Help with a "recycled material" frame

[Cathy Coggins]

I have had this print in my shop forever. This gal wanted THE perfect frame. We have been looking for the IT frame for over a year.
Well wandering around the floor at WCAF I spotted a perfect one in the Universal Arquati booth. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Just knew my client would love it. She told me, "I want to still look at this and smile when I am 80", thus the year or so of it sitting in my back room.

Well, I ordered the samples, showed the client, and BANG, making this gorgeous print a home now.
So I called my UA distributor, and he said they do not carry the 'plastic' frames. What? So I called my rep. He explained the special glue. Ordered it. Told me to keep it in the fridge. OK.

So, (sorry brevity is NOT my strong suit!) I have everything and want to do it. Just want to make sure there isn't anything weird I need to know about working with a frame made from "recycled materials"...advice?

 

[Gregory K. Norris CPF]

If you are talking plastic, the big bugaboo is to make sure no adhesive touches the surface of the frame. It is a little tricky. Enough to ooze out and touch the surface and the finish is damaged. Too little and it fails.

Get some cheap plastic and make a few corners til you get a feel for it. Never heard of the need to refrigerate the adhesive. Can you post its composition? Or its name? I learn something new about materials and adhesives just about every day!

 

[Cathy Coggins]

Greg thanks. Soooo, stupid question...Do I v-nail this too, or just the glue? I feel like a ding-dong asking that....:shame:

Here's the stuff Greg Norris

 

[John Barlowe]

Cathy if it is like other polyurethane moulding you should also vnail it. Don't set your pressure to high as you don't want to crush it (not really a worry on ones I have used but don't know what you have for sure. The glue really is just a super-glue, unless you do a lot of poly don't fall for having to buy their expensive large can because it will try up on you before you use it all.

 

[Gregory K. Norris CPF]

Yes, always nail it, too. John is absolutely right about the adhesive. I use a polystyrene cement in a tube that costs about $3 and lasts forever. But I only join them not even as often as once in a blue moon. It dries a little slower, but since I am nailing as soon as the cement is on the corner this is a non-issue for me. It probably matters to those who use plastics a lot.

I think refrigeration might actually shorten the shelf life because condensation even from air in the can would react with the solvents. But that is just my take.