Oak CGC frame, will it react with the plastic holder?

[Dave_Hennen]

Hi there, I had some leftover peices of oak from a project in my never-ending battle to keep my house from falling apart so I thought I'd try making a frame to display a CGC book.

 

I'm happy with the way it turned out, I did it freehand with a table and mitre saw. The bottom three peices are held together by brass plated nails and the top is pegged in so I can take the book out. I think I'll try another one with pegs all the way around and make sure all the peices come from the same board because the grain is noticeably different on the top and bottom

 

I'm curious if anyone on the forum knows it the oak wood will react with the plastic of the CGC holder in any way. I'm pretty sure the book is safe in the sealed inner holder but should I line the channels of the frame with felt or something to keep the plastic from leaching anything from the wood and getting discolored.

 

Also, do the CGC holders provide any UV protection or should I cut another channel and slide in a peice of UV protective glass.

 

Thanks for any comments,

Dave H

 

[JMcD]

COOOOOL idea Dave, I wonder why nobody ever thought of that before?

 

I think I read somewhere that the case doesn't protect against UV rays.

 

How come you didn't make the top joints diagnal like the bottom? I think it would look even better that way.

[fantastic_four]

The oak shouldn't react with the case, but wood decays and releases acid which could migrate onto the comic. However, since the CGC case is mostly sealed, it's unclear to me how much of a concern this is.

 

All plastics block out most ultraviolet rays; I've heard as much as 99% sometimes without further treatment although I'm not sure I believe that estimate. I haven't heard that the CGC case has any further UV protection beyond that which plastic inherently provides.

[DoubleCovaBrotha]

I wonder if applying sunscreen would help the same way it helps human skin....

 

I have read in Overstreet that fluorescent lights are full of UV rays and therefore bad for books.

[Freiherr]

 

 

OK… stop laughing.

 

This is one of my walls in my office. I had to replace every window thanks to a bad storm last year. I wanted to do something with comics so I replaced the storm windows with UV protected acrylic (along with blinds and only incandescent lighting).

 

They have been there a few months and have been fine. A newspaper I placed in another room without the protection did not.

 

I "think" you can also get a film that you can put on your windows like window-tint without the tint.

 

*added

 

The comics on top only touch the Mylar sleeves they are in. The sleeves are spaced away from the glass so they don’t get squished. They are held in place by Stik-Tack that seems to peel off easily and completely. You could probably do the same. If you don’t want to make another frame, you can get a “Shadow Box” like the one I have with the coins mounted. They have a heavy backs on them so you could just “pin” the CGC holder in place.

 

 

 

 

[Mushroom]

Dave....so long as the oak has not been treated in any way (such as lacquer)...there is very little risk of materials leeching onto the comic.

 

I would definitely stick a UV treated piece of plastic on the front of the CGC holder.

[fantastic_four]

Dave....so long as the oak has not been treated in any way (such as lacquer)...there is very little risk of materials leeching onto the comic.

 

Where have you heard this? Comic book paper becomes acidic because that's the natural by-product of decaying wood. However, paper is much less acidic than pure wood because it's got a bunch of stuff mixed in with it. I really don't know if this is the case, but I've been wondering whether a lacquer finish would actually trap some of the natural acidic release from a wood frame and make it more inert than exposed wood. What were you thinking the lacquer would react with?

[Mushroom]

In general....lacquers, varnishes, and evan shellacs (crushed bugs oooooh yuk) contain oils, acids etc. In hot temperatures they give off gasses or residues that can severely harm paper. In the art world (just after the second WW) there was a trend to treat wood to avoid the impacts of bugs getting into the wood but the effects of varnishing were found to be more damaging.

 

As a test....take a dead bug and leave it on a cheap comic for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

 

In modern times most art framing is either done using metals or compound wood or untreated woods such as oak. Woods such as Cedar should be avoided as they contain an inordinate amount of oil.