The Framers Forum

Hi there,

I hope you’re all well. I’m fairly new to framing and have been asked to frame this 3D map. https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/dorri ... nd-annecy/

Not really sure where to start. Any suggestions?

Many Thanks
Zac

You will need a moulding deep enough to accommodate the piece and spacers between the glass and the piece, to distance it from the glass.
Rose and Hollis paper wrapped spacers are really good, they come in white or ivory and with a depth of 6.5mm to 25mm.

Thanks Justin,

I appreciate the help. That’s really useful. I was deffo thinking I’ll need spacers. My main issue though is mounting it. Would you just tack it to foam core or something like that?

Thanks in advance
Zac

To be fair, that's quite a challenging project for a newish framer . . . . so a little bit of a jump into the deep end!

I'm not sure what it is made of from the picture. I wonder if it will lay flat (albeit 3d). If it will, then it will need to be secured to a board, such as fomecor. What to stick it with depends on the material it is made from, and whether it needs to be reversible (discuss with customer). Then what Justin said.

Not all 3D maps are made of the same material. A lot of them are made of vacuum form plastic, which some others are made of wet pressed grey bords, whether there are any other types I am not sure. The plastic vacuum formed ones are often quite thin plastic and easily change shape with time, if the plastic is a bit too thin. I would not use any adhesive whatsoever on a plastic one, as you don't necessarily know how the plastic will be affected in the long term. For me this includes all adhesives, including solvet based, water based and silicone based.

What ever the map is made of, I would not be assuming, that the outer dimensions, or the straightness of any external edges will necessarily remain stable over time. I would use a deep moulding a fit a substantial spacer behind the glass and let any flat surrounding edges on the map sit behind the spacer. It the map is going to move over time, that's fine and that's what the spacers are there for. Allow enough slack for the maps to move freely if it wants to and hope for the best.

Advice the customer that these things are not necessarily made to be framed and while you have taken great care with how it has been framed, a significant issue with the longevity of this item will depend up on the quality of the materials used for it's manufacture. It's likely that if it was made from vacuum formed plastic, that the plastic originally contained polymerisers, which being highly volatile substances, will eventually disperse in to the atmosphere and allowing the plastic to become brittle and therefore vunerable to any stresses remaining from the vacuum forming process.

It is of course anyone guess how this will affect the items longevity. Just don't fix it in position, without allowing some freedom of movement, so that fixing it in places does not contribute any stresses, if it changes any dimensions over the years, so that any failure of this item will only be due to it own manufacture and not how it was framed. I hope this will be helpful.

Mark, Thank you!

Just what I needed. It is a fairly daunting project especially considering the size. I’m going to pick it up next week so I can see it in the flesh and get a real idea of weight and material etc.

Where would I be without you Mark!|

Thanks again
Zac

Most things are not that daunting! Things become easier when you know how to side step the difficult bits. Stuff like this is not especially easy for anyone, but it does not help if you are still in the middle of the early learning curve. nearly always someone on this forum can answer most questions, that's what we are all here for.

BTW, the frame needs to be reasonably sturdy so that it can not flex and stress the map inside.

All the best'
Mark.

Here’s one we did last year. The moulding was a deep rebate from Lion and I made my own spacers lined with black mountboard. This 3D is made from plastic.

Steve

Has that got glass in it?

Did you need to stick it down, or was it stable enough to hold with the spacers?

I have framed one of the plastic ones before. The customer didn't want glass on it.
I stuck it to a colourmount sticky board and then framed it onto a floater frame.
Tops of the mountains stuck out beyond the top of the frame but it looked pretty cool.

Jeremy,

Glass - AR70
Not stuck but I did use another flat board behind to give it a bit more stiffness before (the slightly bowed) backing board. Our self made spacers were enough to hold it all in place

That looks brilliant Steve. I’m currently ordering from Lionpic so will look at their deep rebate mouldings.

Out of interest, which glue did you use to stick it down?

Many Thanks
Zac

Zac,

No glue, it was quite rigid and was held in place with the spacers.