Speaking as a custom framer of over 30 years, I think you have done a very informative and objective paper on this topic.
Thanks!
PS... I hate Museum Glass ;-)
David
Thanks David!
I hate it too :-)
Nice write up.
we switched to all ArtGlass for anti reflective projects about a couple of years ago. The WW version without UV protection is stunning with a face mounted print under it. Not bad with the UV protection either.
Thanks Wayne! That's a smart choice. I assumed you used Tru Vue previously? Did you experience problems that made you want to switch or was it because of costing reasons?
Facemounting with Artglass WW, sweet! I'm only concerned about the fragility of the glass.
David,
Why?
Paul has rightly pointed out the issue with old Museum Glass. The coating is very difficult to clean - this issue should never be underestimated. Of course it is not impossible to clean, but it does take much more care and time to get it clean. For something really masochistic, try getting a piece of Optium Museum Acrylic full of fingerprints clean
I also don't like the waviness in the UV coating of Museum Glass. Very ugly. The glass used is also regular glass, not low iron glass, so the transmission is not as high as it could be.
There is a new version of Museum Glass with a much easier to clean coating and supposedly is more durable. I was sent a sample kit by Tru Vue and tested it against the old Museum Glass. The new one is truly much easier to clean but the coating was much more fragile, scratching as easily as plain acrylic. I wrote them about this and they said maybe it is an anomaly. In the course of my research I have uncovered evidence of Tru Vue's QC issues, I won't comment further. If you are a long time framer or have dealt with many batches of their glass you would know from experience, and probably better than I do. I don't sell either one of these products and could care less about such issues, except that a more problematic product translates into higher framing cost from my favorite local framers, and none of us like to pay more to receive more trouble down the road.
They do have a new type of glass that is supposed to be easier to clean and handle but with a lesser amount of UV filtering. Ultra Vue and it also costs about half of what museum costs.
I covered UltraVue extensively in my article. Something I did not call attention to is that the coatings on UltraVue (and Artglass) are applied using magnetron sputtering, and so are extremely hard-wearing and durable. More or less as durable as the glass itself, and will theoratically last forever. The coating of Museum Glass is not magnetron sputtered, is softer and scratches more easily, and will degrade over time. I won't elaborate more on this. Framers and artists will likely continue to use whatever they have decided their favourite glazing is, which probably greatly depends on access to such materials in their own local market/distributorship and the raw material cost.