Mounting Excitement! (materials question)

I'm putting in an order for a Longridge mount cutter this week and need a few materials to give it something to do. I'm completely new to this and so some advice and guidance would be most appreciated.

1) I'm planning on using corners to attach the print to the mount. Silverprint have a selection including:

Mounting corners 5/8"
Mounting corners 7/8"
Mylar photo corners 1/2"
Mylar photo corners 3/8"

Does anyone have any experience of the differences between these? Could someone recommend one?

2) I'm planning on attaching the matt to the mount using a tape hinge. Silverprint (again) have both linen and paper tape. Is there any advantage to using one instead of the other?

3) Is there any real difference between "museum board" and "conservation board"? Where do you source your board from (UK, please!)?

Many thanks for all assistance!

Frank

I can't help you with the corners, I make my own out of bad prints and test strips. In my experience, I've found that linen tape works a lot better than paper tape, but there is a good chance that I was doing something wrong with it- the paper tape wasn't really holding everything "together". And once again based on my experience only, I think Museum board is a little easier to cut (not a big deal). The beveled edges on my museum board windows are pure white (same as the surface), whereas the beveled edges when using a cheaper matt board have something of a yellowish tint to them. It's not overly distracting, but it caught my eye.
-Grant

FrankB said:

I'm putting in an order for a Longridge mount cutter this week and need a few materials to give it something to do. I'm completely new to this and so some advice and guidance would be most appreciated.

1) I'm planning on using corners to attach the print to the mount. Silverprint have a selection including:

Mounting corners 5/8"
Mounting corners 7/8"
Mylar photo corners 1/2"
Mylar photo corners 3/8"

Does anyone have any experience of the differences between these? Could someone recommend one?

2) I'm planning on attaching the matt to the mount using a tape hinge. Silverprint (again) have both linen and paper tape. Is there any advantage to using one instead of the other?

3) Is there any real difference between "museum board" and "conservation board"? Where do you source your board from (UK, please!)?

Many thanks for all assistance!

Frank

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Corner size depends on your final print size. If you have standardized on a print size, one size corner will do. Otherwise you should get both sizes, big prints-16x20, will require the bigger corners. I like the Mounting Corners.They are cheaper and work just as well as the ready made corners. The only difference I know of is one you fold and the other is ready to go. I got mine from Light Impressions.

It is the filler the differentiates the two types of board. Cotton, or wood cellulose. I chose the cotton, Museum Board, for environmental reasons. We do not need to be cutting more trees. I personally can't tell the difference between the two quality wise. Both will last a very very long time and is very very stable. Since I'm in the states my source is meaningless to you. Just rmember that any acid free board will do, and you do not have to mat on the really expensive stuff. If you really want to go with the expensive stuff use it for the window not the mount board. It will save money, a lot of money.

Having worked where they do conservation neither paper, or linen tape is acceptable. They used an Archival adhesive but they also did not make hinged matts. Since I am not framing for an Archive I use linen tape because it does not tear like paper tape when you get a tad energetic while scoring the fold. I think it holds better and is more forgiving too.

Again, I cant help with the corners as I dry mount, but another factor with conservation vs museum board is finish and cutting. My favourite boards happen to be cotton boards which is a pig as they cost more! It is just that I like the surface texture, their colour (you will find out just how many whites and off whites there are) and the way they cut. I would have no reservation from a conservation perspective using the conservation 100% alphacellulose boards. You may find it cheaper to buy board in bigger sheets and to cut it down, tho you normally need a trade account to buy it at decent prices (much cheaper than high st). You can further improve the conservation of your images by ensuring that board does not touch the image area. Therefore if you print with enough of a border to ensure that after the mounting corners aer hidden, you can leave a gap between the bevel edge and the image, so much the better. The only probelm I have found is tat differnt papers have different whiteness to the base which may or may not go well with teh white tone of your particular board. The white thing I find quite hard to get right, esp if I show the paper base. Some bases are very stark.

Tom

mark said:

We do not need to be cutting more trees.

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Actually, it wouldn't hurt you a bit.

Many thanks for all the assistance. It's always great to be able to ask around here when moving into a new area!

I could still use a UK source for good quality, economical museum or conservation board, if anyone has one.

Thanks again,

Frank

Frank

I have happily used Lion supplies in Birmingham 0121 773 1230 and www.lionpic.co.uk for three years. They have a fantastic catalogue and huge range to suit all budgets and levels of conservation. They will send samples of mount board on cards to show range of colours available. You can get your anorak on how many different types of white there are, a revelation!

Prices are cheap too compared to local art shops, except that the catalogue has so much in it that you feel you need!

I use the Lion American board which has a non-yellowing core which comes in sheets twice as big as art shop stuff enabling four 40x50cm (16X20in) or two 50x70cm mounts per sheet. I attach the print using the std t-shape made from self-adhesive PH7-70 conservation tape which is so much easier than the gummed version. I then use a thin backing card to contain the print and find that this fits more easily into most frames than using another piece of mount board.

My Longridge Duo Plus has just arrived here at my office and I'm already having fun with it! The box is quite narrow and about 3ft in length, so I'm telling people it's a hunting bow! Whatever they ask next I just say, "Remember Agincourt" and flick them a V-sign! They soon scamper off...

Many thanks for all the assistance! Very much appreciated!

Regards,

Frank