Big-time framing: oversize framing may take more space, staff and hours than typical custom framing fare, but it can offer a gargantuan boost to a framer's reputation

Art Business News, June, 2004 by Tricia Bisoux

It seems the more things change, the bigger they get. Think Mall of America, the biggest mall in the country. Think the Hummer, the largest SUV. Think Queen Mary II, the world's largest ocean liner. Think the new Airbus A380, a double-decker, 555-seat, football-field sized jumbo jet, complete with onboard stores, gym, bar and even a mini-casino. It's clear that while Americans may not view their expanding waistlines with enthusiasm, they and many of their overseas counterparts are certainly enamored with all else that's oversized.

This trend hasn't been lost on custom framing. As more people move into so-called "McMansions" with 30-foot ceilings and plentiful wall space, framers should be expecting to see more requests for oversize frames and massive mirrors to live up to those cavernous interiors.

"The people buying these large homes with the vaulted ceilings and large spaces are often professionals who understand the concerns of framing oversize art and objects correctly," said Lou Chang of Ain't That a Frame in Westminster, Md.

Oversize framing may require special accommodations in a frame shop--from expansive tables and large presses to big doorways and high ceilings. But those framers who decide to "sweat the big stuff" are often rewarded with customers' respect, loyalty and big-time referrals.

Spatial Considerations

Oversize jobs present a variety of spatial and logistical challenges, so framer's should make a thorough evaluation of their facilities before accepting an oversize framing project. A 10- by 10-foot shop with 7-foot ceilings obviously shouldn't take on an 8- by 8-foot framing project. However, just "how big is too big" may not be readily apparent until a framer answers several important questions:

1. How much room do you need? Although a 4-foot by 4-foot frame may not seem too big for your shop on paper, it can be quite different in reality. That 16 square feet of frame is compounded by the space required to work around it. It's important to determine whether your shop can afford to earmark that amount of space for the extended period of time an oversize frame requires.

2. Is there enough work surface? Framers who successfully work with oversize framing jobs often have a single large work surface to accommodate large jobs, or they have several tables that can be pushed together to create one large fixture.

3. Can it fit through the door? More than one framer has brought an artwork into the shop and built the frame, only to realize that the finished product was too large to go out the way it came in.

4. Do you have the staff support?, Oversize framing often requires more than one pair, or even two pairs, of hands at a time to move, stretch, mount, gild, fit or join.

Know your limitations. Some smaller shops will accept jobs up to 3 feet by 4 feet, while others accept any job up to 4 by 8 feet. For others still, 10 feet by 10 feet isn't too large to handle. Not all oversize jobs are out of reach for framers who really want to add this dimension to their offerings, but they should know the threshold beyond which a job is better referred to framers with larger facilities.

The Laws of Physics

The fundamental rule of gravity, "What must goes up, must come down," must be revised a bit where oversize frames are concerned. For framers, it's "What goes up, must stay up." At least it must if they want to keep their customers.

Rules of gravity, weight distribution and torque may seem best relegated to high school physics classes, but they are crucial considerations for large framing jobs, said Jane Zisk of Hartford Framing in Hartford, Conn. The shop's facilities boast 20-foot ceilings and a large warehouse for storage, making it a perfect candidate for oversize framing.

"You have to treat oversize framing as though it were a construction project," Zisk recommended. "Be aware of how it's put together, how its weight should be distributed, and how it will be hung on the wall. Determine whether you'll need extra supports or brace bars."

Distribute the weight, When mounted to a backing board, any large, heavy object will exert a downward torte on its attachment points in response to gravity, noted Paul Storch, an objects conservator in St. Paul, Minn. "Over time, the force might exceed the strength of the support, causing it to fail," he said.

Therefore, when mounting large, heavy objects, the mass of the object should be distributed over a wider surface than in a standard frame, Storch emphasized. A heavy ceramic or stone object, for example, should be attached via a wide bracket secured with two or three bolts, not a wire clip.

One effective way to make sure a frame can support its own weight is to build a strainer frame directly into the surrounding decorative frame, suggested Sue Davis of Master Framer Inc., also in St. Paul. "If we're flaming something really big, we invariably put a back frame or strainer frame into the structure," she said. "We'll build a cleat right into the strainer frame and screw the larger frame into it. It distributes the weight, while keeping everything together."