FRAMING TILES (a) Mounting
ca: EMMARCAT DE RAJOLES (a) Muntatge
es: ENMARCADO AZULEJOS (a) Montaje
Framing tiles – Mounting: There are two stages in framing tiles; mounting and framing. I do not frame tiles for shops, but for commercial reasons I mount them, otherwise they are left piled up, cannot be seen and do not sell. For a shop, I mount one of each design that is required.
Method of mounting tiles on wood: A picture is made up of separate tiles which must be supported from behind with wood which should be the size of the picture plus 1cm, leaving ½ cm of wood all the way round. In the drawing, above left, you can see that the wood is bigger than the tiles; this allows it to be framed without overlapping and cutting into the design.
Working sequence
1) Cut the wood to the size needed.
2) Cut pieces of newspaper the right size to cover the wood, it does not matter if they overlap. Cover one side of the wood with carpenter’s glue and stick newspaper on it, flattening it out as much as possible, then leave it to dry.
3) When dry, lay the wood on a table, showing the side with newspaper and put the tiles on top, placing them correctly, leaving ½ centimeter of wood all round. Weigh the tiles down with a heavy object, so they do not move.
4) Lift up a corner tile and with carpenter’s glue, cover its back and where it is going to be placed, then put it back. Do this with all the tiles until the whole design is glued down.
5) Wipe and clean off all the glue from its face, lay it on a flat surface, cover it with newspaper. If you are preparing several put one on top of the other, weigh the pile down with some heavy objects and leave it to dry. Put paper between each one so if some glue is left it sticks to the paper and not to what is on top of it.
Dismounting
6) If what should be dismounted is only formed by a few tiles small enough to be completely covered, leave them to soak in hot water, then the glue softens and they can be separated from each other.
7) If it is a large picture, too big to soak, heat the tile with a hair dryer, then the glue gradually softens and it can be removed. This system is suitable when it is a picture of many tiles and one is broken and must be replaced.
Remember: The ½ cm left is for professional framing, if working and using the following methods below, a lager space has to be added.
The next section; Framing tiles (b) With wood
