Letter & envelope.

[David McCormack]

I've an old letter and envelope to mount into the same frame. The letter is 8.25 x 5.25 inches and the envelope is 3 x 5.5 inches. I've been reading about techniques using polyester strips and encapsulation but was wondering if anyone has used the products Lion sell?

http://www.lionpic.co.uk/product/3L-Arc ... ,1759.aspx
http://www.lionpic.co.uk/product/Conser ... ,1759.aspx

The customer is bringing them in tomorrow so I don't know their condition or if the letter will support its own weight and will need encapsulation or not. I'm so used to using gummed paper hinges but I know the custom does not want any adhesive to come into contact with the letter and envelope.

If I do use the Lion strips or corners I understand the adhesive doesn't touch the artwork but it seems wrong to use self adhesive on a conservation job Does anyone know how long the adhesive will last on these products?

Any tips and ideas would be great thanks.

[Roboframer]

Corner pockets and mounting strips should be covered by the mount aperture and floating these would be best.

The corner pockets can slip too, and if they do the artwork can fall on to any adhesive residue. Edge mounting strips are simple to make yourself.

Clear film encapsulation or overlay would be perfect.

[David McCormack]

Thanks Robo,

Yes I think that the edges of the letter and envelope will need to be visible so they will have to be float mounted. If I do encapsulate how would I do that with both letter and envelope together? I understand that this technique requires double sided tape very close to the art work.

Could you descibe how to make DIY edge mounting strips?

Thank you.

[David McCormack]

When I say encapsulation I mean overlay as only the front of the letter needs to be visible.

With an overlay, if the letter is above the envelope, how do I stop the letter slipping down?

[Roboframer]

You can encapsulate whether you want to see both sides or not, an overlay is useful/better if the paper is acidic and you could be sealing it in to its own little nasty environment, but overlaying it on to conservation board, especially artcare, will give more protection.

You could put two items in one film mount, there would need to be double sided tape between them, but that would be concealed by a double aperture mount - far easier and safer to do them individually though.

To make your own edge mounting strips lay double sided tape (not ATG tape, stuff with release paper) in lines about 1 cm apart on a sheet of meinex from a roll. Burnish it on (to the convex side) Cut along the centre of each revealed 1 cm of film.

You can make your own corner pockets too, but with 'legs' that pass through the mounting board. They can't fail like the normal ones and even if they did there'd be no adhesive for the artwork to slip on to. Couldn't describe how to make those though - it's origami! So is 'Z' envelope mounts, no adhesive in those at all, they're not for float mounting though.

Buy Jim Miller's book 'Mounting Objects with Clear Film'

[stcstc]

robo

any ideas where to get the book, amazon dont have it

[David McCormack]

Was about to ask the same question

[Roboframer]

I think you'll have to look to the US - I got mine direct from Jim - here's his email.

artframe@att.net - tell him Robo sent you

[Roboframer]

Lion sell his object framing book, maybe they'll take the clear film book on one day, but if you go direct to JIm, you may as well buy the two together

There is a section on clear film mounting in this book, not sure if it covers stuff that's not in the other.

[stcstc]

cheers robo

amazonreckon its out of print

[Roboframer]

Jim'll fix it

[Roboframer]

I understand that this technique requires double sided tape very close to the art work.

It does indeed, between 3 & 5mm, but the best stuff is very thin and you burnish the film on to it, it would take some seriously bad handling for it to come away and the item to slip on to the adhesive.

The pinching this creates near the extremities of the item is one of the three things that work for encapsulation/overlay; the other two are slight pressure from the convex side of the sheet at the centre and the static charge.

I have a very (very) old framer's label in an overlay mount as a prop, it's just bunged in my mount caddy with the corner samples and due to lots of handling slips all the time now - (we're talking one or two millimetres) but the overlay has not come away from the double sided tape and I regularly give it a good knock to centralise it in the aperture.

But Melinex is very versatile and if you really do not want any adhesive on the front of the mounting board, you don't have to have any - you can, for example, make a fat + shape and pass the 'legs' through the mounting board, (see my topic 'Sophie' - and that's a lump of pottery). You could also cut a piece of mount board to the exact size of the item, place the item on that and then wrap two sheets of film around that, one horizontal around the item and the board and one vertical around all of that. How you fix that to your mounting board doesn't matter really.

[David McCormack]

Thanks, I like the idea of not using adhesive but I can see that if I did it would be fine.

If I can tap into your brain again Robo, what thickness of melinex would you recommend? I will need to buy some, was thinking of the 75 mic from PEL.

Thanks again.

[Roboframer]

That would be fine on those sizes, but the thicker, the flatter it'll lie.

[grahamdown]

Hi David,

Try:-

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... NzgXL4Qn0Q

Regards,

Graham

[Roboframer]

Nice find!

[stcstc]

yes

printed already ))

[David McCormack]

Thanks for the link Graham, I've downloaded the PDF

But I also fancy the full book (32 pages) and have been in touch with Jim Miller and ordered a copy. He said he is down to the last 4 copies of this book (3 now I've ordered mine ) so if anyone wants a copy......

The book costs $15 and the postage from Ohio to the UK is around $18. If anyone wants to order a copy with mine let me know and we can share the postage. I can then send it on in the Uk using 1st class post which I think shouldn't cost that much?

[David McCormack]

Just to say, I have already ordered my book and Jim is sending it out next week, so if anybody does want a copy let me know as soon as possible so I can let him know.

[YPF]

David,

PM sent.