Mounts / Frames / glass etc ?

Messages
3,818
Name
Allen
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi people

Any pointers re value for money re pre cut mounts,frames. glass etc in A4 upwards
 
Ikea, the Range.
 
Yeah, it's a bit like that! Their catalogue is online so have a look and see if any of their frames suit your wants/needs then try to get to the shop when it's not busy - you can sometimes sweet talk a member of staff to walk you through to the relevant area. ;)
 
Wilkinsons have some cheap but nice 20x16 frames with Perspex at the moment.

Be careful putting it back together though as the Perspex cracks easily.
 
A while back I bought Ikea Ribba when they were glazed with glass, these were for an exhibition.

For what they were/are they are good value and make for a good "offer" & presentation.

I am attending another exhibition later this month and have had printed some much larger prints (thinking about offering as a limited edition) for which I have ordered Ribba again but the 70cm X 50cm size.

I have no idea whether this size was available when glass glazing was supplied......such a relatively large area of thin float glass might have been too prone to breakages???

I would prefer glass but accept that acrylic is now mainstream.
 
I've got three 16x12 prints hanging next to one another in my living room in Ribba frames. The oldest one is glazed with glass, the other two are newer with acrylic. I can't tell the difference.

More annoying was that they changed the position of the hanging gubbins from the glass version to the acrylic, so getting them lined up was more faff that it needed to be, but that's another story...
 
I use Ribba frames from Ikea, and the pre cut (lazy I know) window mountboard from paper spectrum. Works for me (y)
 
I've bough a few recently from the Range, alot better quality than when I first tried a few years ago. A local framers closed down last year so had to start looking for other options.
 
:cool::ty:
 
Puzzled by this because the Ribbas I've looked at on Ikea's website are billed as having polystyrene glazing (cheaper and softer than acrylic).

@droj
Re: Polystyrene ~ I had not noticed that as in the (recent?) past I was sure all Ikea and budget frames used Acrylic but unfortunately it looks like Ikea (and how many others?) have gone the PS route.

Too late now for me to source Acrylic glazing replacements but something I will have to consider in future................as it is described as having better characteristics for use in frames, whereas though 'good' PS is cheaper and potentially prone to ageing discolouration.

Having said that it is my mounted prints I wish to promote and using Ribba in black the prospective buyer can get it reframed in future to suit their changing decor! NB for some prints I will be offering just mounted ones i.e. without frames.

Note: I found this basic description

Acrylic

  • High transmissivity (allows light to transmit)
  • Excellent scratch resistance (so often used on reading glasses)
  • Higher pricing
Polystyrene

  • Slight colouring over time, transaprency is slightly less
  • Less impact strength (consider weight and stability of products on display)
  • Lower pricing
 
Last edited:
I've got three 16x12 prints hanging next to one another in my living room in Ribba frames. The oldest one is glazed with glass, the other two are newer with acrylic. I can't tell the difference.

More annoying was that they changed the position of the hanging gubbins from the glass version to the acrylic, so getting them lined up was more faff that it needed to be, but that's another story...

@spark303
Yes, I have noticed that on the two 70x50cm ones I bought today (the whole Ribba and possibly all Ikea frames now have the fixed point) ...............I need to look at putting a wire loop on the appropriate 'hanging point' as I will be using Stas secure hanging hooks.

PS I saw the small pack of 4 small screws and (not unwrapped one of them yet) downloaded the 'instructions' off of the website. I seems that IMO because the old style hanging clips were at the edges there was not a lot of strain on the bendable pins i.e. they could take the weight of the frame/mounted picture/glass because the load was at the edge. However, because the load is now away from the edge there is a "potential pulling load" on the backing board.............so needs the screws to hold the backing board more firmly in place!!!
 
Last edited:
To my mind there are two basic issues to do with picture glazing - one is safety and the other is vision. Plastic's likely to be less injurious, say if a picture fell from the wall onto a child's head. But over time as pictures get dusted / cleaned, plastic accrues micro-scratches and its clarity is affected. For this reason I'm all for glass.

I'm sort of in favour of supplying prints unmounted and unframed especially if a customer is at a distance - after all if they're to employ a framer then the framer can do the mount at the same time, and it minimises the postal size. But of course the option requires customer take-up.

Currently my most-used off-the-peg frame size is 400 x 500 and you can get aluminium frames with 'real' glass for £12 including cariage and vat. That's without a mount. Seems reasonable. The quality's good.
 
@droj
To my mind there are two basic issues to do with picture glazing - one is safety and the other is vision. Plastic's likely to be less injurious, say if a picture fell from the wall onto a child's head. But over time as pictures get dusted / cleaned, plastic accrues micro-scratches and its clarity is affected. For this reason I'm all for glass.

Makes sense and I would prefer glass....................have you seen the non-reflective "Art" glass (or similar), it stunning and for all viewing purposes invisible ~ but the cost (n)

I'm sort of in favour of supplying prints unmounted and unframed especially if a customer is at a distance - after all if they're to employ a framer then the framer can do the mount at the same time, and it minimises the postal size. But of course the option requires customer take-up.

Interesting insight ~ in the upcoming exhibition I will have a print browser with both mounted and 'bare' prints. all in Cellophane bags and in the case of the bare prints they will have grey board as stiffening in the bags. Also, I will be putting a framing label for use as required that any buyers can affix to the rear of the frame they get. NB in 2014 I sent 2 off mounted prints to Australia, this was to a customer who bought them but was leaving earlier than planned...............they agreed to cover the post & packing costs.

Currently my most-used off-the-peg frame size is 400 x 500 and you can get aluminium frames with 'real' glass for £12 including cariage and vat. That's without a mount. Seems reasonable. The quality's good.
Until this time with the 700 x 500mm frames the biggest I used was indeed 500 x 400mm :)

Can I ask please, who have you found that supplies glass glazed frames by post??
 
Google will turn up suppliers. Some with vast rambling websites and it can be hard to drill down through competing options to get the frame that's the compromise of the right look and the right price.

Fastframes is one, Best4frames another, as examples.

Look for offers, and buy enough (like 10 at once, maybe?) to get into the discount structure and maybe free carriage too.
 
Back
Top