Clear surface sealer for block mounting jigsaws

[Not your average framer]

I've agreed to block mount some enormously large jigsaw puzzles. It is almost a forty mile journey for the customer to get to me and I'm the only framer within that distance who is willing to do it. No, I'm not mad! I've done plenty of jigsaw puzzles, (although these are the bigest to date) and I regularly get asked to do all sorts of difficult jobs.

I need to seal the surface of each jigsaw with some kind of clear and durable surface sealer. I would therefore be interested to hear of any sealers which might be worth considering. I am currently thinking about Lion's acrylic sanding sealer, which I often use in other applications, because it's a quick, easy and durable finish. However, I wonder if there is an even better alternative I should consider. Any recommendations would be most welcome

It's quite a cost sensitive job and the "over the top" size, (consisting of four separate sections, measuring 4ft 6ins by 3ft which will fit together to form one complete panel of 6fy by 9ft), has not made it any easier. For practical reasons, this particular job is being mounted directly on to a jumbo size self adhesive board and then pressed securely into place with my Hot Press cold roller machine.

The board will then be mounted onto MDF (braced from behind) and fitted into a frame made of a moulding cut on it's side and the whole assembly front loaded and glued into the frame. In view of this, any extra security of bond between individual pieces of the puzzle that can be obtained from the surface sealer would be most welcome. The customer already knows about the limitations of the mounting method, but this is the most feasible solution to the customers requirements and budget. Fortunately the self adhesive board is a good one and I have a method of dealing with any problems at a later date if the need arises. It not ideal, but the customer is only too pleased to find a framer who will frame it.

[Bill Henry]

I’ve seen a clear aerosol spray specifically designed for jig saw puzzles. It can be found in a good sized craft supply store.

I don’t believe that this spray has particularly good adhesive properties; it is used mainly to seal the paper surface from moisture and mildew. A lot of our customers use it before they bring the puzzle in to be framed.

[prospero]

There is a clear oil painting medium called 'Liquin'. Never used it on paper, but it might be worth a try (on a scrap bit of mountboard. ) It is nice and thick and very tough when dry. Doesn't go yellow either.

[Roboframer]

How about Fablon?

[stcstc]

why not just add a laminate surface with you laminator?

[Not your average framer]

There is a clear oil painting medium called 'Liquin'. Never used it on paper, but it might be worth a try (on a scrap bit of mountboard. ) It is nice and thick and very tough when dry. Doesn't go yellow either.

Hi Prospero,

Yes, I've used it. I think it comes from Windsor & Newton. It's good stuff and like you say it is very tough, but you would need a lot of those little bottles which it comes in and it ain't cheap.

How about Fablon?

Hi John,

From my own observations, It uses a horrible adhesive which goes rather messy after a while, it can shrink over time, it's made of P.V.C. and I doubt if the rolls are anywhere near wide enough. Clear transparseal is a much better material if one must go down that route and the Hot Press pressure sensitive materials are far better than them both.

why not just add a laminate surface with you laminator?

Hi Stcstc,

I'd already considered that, but I'm not sure how it would look and once it's stuck - forget it!

Thanks to all. Looks like I'll be going for the good ol' acrylic sanding sealer.

BTW, most if not all self adhesive mountboards use an acrylic adhesive. After sticking it down the acrylic can be made to melt in a heated press and become very securely bonded. The company who trained me did it all the time and never had any trouble. The great thing being that everything stays where you stuck it, while you get it into the press.

[prospero]

Mark. Liquin comes much cheaper in BIG bottles. Art shops won't carry them but you can get them online.

250ml about £12
500ml about £22

[Nigel Nobody]

Caution:
Don't laminate it! The laminating film won;t go down into the depressions around each piece of the jigsaw and will look like a 'bubble'.

Down here there is a product in a pressure pack called "matt spray" for paper products, avialable in art supply stores and it works fine on jigsaws.

[Not your average framer]

All four assembled jig saws have arrived and we have started transfering the first one onto the self adhesive board. So far we've stuck almost half of the first one onto self adhesive board. Each of the four has about 3,500 pieces, which makes a total of about 14,000 pieces.

All of the four sections include a green border which she wants me to cut off, (no big deal), because otherwise there will not be enough space on the wall to hang it in it's chosen position.

[Nigel Nobody]

To avoid the tedium of transferring the jigsaw, piece by piece, turn it upside down using a sheet of foamboard underneath and one on top of the jigsaw. Large ones take two people.

Once it's upside down, just remove the release paper from the self adhesive foamboard - cut slightly oversize - and plonk it down onto the back of the jigsaw - two people. Press down firmly on the back of the foamboard all over, then flip it right side up and run it through the roller machine. Trim foamboard to size!

This works for any size jigsaw!

[Not your average framer]

Thanks Ormond,

I've no doubt that you are right. Unfortunately, this jig saw does not fit together as well as one might hope and it has proved to be safer to transfer the pieces bit by bit.

It's taken the lady three years to do the jig saws in her Devon farmhouse which is probably as damp as most Devon farmhouses. So it's had plenty of time for some of the pieces to swell a little in the damp atmosphere.

Once it's stuck, it's not so easy to correct any problems after the bond is made, so I think I'll carry on playing it safe!

[Nigel Nobody]

I hope you are charging your normal hourly rate to transfer each piece one by one. Probably take you the same amount of time to do that as she did to put it together!

That's one job that I would have refused to do piece by piece! I would have given the customer the opportunity to do that tedious work them selves!