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I have been left on my own for the next 3 weeks ( everybody 2gether ahhhh!) anyway a customer has rung me about these white clay hand and foot prints she wants them box framed, now my question to you all is what do you suggest i stick them down with (no rude suggestions please) another framer did it for her before and used silicone they fell off the back within a week and fell off the wall needless to say she does not want a repeat performance.
whatever adhesive you use has to be able to grip the plaster - roughen the surface to give the adhesive something to grip on to. (make sure you blow away any dusty particles).
What shape are the pieces of clay? If they are in the form of rectangular tile like slabs. Then why not use a flat frame moulding as a slip inside another frame and fit the hand prints into the rebate of the slip frame with some foam pads between the hand prints and the backing board.
If necessary two slip frames can be glued into one larger slip frame and the whole combined assembly stippled all over with several coats of Craig and Rose Indulgence Suede effect paint, (as sold at B & Q).
This paint contains little lumpy granules and and will not only completely hid any grain, joins and mitres, but also should go well with the white clay hand prints. Two generously thick stippled coats are usually required.
All of the plaster hand/foot prints that we have seen have been reasonably flat and rectangular with a hole in each corner.
In addition to using epoxy resin adhesive, we secure the casts by placing a paper fastener through each corner hole and through the mountboard backing.
You could always paint the heads of the fasteners, but so far, we have left them with their native brass finish
A lot depends on the clay if it is clay. Has it been fired or just dried. If just dried nothing will stick it. I did such a dried tile for a woman whose child died at birth so the utmost care had to be taken. I sunk a cavity into the mount in which the tile fit snuggly and then put a second mount with a smaller aperture over the top to lock the tile in.
fineedge wrote:. I sunk a cavity into the mount in which the tile fit snuggly and then put a second mount with a smaller aperture over the top to lock the tile in.
That's exactly what I did with this - but you'd need 4 apertures and I'm guessing your customer will want just one - or no aperture at all.
Just a thought. What about that sticky foam tape? It is extremely sticky and seems to bond to even the most smooth surfaces. How long it stays stuck is a moot point though, but I once tried to detach a flying multi socket that I fixed to a melamine cabinet after a good few years and I had to run a saw though the tape.
Not sure of the casting medium on these things. If it's the hard dental-type stuff the it should stick well with foamy tape. If it's plaster-of-Paris then it would probably need sealing over the area to be stuck. In any case, some form of mechanical attachment would be desirable. If only as a fail-safe in conjunction with the tape.
Thank you for all the suggestions they were very helpful, the customer hasn't brought them up to me yet so i've yet to see what size or shape they are yet (lucky me).
Thanks again for all the suggestions they all will come in handy.
There was an article in the January '06 issue of Picture Framing Magazine by Brian Wolf with a method that would be perfect. I'm not sure how to describe it well, but I'll have a go at it. On the mounting board you'll attach a series of "brackets" made out of foamcore or mountboard that will slightly overlap the object. Then the whole assembly is covered in loosely gathered fabric, and the object popped in with a snug fit.
If you'd like me to email you a copy of the article send me a private message with your email address.
One of our stores once called me with a question about mounting a tiny handprint in plaster and we used this method. Worked beautifully. They sent me a picture of the finished job and in the email told me that it was a handprint of a newborn baby who passed away at only three days of age. I was happy that maybe they brought some small sense of comfort to the parents, but gosh, that's just the kind of thing that breaks my heart.
