New supply sources.

I last addressed this topic in 2006 and the only things changed since then include the usual bankruptcies and disappearances of vendors.

With a new batch of mounted prints ready for framing (you can read about dry mounting here), courtesy of the fine Epson ET-8550 printer, it was time to procure mats, mounting boards, frames and glass, and some research disclosed two vendors with good quality and affordable products:

• Mat Board Center. Ten 18″ x 24″black mats cut for 13″ x 19″ prints, along with 1/8″ thick mounting boards and glassine sleeves ran me $126.20. This vendor has frequent special offers and I got free shipping, so check before you order. The mats are perfectly sized, the boards were 1/16″ too wide for my frames of choice, easily remedied after a few minutes with a sharp Stanley knife. Avoid their Plexiglass frames – Plexiglass is awful, a dust magnet and scratches as soon as you clean it.
• Four 18″ x 24″ wooden frames with glass (yes, not the awful plexiglass alternative) with a backboard came from The Display Guys at Amazon at just $104.99 for four. Packaging could not be better and the frames and glass arrived in perfect condition. All you need add is some wire and hooks or use the attached saw tooth hangers.

That figures to a total of $38.87 per mounted and framed print compared with $75 back in 2006 ($145 in today’s money!) with no need to clean the glass and no need for a framing points driver as the backboard supplied has latches. Given that the frame and glass are encased in Saran Wrap, the best way to unpack this is to slit the clear wrap from the back, inside the frame. That will give you free access to insert the mat and mounted print with the front glass still protected by clear wrap. Insert your picture hanging wire, hang the mounted and framed print and remove the wrap as a last step. You never risk touching/fingerprinting the glass.

Because the foam mounting board I use is 1/8″ thick, the swivel locks for the backboard cannot engage, so you may still have to invest in a framing points driver to retain the backboard with this combination. It’s a modest one-off cost which will repay over many years.

I attach the mat to the mounting board with a couple of strips of 3M double sided mounting tape. Alignment can be critical and you do not want white borders showing in the event that the mat shifts relative to the print during the process of inserting the ‘sandwich’ in the frame.

Frames unpacked and ready for insertion of mounted prints.

So price inflation is not all you would expect and I have found the above supplies to be indistinguishable in quality from the ones used 17 years ago, and I did not even have to assemble and glue the frames.

A note on the Seal/Bienfang (now D&K) 160M mounting press I use: these retail for $2200 new, which is a ridiculous sum for so simple a piece of hardware. They are regularly available on eBay for $500. Don’t waste money on a new one. Repair parts remain easily available. Replacement thermostats are here. Other than that there’s not much to go wrong here.