Thursday, January 4, 2018

Framing #2

As some of you may know I paint on 6 mil. MDF board. I order them at Mus-paneel, a small Dutch company, specialized in preparing painting boards. They do an exellent job. Got some secret recipe to make the surface as smooth as ice. After doing their magic they ship the boards to my framer to have them cradled.


The cradle is glued to the back of the board 


Cradling is essential, especially for the larger boards. It provides stability and prevents curvature. But there is another reason. I use floaters as a standard frame and the cradle makes it possible for the painting to be screwed to the frame. (By the way, I love that word, floater. It describes exactly what happens: like your painting is floating in its frame. The Dutch term is less poetic: 'baklijst'. 'Bak' means bin, 'lijst' means frame. As if you dump your painting in a bin...)



The width of the border from the cradle to the edge depends on the specifics of the floater you use. The one I've been using the last couple of years allows a 30 mil. width between the cradle and the edge of the boardIf you glue the cradle to far from the edge, it will have no frame to sit on. I probably lost you by now, didn't I? Maybe the above cross section will shed some light. 



The Sea, oil on panel, 47.2 x 63"


Anyway, I thought I'd end this rather dull story with a painting. In a frame.



6 comments:

  1. Janhendrik

    Not a dull story at all. I have tried painting both sides of a panel to stop curvature with mixed success,will certainly give this method a try.
    I must take this opportunity to say thank you for all your posts and videos which I find most informative.

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    1. Good to hear my posts and videos are informative. Painting both sides of the panel only helps so much to stop curvature. My framer sometimes even uses a double cradle, mostly when the panel is really large. Creates extra support half way the surface.

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  2. Inderdaad, helemaal niet saai! Vanaf welke maat moet er zoiets gedaan worden ter versteviging?

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    1. Dank je, Jennifer! Ik doe het bij elk formaat, omdat het sowieso nodig is bij mijn manier van inlijsten. Voor de stevigheid zou ik het bij formaten vanaf 50 cm doen. Succes!

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  3. Thank you, very informative and I love your blog!

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