Framers Confessions: Things that went horribly wrong (but were salvaged)
Posted: Sat 31 Oct, 2020 6:35 pm
I have really been enjoying going through this forum today, seeing some fantastic jobs and reading how people have come up with fantastic solutions to framing problems and it got me thinking: have you ever had a framing nightmare that very nearly gave you a breakdown?
I will confess to an incident a good many years ago, in my early days at the art gallery where I used to work.
My boss had taken in a re-glazing job, typically only £20 tops and so I was (quite rightly) expected to complete the task as quick as possible, in this cae I had one hour.
On this occasion I went to collect the rush job from the gallery to be greeted with a VERY badly framed collection of butterflies.
It was in a plastic frame with a piece of glass with a split down the middle. There was no backing to speak of, it was a kind of foamboard box that had been gaffa-taped into the rebate with a piece of string stapled to the frame for crude hanging. It was lined with a velvet-like material and pinned to this material were approximately 25 butterflies.
I spent a good ten minutes figuring out how I was going to get inside the job without destroying the already delicate materials and butterflies. The customer hadn't paid for any other kind of work to be done on this job so after chatting with my boss I was told to simply re-glaze and get it taped up/fixed in the best I could as the materials simply wouldn't take any pins/brackets/staples.
I managed to slice around the tape keeping the foamboard box in place, there were no other fittings securing this box in place...and so, very carefully I prepared to lift the foamboard box out of the frame. It was then that it all went wrong. As I lifted the box out of the box I didn't factor in the draft of air that was currently rushing into the frame and tearing off every single wing off every single butterfly.
Suddenly there were wings everywhere. I stood there in shock. I was holding this foamboard box with a bunch of worms in it whilst looking at a table full of various wings. I looked at the clock: I had 40 minutes left. What followed was a frantic sort of jigsaw-puzzling type of activity...matching up sets of wings...figuring out which wings suited which body. I glued the wings in place, to be fair, they were more sturdy for it and I cut the glass and assembled at break-neck speed. I finished sealing it all up (hot glue and heavy tapes) and took it into the shop. The customer was there and was over the moon with the job. I went back into the workshop and made myself the BEST cup of tea I have ever made, albeit with shaky hands.
There. I feel better for getting that off my chest.
I will confess to an incident a good many years ago, in my early days at the art gallery where I used to work.
My boss had taken in a re-glazing job, typically only £20 tops and so I was (quite rightly) expected to complete the task as quick as possible, in this cae I had one hour.
On this occasion I went to collect the rush job from the gallery to be greeted with a VERY badly framed collection of butterflies.
It was in a plastic frame with a piece of glass with a split down the middle. There was no backing to speak of, it was a kind of foamboard box that had been gaffa-taped into the rebate with a piece of string stapled to the frame for crude hanging. It was lined with a velvet-like material and pinned to this material were approximately 25 butterflies.
I spent a good ten minutes figuring out how I was going to get inside the job without destroying the already delicate materials and butterflies. The customer hadn't paid for any other kind of work to be done on this job so after chatting with my boss I was told to simply re-glaze and get it taped up/fixed in the best I could as the materials simply wouldn't take any pins/brackets/staples.
I managed to slice around the tape keeping the foamboard box in place, there were no other fittings securing this box in place...and so, very carefully I prepared to lift the foamboard box out of the frame. It was then that it all went wrong. As I lifted the box out of the box I didn't factor in the draft of air that was currently rushing into the frame and tearing off every single wing off every single butterfly.
Suddenly there were wings everywhere. I stood there in shock. I was holding this foamboard box with a bunch of worms in it whilst looking at a table full of various wings. I looked at the clock: I had 40 minutes left. What followed was a frantic sort of jigsaw-puzzling type of activity...matching up sets of wings...figuring out which wings suited which body. I glued the wings in place, to be fair, they were more sturdy for it and I cut the glass and assembled at break-neck speed. I finished sealing it all up (hot glue and heavy tapes) and took it into the shop. The customer was there and was over the moon with the job. I went back into the workshop and made myself the BEST cup of tea I have ever made, albeit with shaky hands.
There. I feel better for getting that off my chest.