Actually, that was Sharon Little. I presume that she got the questions as well, so I will let her answer because I don't know.
Hello Jennifer,
thank you for the detailed description of your screen. I have one
question: how do you attach the screen to the aluminum? (you wrote
"textiles have been pinned to household screening that has been wrapped
around the flat tubes.") Ok, one more question: can you tell us where
you obtain these things, especially the flat tubes. You offer to provide
photographs. I for one would be most interested in seeing some. Thank you.
Ronnee Barnett
At 04:56 PM 5/23/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello Jennifer, The CCQ textile lab has a 6 ft. x 10 ft. stainless steel
>wash sink. Several years ago I designed and contracted out the production
>of anodized aluminum flat tubes that could be screwed together to make
>different sized frames, which could fit in this large wash sink. The
>tubes come in various lenghts from 7 ft., 6 ft., 5 ft., 4 ft., 2 ft., and
>1 foot lenghts ( lenghts are ordered according to the need). The corner
>sections measure 6 inches x 6 inches. The tubing measures 2 inches wide x
>1 inch thick and the aluminum itself is 1/8 inch thick. The lenghts and
>corners are kept together by inserting solid bars of anodized aluminuum 3
>inches long x 1& 11/16 inches wide x 3/4 inch thick. They are screwed to
>the alumium tubes using stainless steel screws. Storage is compact as the
>frames can be dismantled. Support screening depends on the size and type
>of textile requiring support. Geodesic fabrics to common household
>screening have been used. When it has been important to avoid major
>fabric distortion during the washing treatment, textiles have been pinned
>to household screening that has been wraped around the flat tubes. The
>household screening affords some elasticity and the straight pins alow for
>adjustment. The washing treatment of a tapestry requred the fabrication of
>a tempory sink (wooden sides covered with a plastic swimming pool liner).
>Most of the aluminum parts were put together to support the
>washing/rinsing/draining of the tapsetry measuring 9 ft. x 13ft. In
>this case a very open weave geodesic fabric was used to support the
>tapestry. This "mechano type" of aluminum structure has proved to be very
>useful and the metal shows no visual change. My gratitude goes to go my
>two wonderful sons - my inspiration came from one of their toys that
>involved the use of various types of plastic tubing that could be
>assembled, with differnt types of outside joints, to make various types of
>three dimensional structures, such as a chair, table, rocking horse etc.
>I appreciate the neutral, lightweight and strong qualities of
>aluminum tubing - this article appeared in a past issue of the Canadian
>Association for Conservation of cultural Property (CAC), September 2003
>vol 28, No. 3. : ««Sharon Little was responsible for the treatment a
>16th century Flemish tapestry and a 20th century tapestry attributed to
>Micheline Beauchemin. Both required deviation from the standard textile
>conservation equipment and procedures. During treatment, the Flemish
>tapestry was supported by a net of geodesic textile that had been wrapped
>about an aluminium stretcher type frame and wet cleaned in a large
>temporary bath constructed from a swimming pool linerthat was supported
>by a wooden frame, the water being evacuated with the use of a sump
>pump. The tapestry will soon be installed on a tapestry conservation
>loom and undergo extensive consolidation over
>the next few years. Following light cleaning and realignment,
>the construction techniques and materials, weight, and modern slick
>appearance of the 20th century tapestry required the construction of a
>custom made
>stretcher frame. The frame was composed of: flat hollow 2.5cm
>thick aluminium tubes; the spaces of the frame were filled in with
>sheets of polycarbonate to maintain a flat supporting surface; bands of
>wood,treated with latex paint were added to the four outside edges of the
>frame for both lining canvas and tapestry attachment purposes; and the
>completed unit was covered with a linen canvas for both decorative and
>attachment purposes. As the tapestry was to be installed in the board
>room of the Caisse de dépôt du Québec, in Montréal, and the desire of
>the owner was to maintain the modern slick appearance it was not
>possible to attach the tapestry to the frame using velcro. Instead the
>upper horizontal edge of the tapestry was treated as a painting, by
>stapling the unfinished portion of the edge
>to the back of the stretcher frame using
>non-corrosive staples. The remaining three finished outside edges and
>the main internal segments of the tapestry were treated like a
>textile and stitched in place using a curved surgical needle and a
>heavy linen thread. The combination of the aluminium and poycarbonate
>provided a discreetly thin (2.5cm),strong, and
>lightweight mounting devise for a large (4m x 1.3m) and heavy (23
>kilos) contemporary tapestry.»» If anyone would like some photograhic
>documention, let me know and I will send it out towards the end of June
>2006. Regards, Sharon Little Restauratrice Responsable - Atelier des
>textiles Ministère de la Culture et des Communications Centre de
>conservation du Québec 1825, rue Semple Québec (Québec) G1N 4B7
>Téléphone: (418) 643-7001 poste 230 Télécopieur: (418) 646-5419
>sharon.little@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca >Jennifer
>Hadley
><HadleyJ@LD A:
>SCHURCH.ORG TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > cc:
> Envoyé
>par
>: Objet:
>Texti wash tub
>screening le
> Conse
>rvato
>rs
><TEXC
>ONS@S
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>DU>
>2006-05-18
>12:05
>Hello everyone, I have been looking at our textile washing facilities
>and would like to upgrade our screening system. Currently we have a metal
>tub with a metal rack that can be lowered into the water. My predecessor
>bought commercial window screens to lay the textiles on. These screens
>include the metal frame, which creates a problem. The screens are not big
>enough for many of the textiles to lay in one frame. They must be laid
>over the metal edge onto another screen to be washed. The metal edges get
>have gotten pretty mucky over the years and leave a gray residue on
>anything they touch. I don't like them in the water, let alone with the
>textiles right on top of the metal. I would like to create new, multi
>sized, screens to facilitate safe cleaning. Two of my associates
>suggested either creating frames with PVC or vinyl window frames. I was
>hoping to get some feedback on the suggested framing materials, as well as
>what others have done with their washing systems. Thank you, Jennifer
>Hadley Associate Registrar Museum of Church History and Art (801) 240-0297
>hadleyj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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