Framing Kit

Framing Kit Mania

I started a conversation with my students about the framing kit, its contents and what it’s for. Now, mind you, most of these students are adults. One gentleman raised his hand and said “What in the world is a framing kit? What’s in one and how do you use one?” I could only chuckle at the expression on his and everyone else’s faces as he asked his questions. Some of these people were totally befuddled as they looked at the framing kit package that each person held. Some of them just looked through the contents of the kit and smiled happily. It was then that the same gentleman raised his hand again and asked another question… “Why are there only two items in these kits?” I just laughed, mainly because this was the very same thing that everyone else was thinking.

After I had stopped laughing, I proceeded in answering all of these questions. “A framing kit is part of the items that you’ll need if you are making your own picture frames or if you need to replace either the existing Glazing or the Backing Board of a frame that you already have. As for answering your question of ‘Why are there only 2 items in these kits’, well … I think I just answered that one just now as well. All you really need in a framing kit is the Glazing and the Backing Board.” After a minute or two, another student…a young mother… asked “Could you please tell us about these two things? What is the Glazing made from and what’s its job? What about the Backing Board? This one looks and feels like it’s made of foam.” she said, twisting the 8 in by 12 in piece of FoamCore Backing Board in her hands.

I again chuckled as I replied, “The Glazing is made one of 3 different materials: Ultra Violet (UV) Glass, Acrylic and Plexiglas. As for the Backing Board… what you’re holding is called FoamCore Backing Board. It looks and feels like foam because it is foam. There are 2 other materials that Backing Board can be made of, and they are Lightweight Plywood and Corrugated Cardboard. This is the material that you’ll put the picture, certificate or memento against.” Given the amount of time I had been talking, I decided to take a break for a while. “Let’s take a half an hour break for lunch. We still have a good deal of information to cover and not a whole lot of time to cover it in.” I looked at the clock and continued, “Let’s meet back here at 1:30 to finish our discussion.”

Half an hour later we picked up the discussion right where we left off at the Glazing, and went on from there. We discussed the differences between the 3 types. The main questions asked were: Why should I choose Plexiglas or Acrylic over plain old Glass? and What’s the difference between them, besides the obvious? I explain that the plate Glass Glazing needs to be coated with a special UV coating to keep the picture from fading. I also explained that both Acrylic and Plexiglas Glazing already had this UV protection added as part of the manufacturing process. When all the questions had been asked and answered, everyone thanked me for the wonderfully informative afternoon.