oversize frames

woody

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Founding Member
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Posts
107
Location
Murray, Utah, USA
After struggling this week with a 6 inch wide moulding and a frame 48 by 72, I realise that such large frames require some special handling. Does anyone out there do a lot of these and have some tips to share?
 
At least triple your labor charges or add 4 additional hours of typical labor time. Depending on how detail oriented and difficult the project is--sometimes I just take the final retail cost and double the whole thing. If you don't you'll wish you had by the end. Just because it's a rectangle doesn't mean it's typical by any means.
 
The best advise I can offer is, make sure the frame fits out your door when finished. It is very annoying if it doesn't, however some find it funny.
 
We are fine art dealers and sell many oversize pieces. There are certain items that we always have in stock. .125 48 X 96 inch acrylic. For larger pieces .250 acrylic decreases bowing. If a mat is required larger than 40 X 60 than we recommend liners (end wrapped)their use creates a more stable frame. We make every effort to maintain C/P. We always have reinforcing products for stabilizing long spans in stock. In addition, we counsel the client if they choose a frame that we do not feel is substantial. Two different people on our staff measure twice, measuring mistakes can be costly. A team of two works together and remeasures every step. We check and recheck. We order chops on the frame and liner. We also have a Dodge Grand Caravan which is I believe 10-12 inches long than a regular Caravan. We haven't had to rent a delivery vehicle since we acquired it. It also transports 10 ft sticks very well if we run them between the bucket seats. Lastly we keep angled steel brackets in stock that we use to reinforce the corners. We V Nail more and glue more and let the glue set up longer. Then we reinfore the corners with the steel brackets. Our largest piece under acrylic was 84 X 48 inches and it took two people 8 hours to assemble.

It gets easier the more you do.

AL
 
Welcome Lance and all the rest of you newcomers. It's nice to have more posters and one more from down under!
smile.gif
 
I like that end-wrapped liner idea: would solve some problems. We also use the reinforcing brackets as well as strainers. The current piece we're doing is a previously-stretched canvas 47 x 72. It will sport a stacked frame with a back extender because the stack isn't deep enough to hide the stretcher bars entirely. I'm curious about the piece that was 84 by 48 and which took two people 8 hours to assemble. May I ask how much the charge was for all this? Oversizes are never very profitable to me because of the time and risk, and I'd like to buy some spine-stiffener when pricing them.
 
I am embarassed to say that we did not charge enough! But we are always retail X 125%.

AL
 
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