What is Ultralight LDF and What Can It Do For Me?

What is the difference between Raphael’s Ultralight LDF (sometimes referred to as “LDF”) and the “MDF” product that has been used by other companies to make mouldings and liners for at least the past 10 years?

Though both  products are produced in sheet form from wood pulp there are a couple of important differences between the two materials:

1.        If you were given a stick of our Liner Profile E (3” French bevel) that was produced in LDF and one produced in MDF, the LDF version would only weigh about 65% as much as the MDF version.  The LDF version in fact weighs just slightly more (a couple of ounces over a 9 ft length) than a typical Basswood stick of the same profile.

2.        MDF is also a considerably harder material than our LDF.  MDF will kill off a set of saw blades far sooner than if you were cutting wood species such as Basswood or Pine.  Cutting Ultralight LDF on the other hand, you will find your blades go far longer between sharpening.  You could hardly come up with a combination that will dull blades faster than to combine MDF with a gesso coating.  LDF, on the other hand, has a density that lends itself to easier cutting with chopper or saw, easier sanding, and much easier, more reliable joining  using typical v-nailers. 

Don’t composites like MDF or LDF contain more harmful chemicals than natural wood?  Will my art be exposed to these chemicals if I use your Ultralight LDF products?

1.        Most of the concerns people have expressed about composite boards such as MDF and LDF have to do with the presence of potentially harmful levels of formaldehyde in this material.  Beginning back in 2008 the allowable level of this chemical was severely reduced by California’s Air Resources Board. 2011 brings yet another reduction to this level.  Formaldehyde is still listed as a potential cancer causing agent but in the sort of concentration permitted by the latest CARB standards it is deemed to be similar in risk to just regular “wood dust” as a potential cause of cancer.  Anyone cutting mouldings or liners made of any material should be sure to wear appropriate protective equipment and employ adequate dust collection devices during the cutting process.  Around here we follow a simple rule:  If you can see something in the air or accumulating on the ground your lungs and eyes are being harmed and you should both be doing something better to capture this debris as well as protecting yourself from its effects.

2.        As for the potential for harming your art, it is worth noting that the ph of our Ultralight LDF is actually somewhat higher (less acidic) than that of our popular Basswood stock.  All of our LDF liners and panels include at least one coat of acrylic primer before being covered with fabric.  This primer combines with our Miracle Muck ^TM to form an effective barrier that virtually eliminates the flow of acidity within the Liner.  We do not recommend this product for use in situations calling for “conservation quality” components but believe this combination of substrate/primer/adhesive offers the best protection against acidity migration of any Liner being sold today.

It is hard to believe that a “composite” material could make a better Liner than my long time favorite Basswood.  What is it that makes you believe this is so?  Are there any exceptions to this preference ?

Here are the key reasons we believe Ultralight LDF is going to be the material used for the vast majority of our Liners from this point forward:

1.            As a Liner material LDF is more consistent than other woods in that it is the same uniform color and consistency and also in the sense that it is more stable and free of internal tension.  This makes it straighter, with a lower propensity for curving or warping, as well as being less likely to expand or contract as it changes environments.  It does not have finger-joints, knots, or other surface irregularities usually found in Liners milled from Basswood, Pine or Poplar, nor does it appeal to pests like some tropical species of wood. 

2.            Another benefit of its consistency can be seen whenever you cut or join an LDF liner.  We have never worked with a substrate that cuts and joins as well as the Ultralight LDF.  It is firm enough to cut cleanly but not so firm that it would ever split or redirect a v-nail.  Every stick is the same throughout its length, unlike most finger-joined Liner stock where each section of the stick can be different from the next.

3.            Ultralight LDF takes primer nicely and we join it using Muck just like with our other liners.  We have never had any instances of “grain raising” in the LDF though this is fairly common in Pine and even Basswood liner stock.

4.            Because Ultralight can be milled so much easier than Pine or Basswood we are able to offer custom modifications on our LDF liners at no charge rather than having to bill for the extra time it takes to specially mill our Basswood liners.

5.            Unlike every other kind of Liner, with Ultralight LDF we are not limited to what we can cut from a stick or join with our v-nailer.  Working with Ultralight LDF we can now create Liners in either of two ways:

·         The traditional syle – in stick form, in lengths that are either 8 ft or 10 ft.

·         In an entirely new style we call “Panel Liners” where the Liner is made in from a solid sheet of material up to a maximum size of 48” X 96” in ANY SHAPE, with ANY NUMBER OF OPENINGS, WITH OR WITHOUT RABBETS, or with many DIFFERENT EDGE TREATMENTS.   “PANEL LINERS” or simply “PANELS” can be made from stock that is anywhere from 3/8” to 3/4” thick and can serve equally well as ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL MATS OR LINERS.

6.            Unlike most commonly available Mat Board stock which tends to be limited to sizes below 40” X 60”, Ultralight LDF “Panels” can be ordered up to an outside maximum of 48” X 96”.  Since most of our Fabrics are in the 45” or wider range this means it is possible in many cases to cover Panels as large as 48” x 96” without any seams in either the Fabric OR the substrate.

