How to Make Museum Glass Shadowboxes - Live Preview

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FramerInTraining

FramerInTraining

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
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Jan 10, 2014
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Location
New York, NY
* Tired of outsourcing for expensive acrylic boxes?
* Want to make your own in house?
* Want the clarity of Optium but it's very expensive.

Come to watch a live preview for a paid online class by James Miller and learn how to make Museum Glass shadowboxes in house.

This is a live preview for a paid online class that will be held next weekend.

Watch via Zoom at this link: (Starts 1 pm EST NYC time September 14, 2019)

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/8415684707593/WN_bxjwGBN2RLK_6Trm1EAGUQ

This has a small download, so make sure you download before 1 pm

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The class will be recorded next weekend. Once you pay, you get participate in the recording online or watch later.

Regardless of above, once you paid, you get to re-watch and share with your employees for unlimited times for an entire year.
 
Just in case this "do it yourself" doesn't work for you....we're still here to take care of your acrylic framing needs including the bent-edge optium museum frame. With our frame there are no seams on the face of the frame.
 

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Acrylic Queen said:
...we're still here to take care of your acrylic framing needs including the bent-edge optium museum frame.
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Years ago, when I developed the technique of building boxes out of anti-reflection, UV-filtering glass, doing it ourselves was the only choice. There were no sources for Museum Optium boxes. If your ability to bend and bond anti-reflection-coated acrylic had existed then, the glass shadowbox might never have been created.

Thanks for working to serve our needs, Lois.
 
Looks nice, but I'd be very concerned about selling glass boxes to the public, especially when you're using glass that's so thin, and is not tempered for safety. Then there's a matter of these boxes being designed to protrude from the wall, perhaps into a dark room. IMO, this looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Acrylic is more expensive, but it results in a a safe and proven product.

There's a YouTube video similar to this, but it shows thicker glass joined with silicone, rather than very thin glass assembled using super glue or other light viscosity adhesive, so it's more like an aquarium or terrarium.
 
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Jim discusses and dispels your concern in detail in the paid class.

You can purchase the class at this link.

By the way, not all YouTube videos are exactly posted or vetted by industry experts so I’d check out the qualifications of the people posting those videos.

Talking about YouTube here reminds me. I’m doing free YouTube video interview to help local frame shops get some exposure online. Let me know what you think:

www.youtube.com

Frame Shops

This channel is dedicated for your local frame shop around the globe. In this channel, we hope to raise awareness of your local frame shops and why you shoul...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com





Paul Cascio said:
Looks nice, but I'd be very concerned about selling glass boxes to the public, especially when you're using glass that's so thin, and is not tempered for safety. Then there's a matter of these boxes being designed to protrude from the wall, perhaps into a dark room. IMO, this looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Acrylic is more expensive, but it results in a a safe and proven product.

There's a YouTube video similar to this, but it shows thicker glass joined with silicone, rather than very thin glass assembled using super glue or other light viscosity adhesive, so it's more like an aquarium or terrarium.
Click to expand...
 
Anybody can sue anybody for anything .. so in that regard you are correct. However, if you're building your MG box properly, see example below, your risks are mitigated.

I understand this is not for everybody though.

70685739_10220724245480532_4757034789830131712_o.jpg
 
Mohammad, as I'm sure you know, Snafu did not say, "Anybody can sue anybody for anything .. so in that regard you are correct."
You did. And if it's not for everyone, who would you recommend it to?

Ignore this warning if you want, but we're doing you a favor. I know you're trying to make a buck, but you also have a responsibility to your customers. If your Presenter, Mr. Miller can "dispel our concern," then share it here and let us decide rather than making people pay and then leaving them with a difficult decision. I think the Glass Boxes are nice, so if you can dispel what, IMO, is a significant safety hazard, I might even want to view it. I'll always believe is the most important tool in framing. Until then, we need to look out for each other.
 
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Paul, I have seen your posts involving Jim Miller in the past and I don't want to get involved in whatever is going on here. Good night brother.

Paul Cascio said:
Mohammad, as I'm sure you know, Snafu did not say, "Anybody can sue anybody for anything .. so in that regard you are correct."
You did. And if it's not for everyone, who would you recommend it to?

Ignore this warning if you want, but we're doing you a favor. I know you're trying to make a buck, but you also have a responsibility to your customers. If your Presenter, Mr. Miller can "dispel our concern," then share it here and let us decide rather than making people pay and then leaving them with a difficult decision. I think the Glass Boxes are nice, so if you can dispel what, IMO, is a significant safety hazard, I might even want to view it. I'll always believe is the most important tool in framing. Until then, we need to look out for each other.
Click to expand...
 
