The Framers Forum

hi
we had a customer in the other day with a piece of art done on mdf. he paid quite a lot for it. seemingly the artist is up and coming etc...

however today we noticed that it is slightly warped. is this going to warp the frame over time? and if so is there anything which one could do to prevent that?


cheers
fionnuala

Artists love MDF. If only they would prime the back of the board to seal it. It's not a problem on smallish paintings but big boards bend.

The only thing you can really do is to make sure the frame is stronger than the board.

prospero wrote:Artists love MDF.

Somebody has to sell it to them!

don't i know it. another artist we have luvs the stuff. it seems v popular.suppose it's cheap.
do u mind me asking what would the priming do for it?

Assuming that the board was straight in the first place, painting on one side will prevent absorbsion of moisture. The back is still hygroscopic (a BIG word I know to impress the customers. ) and will absorb moisture and want to swell up. According to the ambient atmosphere the back of the board will either lose or gain moisture and so bend in or out. Drying acrylic paint will also shrink slightly and bend the board. I've seen acrylics done on thick cardboard actually curl right around to form a tube. Sealing the back keeps the board in a stable state (in theory).

One way you could possiblity straighten the board is to paint a thick coat of acrylic on the back. But don't do this with out consulting the artist or better still, let them do it.

fionnuala wrote:don't i know it. another artist we have luvs the stuff. it seems v popular.suppose it's cheap.

Wot??? Artists love cheap??? Noooooooh, I don't believe it!

Someone swat them just above the left ear'ole with a 10 pack of MDF sheets, pleeeeeeese!!! Thats about the best use for that stuff in the 'art' world!

Don't they know there is really good stuff to paint on???
Sorry, stupid question. I forgot for a moment that artists never want to spend any money. Someone please swat me with that 10 pack of MDF for being so bloody stupid!

osgood wrote:Someone please swat me with that 10 pack of MDF for being so bloody stupid!

as you wish Ormond, on the next flight down under!

Just a thought, I wonder if there is any mileage in making up bargain packs of MDF off-cuts. Mmmmm.............

Not your average framer wrote:Just a thought, I wonder if there is any mileage in making up bargain packs of MDF off-cuts. Mmmmm.............

We sell em

we don't have any MDF offcuts, we do have MDF though, sort of redundant and only used for wet mounting Hong Kong Oils down to - anyone got any alternatives to use so i can eradicate MDF completely?

Very sticky, sticky foamboard works fine for HK oils!

osgood wrote:Very sticky, sticky foamboard works fine for HK oils!

would you say PVA glue would be an ideal choice for such a task- considering there is absolutely no need for conservation/preservation?

Not on foamboard. It will curl to much!

osgood wrote:Not on foamboard. It will curl to much!

as i thought Ormond, i'd need to find a suitable adhesive.

Grahame Case wrote:we don't have any MDF offcuts, we do have MDF though, sort of redundant and only used for wet mounting Hong Kong Oils down to - anyone got any alternatives to use so i can eradicate MDF completely?

Greyboard, cough. only kidding or stretch the bigger ones, its quick and easy enough. We stretch them most of the time. But when we used to sell them, PVA onto MDF seemed the simplest way.

Funnily enough I have had a couple of hong kong oils in this week, and they were top notch, really nice and seemed teriffic quality. I dont know which factory they came from, but they really were a cut above the usual stuff.

This week we have had several re-frames in, and I have to say that I have never seen so much mould on every one with MDF. I dont know if its something to do with climate change or humidity, but It makes me reluctant to use MDF at all unless there is an alternative.

We still use it for backing many ready mades, but are now in the habit of swapping it out for art bak or foamcore, and and an acid free liner (undermount) as a matter of course in all re-frames or when fitting customers pics into ready mades.

I'm very rapidly going off the stuff.

Tom came up with a point the other day about MDF, as a Joiner before he came to work here, he reckons he seldom if ever saw mouldy MDF on a site, and he trhought (perhaps) that for health and safety reasons they are no longer putting fungicide/the same fungicide in the mix. Its a thought.

Likewise on site , on a quality job, they would usually seal any hidden surfaces with PVA as routine. This is what we do in the shop now if we have to fit MDF for any reason.

It still has its place in the scheme of things, but its turning into a very small place lately.

And I wouldn't have said that a couple of years ago!

Can't you get self adhesive foamboard up there?

osgood wrote:Can't you get self adhesive foamboard up there?

i've never come across it Ormond, doesn't mean to say it doesn't exist. just we've never had need for it.

we use Artcare Restore as our D/M method.

osgood wrote:Can't you get self adhesive foamboard up there?

yeah but some of the hong kong oils are so grim they wont stick very well. Specially some of the hong-kong oils from africa and the carribean that seem to be done on old flour sacks or whatever

Arqadia do s/adv FC and I think Nielsen might too. Lion surely do.

Edit TaDaaaaaaaaa

by the way Prospero, u didn't mention what u would use to prime the mdf board?