George Washington - Out of the light, but still framed.

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

My Client insisted on framing the original antique documents.
So, we had to try to get them out of the light, yet still accessible.
Here's the design I came up with ...


George's portrait and plate on the front. Piano hinged to a floater frame.

Behind the portrait is George's original will. It is held in by the package being just the right size, with UV Acrylic screwed to the back of the frame. The back of the frame is painted with "Gold Gilding Paint" and the brass screws are counter sunk in the acrylic.

The "inside frame" is knife hinged to the inside of the floater. It contains a two sided letter from Valley Forge asking the recipient to repair a bridge so the army can advance.
The floater frame has an image of the first continental flag drymounted and mounted to the inside of the floater so the wall isn't visible when the frames are opened.


The only "latch" is an L-bracket on the back-top of the front frame. Friction and gravity keeps it closed. This also serves to help support the piano hinge which can sag over time without reinforcement. The picture shows my first attempt with a 3/4" bracket. I have since changed the design to a 1" bracket.

Hope that gives you some ideas!

 

[Gregory K. Norris CPF]

Cliff, that is a really nice design, worthy of an article. I can already think of some other applications.

 

[Ellen Collins MCPF]

Holy Cow! That goes WAAAAY beyond framing, into the world of fine cabinet making. Well done, Cliff!

 

[Joyce Michels MCPF]

Cliff - that is a really inventive framing job! And yes it does give me some ideas! :thumb:

 

[David Lantrip MCPF GCF]

Cliff, any chance of writing that up for a FMO article? I'd love to see more detail.

 

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

I actually have two more to do in the shop right now.

I'll see if I can take some "In Progress" pictures.

 

[Jared Davis]

Wow! Great Job!

 

[Kai Vanuffelen]

That is a first class piece of work Cliff. How many hours did you spend on it?

 

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

Kai, I did a couple of dozen of those (double doored frames) starting last summer. (Also did about the same number of single doored frames with a similar front look. If the antique document is single sided it doesn't need the second door to open, then I mount the facing door directly to the face of a gold frame that contains the antoque doc.)

The first one took me a couple of days (~12 hours). There was a LOT of calculation and "engineering" going on.

The design has changed in subtle and not so subtle ways based on what worked well and what didn't work the way I thought it would.

I can do one in about 6 hours total now. That includes spackling, sanding and painting the backs of the two double sided frames, which I was not doing in the early versions. (In the early versions I covered the back with fabric boards with the Acrylic under that.)

I probably should point out that every opening has a fillet. There's a fair amount of time involved in that element.

 

[Kai Vanuffelen]

It seems that only an experienced or qualified framer can carry out this sort of work. There is still hope for us, that our trade will be around in a hundred years time. If you were not a qualified framer, do you think the client would have still come to you for this project?

 

[Gregory K. Norris CPF]

Cliff, are the documents encapsulated?

 

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

This client is a private museum. They clearly wouldn't go to someone they didn't believe was qualified.
​

 

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

Cliff, are the documents encapsulated?

Yes, with very few exceptions, they are in Mylar.

Actually, the will in the pictures is Stabletex DCO mounted.

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

Great job!

Nice Job Cliff,

Hopefully you have a mock-up version to show clients what you can do?

John

P.S. I'm also thinking that if we stop for a visit....I'd like to see this first hand. :thumb:

 

[Mike Labbe]

Congratulations on the award winning design idea, also used for the Isaiah Thomas piece!

 

[Cliff Wilson MCPF]

Congratulations on the award winning design idea, also used for the Isaiah Thomas piece!

Thanks Mike! I just couldn't find the time to write an article, so the competition gave me the perfect excuse to build a model framers could look at and I could use as an in shop display afterward.

 

[Robin Gentry MCPF]

Beautifully done! Congrats on winning at WCAF

 

[Russ Wood]

Yes, Cliff, thank you for having an example at the WCAF, in the Tru-Vue competition. I thought it was great.

 

[David Hewitt MCPF]

Cliff, the design & workmanship is superb. CONGRATULATIONS I sat across from you on the limo at the Chinese dinner. I'm thinking I know this guy, but I couldn't put it together. Here I had an opportunity to congratulate you in person & shake your hand & missed it. OH WELL.

 

[Jim Miller MCPF GCF]

Thanks Mike! I just couldn't find the time to write an article...QUOTE]It's not too late, Cliff. You really should write that article, so framers everywhere could learn and benefit from your fine example. I'm sure PPFA would love to publish it, and so would PFM.