Advice on Framing Cotton Canvas Prints

All our prints are personally supervised by the artist and available via page "Print gallery".

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The quality is so remarkable people will often touch the unframed prints as if to re assure themselves and ask 'is it an original?'

Best quality, very collectable.

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With the permission of Drytac we reproduce the following advice on framing cotton canvas prints. We suggest that you give a copy of this article to your professional framer.

This system is a method for seamlessly attaching our "Heritage" canvas prints (see "Print gallery") to a backing board prior to mounting and framing.

The Drytac hot press method also has the advantage of being fully reversible.

For those who prefer to organize framing themselves, the following may be helpful.

Hot Mounting & Over-Laminating Hot Press, Hot Glass Vacuum Press

Unimount DMT75 Classic Premium Dry Mount Tissue

We source our own premier quality Lion DMT from a leading manufacturer, ideal for canvas bonding.

Mounting Film was Flobond

Carrier free 'unsupported' heat activated pH neutral thermoplastic mounting adhesive, with an activation temperature between 79°C and 93°C. Remove by heating and peeling with a hot air gun. It is virtually identical to 'Fusion 4000', Flobond and 'A-Mount'.

13mm thick, best for canvas bonding and heat sealing in flat bed presses.
6mm thick, best for normal work in vacuum presses, where its lower volume before laminating over will not slow down the cycle time.

The Hot Glass Press is ideal for all hot dry mounting heat seal over-laminating and canvas bonding in your workshop.

Foam Blankets

Foam is used in heated presses for two reasons: The majority of boards are made up of pulp, and has tiny hills across the surface. The pressure of a hard plate may shine the peaks. Foam laid over helps even out the pressure and minimise this effect.

Secondly, it presses the laminating film down into the weave of the canvas to give the canvas texture look. Foam can also leave its own texture impression in Gloss and Satin films.

The HGP is unique in its ability to handle a wide range of materials, of varying thicknesses - even at the same time. You can use mount board, hardboard, MDF, foam centred board, aluminium, even glass, as substrates to mount onto. You can mount photos, posters prints, fabrics, canvas and almost anything else (but do take care in case the heat might affect some colour ranges of ink).

The 'Hot Glass Press' offers many benefits to the user:

  • an under-surface which is completely flat and smooth
  • errors such as mis-alignment and fold back are easily spotted and corrected
  • stray adhesive can readily be seen and cleaned off the under-surface
  • even and controllable heat
  • full and easy adjustment of the hinges and latches

The critical flexible pressure blanket is bonded into a removable sub-frame. It has a special textured surface to spread the vacuum. The quiet vacuum pump supplied with the press is fast acting and reliable.

HOT PRESS Hot Press training is available at Lion.

Product Liability. Drytac, Hot Press and Lion will replace any material supplied which is found to be faulty. They accept no further liability.

Tel: +44 (0)121 773 1230 LION Picture Framing Supplies Ltd. Fax: +44 (0)121 771 2540

To review our selection of Heritage prints many of which make sets and order framed or unframed don't miss seeing our "Print gallery"

Indecently, we now use Artscreen in place of glass. It has many advantages including in transit and is claimed to be more UV light resistant.

You can save yourself time and money by ordering from our selection of prints fully framed and delivered from our

"Print gallery".

About DRYTAC

You've may have spotted the Drytac brand has moved aside and replaced with Hot Press? A little bit of background will help explain the change. Around 20 years ago, Hot Press was created as a brand name by Lion for their own range of heat seal equipment and materials for picture framers. Martin Harrold and Wiktor Chichlowski of Lion invented and patented the Hot Glass Press, which has now become the word standard for heated vacuum presses. Around 15 years ago, Hot Press became a separate company and gained new owners. It is fair to say that from then on it had a somewhat chequered history until recently, when it was acquired by Drytac Corporation.

Drytac was founded about 25 years ago in Canada by Richard Kelly, who still controls it. It is now based in USA. It has slowly but surely grown to be a major manufacturer. Over several years, Drytac have established their own highly sophisticated and environmentally conscious film coating & converting plant in Bristol, UK.

Lion are naturally delighted to see the wheel turning full circle with our friends at Drytac. We are confident that quality will continue to be of the very highest standard and availability will be good. Folders with samples of any of the Hot Press materials are available from Lion.

 

Gordon Frickers. © 2009, revised 23.08.11 ~ www.frickers.co.uk