The "Another Custom Framing Job From Grebinger Gallery" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Working at Grebinger Gallery and Framing in nearby Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  I have written a few times about working part-time for a former student of mine, Keith Grebinger, after I retired from teaching in 1999.  Today, Keith gave me the job of trying to mat and frame a job much like one he did when he first opened his shop in the 1990s.  

Keith's sample he made as an example of what could be done.

As a sample of what he could do for his customers, he designed, cut and framed a series of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps.  Neat job which has hung in his framing gallery since I began working for him after retiring.  A recent customer saw the job Keith had done and loved it.  He found his own set of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps on eBay and purchased them.  

Set of Gatorade NFL bottle caps.

Talked with Keith about what the customer wanted his display to look like and Keith passed it on to me.  I first make a sketch of what the final result should look like and placed measurements on the sketch which were similar to the job Keith had done.  Placed those measurement into a computer program on our mat cutter and in no time had cut the top and bottom mats for the job.  Knowing the size by now, I cut a frame and glued it and after dry, placed metal corner clips in place on the framing machine.  From this point on, I will give you a visual story to make it easier for you to understand what is necessary in  matting and framing something as detailed as what you have seen in the above photograph.

Along with the bottle caps, the customer gave us artwork he wanted included ini his design.

List showing the placement he wanted for his design.

My sketch with measurements to be used to place the idea on the computerized mat cutter.

The computer screen showing the job laid out to match my measurements.

Cutting of the top and bottom mats.  The top was blue suede while the bottom was a red textured mat.

Two mats are fastened together with the logos supplied positioned under the mat.

To give depth to the mat to allow space for the 1/4" high bottle caps, I had to create what you see here.
This is made using foam board that is 1/4" thick. You are looking at the underside of the mat.

The bottom mat is also blue suede.  The bottle caps will be fastened to this layer.

Each bottle cap is fitted with a double layer of black matting foam.  The foam is
glued together, place inside the cap and twisted so it holds under the bottle clips
that hold the cap on the bottle.  At no time do we glue anything onto the bottle
cap which would damage the customers product they brought to us.  

The top and bottom mat boards are placed together with tape and the bottle caps are
placed in the order given to us by the customer.  They are then glued in position.

To help with the positioning, I cut a sample pattern on the mat cutter.
The pattern made sure each row is positioned the same distance apart.
Glue was place on the black units placed inside the caps and glued to the bottom mat board.

The frame is cut on a cut-off saw, glued in clamps and attached together with clips
which are pushed into the frame on this machine.

I didn't take photographs of the cutting of the Museum glass and placing it in the frame.
When placed together, fastened in place with clips, a backing paper added and corner hangers added,
the result should certainly please the customer.  Even I thought it looked great and I"m hard to please.