Once again you attempt to put a false spin on someone's comment. This isn't about Mr. Miller, it's about you. The buck stops with you -- you're the one promoting and publishing this video, and the one who will profit from it the most. And you are approving and defending its content despite being warned that it is inherently unsafe. Anything to make a buck, right brother?
 
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Mr. Cascio, if you consider glass shadowboxes to be a safety concern, then don't use them.

In the past decade or so, I've constructed dozens of them for appreciative customers and to my knowledge, none have injured anyone. A 2.5 mm glass box 4" to 6" deep weighs only a few ounces more than the face glass, and the only load on it is gravity. Properly supported, It's perfectly safe. As to you concern about people bumping into it, a similar concern might be applied to a wall sconce.

If a glass box hanging on the wall seems dangerous to you, how about putting a very large one on a table and filling it with 10 or 20 liters of water? I I have heard of aquariums' seams coming apart or getting broken. Would you avoid having an aquarium for safety reasons?
 
Hey Paul,
Just curious if you have taken the class that Jim teaches on this subject?
I took the class about 5 years ago, and I had some of the same concerns prior to taking the class. It sounded like voodoo magic. My concerns were addressed in the course of the class, and though not for every application, this technique has its place in the quiver of framing skill sets.
Single strength glass vitrines have been made for over a century with various kinds of edge treatments. This is just another way of doing it. If you are uncomfortable using the technique, don't use it.
Jim showed examples of his work in the class I took that had been holding together nicely for years despite being shipped all over the place for his classes. I don't believe that he would put an untested concept into one of his classes, let alone make it the theme of a class. Even without retaking the class, I would suspect that Jim has continued to work on improving the techniques, so the classes offered now and in the future would be an improvement over the class I took.

Edit: I see that Jim has addressed the subject. I apologize if my post is found redundant.
 
Yes, I do consider this to be a very unsafe.
 
I read years ago that they are joined with super glue and I remembered A friend made a glass sculpture glued together with super glue after a couple of years it started to fall apart.

Are they using a better glue now days?
 
snafu said:
I read years ago that they are joined with super glue and I remembered A friend made a glass sculpture glued together with super glue after a couple of years it started to fall apart.

Are they using a better glue now days?
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That would be my only concern.
 
Paul Cascio said:
Yes, I do consider this to be a very unsafe.
Click to expand...
And do you base your consideration on a complete knowledge of the technique, or conjecture?
You failed to answer the initial question so I will ask again.
Have you taken the class from Jim Miller that teaches this technique?
 
Boot licking again, Wally? Your questions are silly. It's not the technique, it's the use of thin glass that makes this a bad idea.
 
Ah, a personal attack. That's your style isn't it?
Nothing you have said challenges the points I have made.
Until you want to deal with facts instead of innuendo, and unsupported opinions, I'll consider this conversation closed.
 
snafu said:
I read years ago that they are joined with super glue and I remembered A friend made a glass sculpture glued together with super glue after a couple of years it started to fall apart.

Are they using a better glue now days?
Click to expand...

These are NOT made with super glue.
 
snafu said:
I read years ago that they are joined with super glue and I remembered A friend made a glass sculpture glued together with super glue after a couple of years it started to fall apart.

Are they using a better glue now days?
Click to expand...
A long time ago I tried to use cyanoacrylate, but it is very difficult to work with. I have never recommended using cyanoacrylate (aka SuperGlue) to construct glass shadowboxes. My technique uses two different types of pressure-sensitive tapes - one type on the outside, and another on the inside, sort of. Also, the configuration for a vertical (wall-hanging) box is different than that of a box for a table/shelf.

Actually, the hardest part is attaching the glass box to the frame, and that's the main limitation. There is a method of attaching 1/4" FrameSpace to retain the box under the lip of an ordinary frame, but unusual stresses and high ambient temperatures could cause problems in large frames. For larger projects, I recommend supporting the glass box in an "L" shaped frame, as shown in Mo's photo above. That particular Museum Glass box is about 40" tall.

Here's another example...

Photo-Willie Nelson Hat-Left angle.jpg


Customers who know about anti-reflection, 99% UV filtering shadowboxes are willing to pay serious prices for them, but since you're skittish about this concept, I'm sure Lois would be pleased to send you a beautiful shadowbox constructed out of Museum Optium Acrylic.
 
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