If you visit a bespoke picture framer the range of mouldings (picture frames) on show can be bewildering. You can spend a lot of time just trying to find the moulding that suits your picture and looks just right, and then the picture framer tells you you can’t have what you want. What? Isn’t the customer always right?
It is the picture framers job to guide you through the range of colours, finishes, widths and depths to find the best moulding to make your frame.
Sometimes your preconceived ideas and initial choice of moulding cannot be accommodated and normally there are a range of practical and aesthetic reasons for this.
Perhaps the frame you need is quite large and you like a particular thin moulding. The framer will probably steer you away from this combination as the weight of the glass and boards can be considerable, demanding a heavier, stronger frame to keep everything together.
A regular conundrum I come across when helping a customer choose a frame is the rebate depth of the frame. Even a simple frame with a single mount needs a minimum of rebate depth to hold all the boards and glass in place and allow everything to be sealed into the back of the frame.
A simple combination of glass (2mm), mount (1.4mm), artwork (allow 0.3mm) under-mount (1.4mm) and backing board (2.5mm) needs 7.6mm of rebate depth to fit everything in, ideally there would be 9mm to make sure the whole lot can be secured properly.
Now if you want a double mount you would need a minimum of 9mm but an ideal of 10.5mm. Add a thicker piece of artwork and the space required goes up further.
So, that nice green moulding you had your eye on isn’t suitable anymore and you feel a little miffed that the framer has told you that what you want cant be done, of course you can have the moulding you like it if you allow the framer to extend the back of the moulding and pay a little more…..
A good framer will guide you through this maze and you probably won’t even be aware that these choices are being made for you. This is partly why bespoke framing is seen by some as expensive; you are paying for skill, knowledge and experience – rare commodities indeed in this throw away world
Trust your framer and they will delight you with the results – or settle for mediocrity – the choice is yours.
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