Framing question

[bob carnie]

Gator stinks, I will go on record , only used up here for low end commercial purposes, In the 80's gator was king, now its Diabond and Aluminum.

[Drew Wiley]

Aluminum is a horrible insulator. Unless you have a secondary backing, or it has a sufficiently thick cell core itself, it can promote condensation in the framing sandwich. Dry forced air heating is not routine around here. We have more of what could be called mild damp winter than a cold one. Then Spring arrives and
the soil gets steamed with the rising temps. Mildew heaven. Dibond is also unrealistically expensive for routine framing, especially when a quantity of prints are
kept on hand for potential sale, and not just mounted for a known installation. And I certainly wouldn't want a stack of Dibond-mounted prints in a big flat file,
where the risk of mildew increases all the more. UltraBoard is a good alternative.

[Jim Jones]

. . . I wouldn't rely on clips holding a print that size (or any size for me). . . .

I agree. It's better to pad out the space between the mount board and the back of metal frames with foam core and perhaps a bit of mat board to make a snug fit.

[Robert Kalman]

Thank you all for your contributions to my education regarding print mounting and backing techniques. Invaluable!

[Drew Wiley]

Clips work just fine on huge prints if you have the correct moulding profile. For example, pro frame shops have access to a significantly larger selection of Nielsen moulding than do-it-yourselfers. I have often made my own hardwood mouldings adapted for clips, though now have an even better way of retaining the print sandwich which also allows easy frame re-use. I don't make frames much bigger than four feet across, though I have equipment clients who make custom frames over twenty feet across - and I'm talking gallery-style framing, not advertising applications. If someone has the bucks, it can be done. For example, the inner frame might be welded steel, then have a custom thick veneer of hardwood precisely wrapped around that, so everything stays perfectly straight and well supported. These kinds of projects are a lot of fun to be involved with, but way over my personal needs or budget. I really don't like printing my own 8x10 negs
bigger than 4X enlargement anyway.