MGB Puzzle, and varnish/glaze...

[chrispuzzle]

Here is my latest puzzle. It's a Christmas present for a friend. She is a vicar, and the MGB in the photo is her pride and joy, which she maintains herself, and drives around in old fashioned motorist goggles, and her dog collar. So I thought the photo of her car, taken this Summer, would make a nice gift as a puzzle.

My question is about the finish. I printed the picture on a standard glossy photo paper and then glazed it for protection against rubbing with a satin art varnish from Daler Rowney.

Two things happened. Firstly the edges of the puzzle, although glued down with spray mount, curled and lifted, requiring repair with PVA (white glue) - I smeared a strip of thin card with the glue and slid it under the lifted edges to apply the glue. Secondly, while most of the picture remained smooth and glossy, a few patches (mainly in the bottom left) became matt. I am probably using either the wrong paper or the wrong varnish or both. Any ideas?

Chris

[Trout]

sorry I can't help you out..

but from where I'm sitting it looks great...

Trout

[Gill]

Hi Chris

I had a terrible time trying to source appropriate adhesives and protective coatings in the UK when I tried to make jigsaws. In the end, I learned that Copydex (!) works wonderfully for applying pictures to the wood base. I also found some triple thick glaze (which is what Carter uses to finish his jigsaws) from www.calicocrafts.co.uk , but their site appears to be down right now.

It's possible that you might have applied a little too much adhesive and some could have seeped through, making it difficult for the varnish to cure properly.

A female vicar who can maintain an MGB? You don't get many of those to the pound! Treasure her, as I'm sure she'll treasure your lovely jigsaw.

Gill

[PeteB]

The Aileen's glue that Carter talks about, and I used with good results, is basically a white glue. I think it's sterner stuff than spray adhesive. The technique I used was to apply a thin coat to both paper and wood with a plastic squeegee. I then applied the picture and rolled it with my wife's rolling pin to get out the air bubbles, and clamped it between two pieces of melamine (cheap formica-like white stuff from the lumber store) for an hour. After unclamping, I let it dry at least overnight. This worked quite well, with infrequent lifts.

Semi-gloss varnish is really gloss varnish with particles added to cut reflection, and I didn't have good luck with it either (in spray cans). Gloss varnish gave much more uniform results.

Can't see the defects in your photo, Chris. The puzzle looks great! Love the car, too.

Pete

[chrispuzzle]

Thanks for the advice!

Gill, you may well be right about the curing, I hadn't thought of that. Calico Crafts seems to be up again, and yes I see the triple thick glaze stuff and lots of decoupage materials too, so thanks for that link!

Pete - I have tried so far to stay away from white glue because it has such a tendency to warp paper as it dries out, and it's messy. And I'm messy too. Bad combination, as a rule... but I may be forced into it. The spray-mount, applied to both surfaces and left for a couple of a minutes, worked quite well until this particular varnish lifted the edges. It will be a shame if it is not quite up to the mark as it is such a convenient way of applying the picture.

The defects are almost invisible to the eye on the puzzle, unless you reflect light off the surface - except you can feel the matt surface with your fingers when you handle the pieces.

Chris

[PuzzledMoose]

Nice puzzle, Chris and a great car - your vicar friend sounds a character - conjuring up a cross between "The Vicar of Dibley" and "The Two Fat Ladies" here..

What type of spray mount are you using on your puzzles? I've been using 3M 77 and once I judged how much too use it seems to work fine so long as the backing board is completely dust free and smooth - I use a tack cloth after sanding and leave the sprayed paper for two or three minutes before I attach it to the board - then cover the photo with clean cloth and run a small wallpaper seam roller over it a few times. I find that I can cut it then within about 10 minutes.

I've only been using the spray on one suface not both - usually the back of the photopaper but I did cut a puzzle the other day that was printed on heavy bright white paper and the spray soaked through the paper. So after reprinting the picture I sprayed the backing board instead and it worked fine ..

I've tried the Aileens glue and it works fine but I find it much more fiddly to use - harder to get completely flat, takes a lot longer to dry and like you I'm messy ..

One thing I did wonder about is the long-term effectiveness of spray mount .. anyone know anything about this?

[Rolf]

Chris,

Love the puzzle.
That is in my opinion one of the greatest true sports cars ever built. Even if the electrics are made by the Lucas the Prince of Darkness.

[chrispuzzle]

Ian - I'm using 3M Scotch-Weld Spray-Mount. I don't know exactly where that stands in the canon of 3M adhesives, though, there are so many of them. I will try spraying the board not the picture and clean the board more thoroughly first.

Rolf - Thanks! It's a great car isn't it? Such fun to look at too, beautiful lines.

[Carter-Johnson]

Hey Chris.....

Nice lookin' puzzle. I especially like the shapes of the pieces. That's the best way to free-form them when you don't use the color lines within the picture.

I've had trouble with spray glues and the Aileen's Tacky Glue works great. I just trowel it thin and even with a paint scraper and then smooth the picture on carefully with my fingers from one corner to its opposite. I've only had bubbles when the paper is too thin, but no problems of any kind with photos.

Since I didn't know what spray to use for photos (I use any triple-thick glaze with calendar pictures), I decided to not use any. The photo itself is glossy and so far mine have held up quite well without anything added.

I always say that keeping it simple is the best way....and the most phun...

Carter

[sawdustus]

sawdustus of hiawatha

Chris,

Great looking puzzle. I could not see any repairs either. I have never used Aileens but I have had very good success with a product called Mod Podge to glue down a picture. It is used here in the states for decoupouge. I don't know if it is available in your neck of the woods. I find it easy to use and once it is dry, either sprayed or wiped on varnish seems to adhere very well.

[MikeDingas]

Nice freehand work. Do you incorporate a signature piece into your puzzles?

[chrispuzzle]

Carter - Thanks! It's an enjoyable style to cut too. I am inching towards doing more color-line cutting, there is a small amount in the MG puzzle, also I put in one or two false edges and split knobs and sometimes took care to to avoid crossing a color line to cut a uniform piece. My concern about protecting the surface was because the very first puzzle I cut on glossy photo paper picked up a scuff mark quickly and I thought a varnish might protect against that, but it may be that it would have scuffed anyway, since I don't know what caused it. Perhaps carelessness while sanding the back of the puzzle, which is a good opportunity to damage the front without meaning it.

George - Yes, Gill's Calico Crafts link above has Mod Podge and a triple thick glaze so I'll be putting an order in after Christmas for some of that. As Gill said, it isn't always easy to find the right stuff in the UK. A good link shared is a gift beyond value...

Mike - Thanks. I don't yet put a signature piece in. I haven't sawn any figurals at all, and I think these puzzles are still very much beginner's efforts. I did sign the MG on the back and date it so that my friends will remember when it was given, but that's all.

Chris

[MacS]

Coatings for Photos

I would suggest that you try using Acrylic sprays on photograghs or the glossy photo paper, as that is the same coating they use because it is "crystal clear and non-yellowing."

[chrispuzzle]

Thanks Mac, I shall get some and try it out as soon as I can.

I have a whole slew of bottles and cans now! Wish I could swap half of 'em for some good wood.

Chris

[stevebuk]

i like it chris, this type of accuracy is what i want to achieve eventually, cant help you with the 'lifting' problem, except could it be that the glue sticking to the blade and lifting the layers.
steve