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How do you guys keep mat board, mount board, form core board clean and flat?

tkamiya

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This is more of a question to guys/gals who don't have dedicated lab/office/workspace for supplies.

I am starting to accumulate quite a bit of my framing/mounting supplies because Mark from Framedestinations keeps having sale/specials that I cannot resist. (he is evil I TELL YOU! ) The challenge is, I need to keep these supplies clean, flat, free of warp, and free of any kind of damage. Right now, they are in big bags, in a flat box, and under my bed.

Does anyone in APUG land with limited space have any unique solution to storing these supplies? If so, I'd like to know what you do. For your information, I buy them in FULL size which is 32x40.

Thanks.
 
My FULL sizes (not from FD) are 60x40, stored vertically in their boxes in my "garage" and spare room. Everything always comes out just fine. Under the bed seems as good a place as any, as long as it's dry.
 
I make far more prints than I mount or sell, so I tend to buy only as much material as I need for some specific purpose and have a minimal 'stock'. This is only practical as I'm lucky enough to have a well stocked art-supply shop within cycling distance. I carry the boards back home (yes, on my bike, and when it isn't raining or very windy) in my very large portfolio-case. Unused boards live in the case, except when I'm using it to transport mounted work obviously.

Offcuts and "other" bits and pieces are wrapped in a clean dust-sheet, inside a huge flat cardboard box which once held a table-top. This lies horizontally, coincidentally also under the bed, on top of storage boxes. Under the bed might be the largest undisturbed area in small apartments ?!

Keeping the board completely flat seems to be achievable only when it is stored horizontally and leaning a mounting board against walls quickly gives a slight curl unfortunately. You could look at (clean) painters dust-sheets for protection of whatever large box you can find, but my solution is pretty much the same as yours I think.
 
Oh.... I see.... Thanks.

I've seen those but never knew what they were called. Unfortunately, I don't have a space for something like this.
 
I keep mine under the bed, wrapped in the large sheets of paper they packaged them in when I purchased. And if not the bed, under the couch in the living room - its against a wall and rarely gets moved, so they're pretty safe.
 
ROL said:
Under the bed seems as good a place as any, as long as it's dry.
Click to expand...

If it is not dry under your bed, it seems to me that you have problems that are a lot more important than keeping your matting supplies clean and flat.
 
Funnily enough, I just pushed some big sheets of mat board under my bed last night.
 
I just finished building a work table in my studio and one of the things I had to include was storage for 32x40 sheets of mat board. My solution is pretty simple–it may work for others. Since I have found that flatfile storage takes up too much floor space and standing the boards on end often leads to them bowing if the box is not full, I took a piece of 1/2" MDF 36x48, added a small ledge along one long edge and mounted it at about a 30 degree angle off the back of the table. The boards sit flat against the MDF and the total floor space required is much less than a flat file needs. A drop-cloth attached to the top edge of the board keeps them covered and relatively dust-free. Since the entire table is on wheels, I can roll that side up against the wall and the boards are really out of the way most of the time. If the acidity of the MDF is a problem, a barrier sheet between it and the mat board is always easy to add.

I tend toward rather rough and ready solutions, so my version isn't pretty, but it works. The design could be made far more attractive with higher quality material and better craftsmanship, but the key is to have it all on a slant so that the boards are kept flat by gravity without taking up a lot of floor space.
 
I just checked. Area under my bed is DRY!
 
Thanks for the mention Taka!

The two main things I am aware of that cause mat board to warp are gravity and humidity so under your bed will be great. Most framing warehouses keep store their mat board vertically in and un-air-conditioned space but they are counting on it moving before it gets too bent, or the customer not caring. We have a receiving area that is not air conditioned but we only leave things in their a few days and we store all our mat board except for smaller scraps horizontal so it remains flat.

Cheers,
Mark
President
Frame Destination, Inc.

 
I need an anti-gravity machine.
 
I know but I WANT an anti-gravity machine. I think it'll be a nice product for FDI to carry... no?
 
Can you get a time machine in, too? That way I can go back to 1900 or so with a couple hundred dollars and get myself an 8x10 with nice lens and a few film holders.
 
It will be an ultimate black Monday fdi special.... Buy an anti-gravity machine and a time machine together and shipping is free. If you ship them turned on, you could get a free shipping and they'll arrive before you ship them.
 
To keep board flat, get an archival box the size of the board and store your board in that. If your board still warps, put the board in a plastic bag and then put the wrapped board in the archival box. This will take up no more space than just putting the board under your bed. And the board will definitely stay flat. We can supply the archival box and include a free large plastic bag. The board, too, if you want AlphaRag ArtCare. We would ship it to you in the box.

Michael A. Smith
Lodima Archival Materials
www.lodimaarchivalmaterials.com
 
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