Your gallery humidity might be just fine for your collection. One of the 
reasons you're getting curl is that the front and back of your boards are 
responding to humidity changes at different rates. It is akin to painting 
only one side of a board--the unpainted side will absorb moisture while 
the painted side won't. GatorFoam's rigidity helps keep this from 
happening. Using a non-hydroscopic substrate will work, too, but they're 
more expensive. 

One trick is to mount something to both the front and back of your board 
(mat or foam) so both sides move together. I much prefer dry-mounting to 
spray mounting--first because spray mounting is pretty toxic and second 
because you get a better seal. Dry mounting also forces out excess 
moisture from the substrate and you can mount to the front and back of the 
substrate at the same time. 

As for tape, we use heavy-duty double sided foam tape. It is expensive but 
holds like a...um... vise. Scotch makes some and I think 3M does too. Keep 
your fingers off the sticky side. As with handling artifacts, the oils 
from your fingers will "damage" the surface of the tape and interfere with 
the bond. 

Exhibit Builder magazine publishes a substrate chart every year. I 
recommend browsing it for substrate alternatives. www.exhibitbuilder.net

Diane 

Diane Gutenkauf
Chief Business Developer
Museum Division
Exhibit Works, Inc. 
550 Warrenville Rd 
Suite 200
Lisle IL 60532
734-367-8243 (v)
630-241-1046 (f)
630-650-8425 (c)
[log in to unmask]
www.exhibitworks.com
Exhibits * Events * Experiences


On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 11:33:58 -0500, Reitinger, Rochelle 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I actually have a related question to George's.  
> 
>We use 4ply mat board for our wall signs and labels.  These are
>installed by stapling a small mat board tab to the wall and then
>affixing the desired label or sign to the tab(s) with double-sided
>adhesive.  This allows some space for air circulation but more
>importantly when removed we only have to deal with 4 or so little staple
>holes and no adhesive residue.  Sometimes our signs over 11 x 17 will
>begin to curl (The humidity in the Gallery is 50% which is standard for
>paintings and works on paper), but the majority of our things don't
>curl.  
> 
>However, my problem is that the adhesive I'm using randomly gives out
>and things just pop off the wall.  I have used scotch double-sided tape
>and 2 different brands of carpeting tape.  I am thinking about trying
>that double-sided foam tape hoping it will breathe better but I don't
>know.  Does anyone have any suggestions on other adhesives?
> 
>Thank you very much,
> 
>Rochelle L. R. Oakley
>Collections Manager/Registrar
>Saint Joseph College Art Gallery
>West Hartford, Connecticut
>860.231.5743 phone
>860.231.5754 fax
>[log in to unmask]
> 
>________________________________
>
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of Anne Lane
>Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 11:17 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] The stick blues...
> 
>George, is there any way you can install spacers between the foam core
>and the wall? Just having some air circulating there might help
>alleviate the curling. Is this an outside wall you're installing on? And
>for goodness sakes, install a dehumidifier. They aren't very expensive,
>and if you have artifacts enduring the same humidity that's curling your
>foam core, they're probably not happy either. You can use some of the
>money you saved by switching from Gatorfoam, which is, I know, extremely
>expensive.
> 
>Hope this is helpful - 
>Anne
> 
>Anne T. Lane, Collections Manager
>Charlotte Museum of History
>3500 Shamrock Drive
>Charlotte NC 28215
>704-568-1774, ext 110
>[log in to unmask]
>Featured Winter Events and Exhibits:Celtic Traditions Festival -
>Saturday, December 10, 11:00-4:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 11,
>2:30-6:00 p.m.Exhibits Alive: Colonial Christmas - Saturday, December
>17, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
>Twelfth Night: A Scots-Irish Holiday Celebration - Saturday, January 7,
>6:30-8:30 p.m.
>American Visions of Liberty & Freedom Opening Day - Saturday, February 4
>Faces & Stories: A Portrait of Southern Writers closes January 2006
>A Focus on Sports, January 14-August 15, 2006
>American Visions of Liberty & Freedom, February 4-May 28, 2006
>For information on these and all other events, please call (704)
>568-1774 or visit us online at www.charlottemuseum.org
><file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\cmh.alane\Application%20Data\Micr
>osoft\Signatures\www.charlottemuseum.org>  
>________________________________
>
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of George Garner
>Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 10:48 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: The stick blues...
> 
>Last year I switched my exhibitions department from using Gatorfoam to
>Foamcore. Unfortunately, our temperature and humidity controls in the
>building are less than ideal, and the foamcore started curling away from
>the walls within days after installing. Reinforcing with stronger
>double-sided adhesive tape helped, but makes prep time between shows
>more difficult. The cost saving from foamcoare is huge, but I can't have
>my graphics curl and fall off days after a show opening.
>
>This is the first museum I've had to do this much graphics prep in
>house. My other museums outsourced, so I'm sure there's a bit of a
>learning curve. Has anyone else had the same problem I'm experiencing?
>What advice would you give? 
>
>Thanks in advance for any information you can offer,
>George Garner
>-- 
>George Garner
>Director of Exhibitions
>Center for History
>808 West Washington, South Bend, IN 46601
>www.centerforhistory.org // (574) 235-9664
> 
>--------
>Learn about the history of local commerce and industry with a visit to
>the Center for History's exhibition Building America: The Oliver and
>Studebaker Industries.

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