready made frames is any worthwhile way. The reality is that many of the ready made frames made up from left overs are not always great sales items and require different sales tactics. I sell some as mulyiples and some it my special price box. The ebay crowd will often buy a quantity sold as a multiple dead at a good price and they will break the pack down to sell them individually on ebay. These multiple pack are generally the smaller and not very intersting sizes and my chance of selling the normally in my shop are less good, but waste is for making money with, so if people will buy my scrap, then I why not. Small free standing mirrors are often popular. Don't price these too cheap, lots of peopledon't buy anything that's to cheap, cheap is a real sales killer!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
User avatar
Tudor Rose
Posts: 1117
Joined: Wed 10 Mar, 2010 4:07 pm
Location: Dawlish, South Devon
Organisation: The Framing Lot
Interests: Tudor history, swimming, walking and needlework.
Contact:

Re: Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Post by Tudor Rose »

As you already use LJ boards, you could use one of their dedicated Conservation Backing Boards. These are effectively the core and backing papers as per their Conservation mount boards, but without the facing paper and colour.

Have a look at item LLL008950 which is 1100 micron, which is the minimum thickness that would still count as Conservation Framing (Level 2). They also do 1650 micron and 2200 micron boards. The benefit is that it is cheaper per sheet than mountboard. You buy it in 25 sheet packs and you could then do a mix and match between your fallouts/offcuts of other boards and this dedicated board. That is what we tend to do.
Jo Palmer GCF(APF) Adv
Textile, Mount Design & Function & Conservation


Forum Moderator & Framing Educator
www.pictureframingtraining.com
Guild Certified Examiner & Guild Accredited Trainer
Guild Master from May 2019 to May 2022
JFeig
Posts: 1285
Joined: Thu 23 Sep, 2004 8:31 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA
Organisation: minoxy, LLC
Interests: non-fiction knowledge
Contact:

Re: Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Post by JFeig »

If you are going for the preservation market, you have to delete the term "acid free" in your vocabulary as it is really a marketing term from the paper industry and not a professional picture framer/conservator term. There are others nasties in paper other that the ph level.

Preservation mount boards are more that double the cost of standard white core "acid free" boards. Just about all paper made today has added buffering agents, hence the term "acid free".

As such, you might want to look into the consumer prices you charge for these products to maintain an appropriate margin to make a profit.
Jerome Feig CPF®
http://www.minoxy.com
Justintime
Posts: 1868
Joined: Sat 26 Sep, 2015 8:48 am
Location: West Wales
Organisation: George The Framer LLP
Interests: Gardening, design, electronic music, good food and beverages.
Contact:

Re: Cheapest acid free mountboard for undermount

Post by Justintime »

I always have a stock of LJ8627 for undermounts.
In my pricing software I can add hinging, float mounting, close framing as parts of the job, in those costs are included the cost of the undermount for book hinging or mount for floating etc.
The question I would be asking is are you pricing properly?
Are you covering your material costs, overheads and profit & wage in each job?
It's worth revisiting your pricing at least every 12 months. Not for material costs obviously, hopefully you have a software in place that automatically updates these, because these are coming in thick and fast at the moment.
Overheads and profit/wage need updating too as services and cost of living increase.
Justin George GCF(APF)
Insta: georgetheframer
Post Reply