7.            Though we have long advocated the “Continuous-Covered” Liner as the best way to produce Fabric-Covered Liners involving wider profiles, our new Ultralight LDF Panels offer you the choice of having no seams in the Fabric covering your Liner, or the Liner itself.  The strength of this product is far superior to any Liner that begins with cutting and joining the base.  Profiles such as our “MatLiners” (profiles 60, 62, 63, 64, 70, 72, 73, 74) that were very thin and somewhat fragile even when joined and covered continuously, can now be ordered as Panels with no seams.  This is a much better product that also now costs less because of the huge reduction in damaged frames.

8.             The precision of the computer guided milling of each “Panel” is so perfect that we can easily include such special features as Inlay Channels or Custom Rabbets for only a few extra dollars per additional opening allowing us to provide even Liners with Multiple Openings for a cost that is less than that of a Multi-Opening Mat.

9.            The variety of depths available in our Ultralight LDF Panels literally adds an additional dimension to your project.   The nearly infinite expansion in terms of design possibilities coupled with the very substantial cost saving potential of this alternative makes it difficult to beat.  Here is one simple example to consider:  A 24 X 48 Multi-Opening project where the client wishes to have the antique photos protected by high dollar UV blocking “Conservation quality” glass.  If rather than covering the entire area with one large piece of this glass, small rabbets are created behind each window of a “Panel” made from Ultralight LDF and covered with fabric, the Framer will be able to use smaller pieces of this expensive glass saving literally hundreds of dollars yet meeting the clients need equally well if not better.

10.         For those concerned with the potential acidity of a Panel compared to that of a “Rag Mat”, there are several extremely effective “sealers” available that can take the very adequate protection offered by our Acrylic Primer and Miracle Muck adhesive to a level deemed sufficient for designation as “archival” quality by the Library of Congress.  Camger Coatings, for example, offers a product “1-175” Polyglase Urethane Sealer that has been recognized specifically for use in conservation applications.

11.         I have saved one final benefit available to those who pick Ultralight LDF as their Liner substrate.  I have saved it for last because for us it is not as significant, but our biggest customers have found it to be very important.  We now offer both a Basswood and an Ultralight LDF version of the majority of our Liner Profiles.  There are a few profiles only offered in Basswood (C, M, O, N, NN, U, X, XX ) and a somewhat bigger group, including about a dozen new shapes, that are offered only in LDF.  Where both a Basswood and LDF version are available, the Ultralight LDF version will usually run about 20-30% below the cost of the Basswood version.  On the larger profiles like EE, or QR the difference is even greater.  Basswood is a wonderful species of wood that we have been very proud to feature as our primary Liner material for almost 25 years. But in recent years, as more and more of it is being harvested here and in Canada and shipped to meet rapidly growing demand in China, it has increased in price by roughly 30%.  This trend and the differential in price between the two products is only likely to increase in the years to come.  As more and more of our customers continue to switch to this new substrate, we may find it impractical to continue offering both forms in such a large number of profiles.  For now we are in no rush to push one option over the other.  

Obviously, given all these useful qualities, you can see why we have become very fond of Ultralight LDF.  Still, there are a few situations where we do not believe this new substrate is the best material for the job.  Here they are:

1.            Liner profiles that are smaller than our 1” French bevel profile “K”.  We feel that Ultralight LDF  does not offer any significant improvement over our Basswood versions of the profiles “A”, “O”, or “M”.  The slightly less rigid nature of the Ultralight LDF can make these very small profiles appear to be more fragile. 

2.            We will continue to offer all of our Stretcher Bar Profiles only in Basswood stock.  When the product is being used in place of a Liner or Mat, neither of which is expected to serve as the structural foundation of the framing package, then Ultralight LDF is the best choice.  For those situations where the product’s rigidity is essential to the role it performs within the framing package – for example, in the case of rectangular stretcher frames over which a canvas will be stretched, we continue to believe the best overall material is Basswood.  This does not mean that we cannot make an Ultralight LDF Stretcher Bar that will be as strong as a Basswood one, that is not a problem.  It’s just that to do so is more expensive than simply cutting and joining four pieces of a Basswood stretcher bar.  For those situations where this approach is not an option, for example, if you need a “Stretcher Frame” that is circular or in the shape of an oval, we can produce Ultralight LDF Custom Stretcher Frames that include crossbar sections in their design in any size up to an outside maximum of 48” X 96”.  These Custom Stretcher Bars will be as strong or stronger than any bar that might be created by cutting and joining sections of a stick.  

   So now you have the whole story behind our very important new product.  Ultralight LDF has changed and will keep changing our business in more ways than we could have ever imagined.  It is not just a new type of “Liner” it is an entirely new approach to how Liners are created.  The versatility of this product and its infinite potential for customization means that we can offer a different Liner for every customer and every job at a cost that may be less than if we were selling everyone the exact same profile with the exact same fabric.  We have always felt that the space between the Art and the Frame is a really creative place, an opportunity for Framers to really make a statement and distinguish their work from what is common.  This is what your customers are looking for.  They want framing that is original, personalized in a way that meets the needs of both the image and the space it will occupy.  We believe our products do more to allow you to accommodate these needs, at a surprisingly reasonable cost.