I made a frame and stretched a canvass for on of my customers, and am challenging it to be the biggest canvass stretch in the world!
It was to be donated by the owner for a charity auction, but he had a few too many beers and bought it back for £2000.
He took it home, (he lives in a flat) and found he could not get it up the stairs or in the lift! The problem was solved when he tied a washing line around it and hoisted it up the outside of the flats and through his patio doors! Sadly, no picture of him doing it.

Well, actually less on bubble displays, I have just finished a couple of display items, mainly a pair of Ricky Hatton boxing gloves, and a Lewis Hamilton cap,  which wouldn't suit the bubble type display.
As you can see, the rear of the display is approx 120mm deep, and hangs courtesey of two hanger straps, making for a solid fixing platform.

You can now follow our antics on facebook under Sports Framing Ltd.....enjoy

We now have a supply for perspex bubbles....suitable for displaying boxing gloves, football boots, or anything really, set in the frame of your choice, with enough room for photos and plaques etc. the bubble size in approx 500x400, (20" x 16").
Also we have the same facility for displaying cricket bats.Photo to follow.

We had a North West Meeting last night, (Wed 19thOct), very kindly hosted by Colourmount (Slater Harrison) at their factory in Macclesfield.
Firstly, thanks to Slater Harrison for their hospitality, then thanks for attempting to get the North West Branch of the FATG up and running again.
About 10 people attended, Louise Hay, FATG MD came all the way from London to give support, Maxwell Roberts, Master of the Guild came from Leeds, others came from Scotland, Kent and Liverpool, but sadly only one North West framer was present....yours truly!

Check out the Free Index Site, where Sports Framing are now in pole position, following some very kind reviews from some of out customers and clients. It is very interesting to look at some of the negative reviews of our competitors.....nobody gets it right 100% of the time, but hey, when one gets things wrong, one has to put them right no matter what the cost.
Also we have been given the Free Index Award, and are a recommended Free Index company for consistently good reviews.

Debs and I went to Barmoor Castle Holiday Park last Friday to buy a caravan for our hols, having sold our house in France, (and being totally lost as to what to do for our hols). We stumbled across Barmoor Castle purely by accident. It is without doubt the most beautiful site I have ever been to......a far cry from Haven Holiday Homes site, where we made the mistake of going to this year.
We have been annoying Ann, the owner for the past few weeks, trying to get the van we wanted, on the pitch we liked. Couldn't seem to get just the correct combination we wanted.
So we antagonised her yet again this weekend, following a call from her saying she had the perfect opportunity. We spent the whole day there, but didn't buy the caravan......we went stupid and bought a Log Cabin, by the duck pond. It was bought for her son Jamie, who works with her on the site, so had a very high spec, but who has since bought the old East Entrance Lodge house which luckily came up for sale. Lucky for us too 'cos the cabin is absolutely stupendous, with two en suites, dish washer, washing machine, etc etc.
We spent just a bit more than we had planned (a fortune) but we both fell in love with it, so dived in. I will take some photos this weekend and blog them.
There you go folks............. the photo's are uploaded for your perusal.
www.barmoorcastle.co.uk is the link if you want a dreamhome for your hols.

I have already mentioned in a previous blog that I am the proud owner of 4 banjos (all of them 5 string banjos) I have two Gibson RB250s, a Fender and a Countrtyman Pro. I started playing about 2 years ago after visiting the Frigate Arms in Whitefield, Manchester (Tuesday night, 8.30 -10.30, all welcome, free entrance), and now have about 20 songs in my repertoire. I have always wanted to busk....so last Friday I bit the bullet, pitched up in St Helens Square, York, (right outside Betty's Cafe, and got on with it. After an hour I had earned the princely sum of £3.70 so I called it a day. (I will be donating the money to a charity, and furthermore I will be busking for Children in Need in November).
My Lady (Debs) was told DEFINITELY not to come, but she did, but hid around the corner. She also took a photo, which, when I get it off her I will upload for your amusement.

Now then, how's this for a prestigious framing job....to actually frame NOEL GALLAGHER'S GUITAR!
It was signed by Noel with the comment "don't look back in anger," and had to be a free standing unit, plus, it had to have a hinged front door, so it could be removed for loving! Where to begin indeed dear reader.The box was easy, 40mm x12mm pine, painted with ICI Dulux emulsion paint, mixed specially at B&Q, two coats, rubbed down in between coats. glued and pinned, with a DJ Simons black 'key range' mountboard as a backboard, and 5mm hardboard back painted black. Two thirds up the back we inserted another frame to act as a hinged support for display.

As Noel is a BIG Man City fan, a 'City Blue' and silver frame (ARQADIA 479 124 358) was chosen as the front hinged door, and no, I haven't spelled Arqadia wrongly, with 5mm Perspex glazing for strength and lightness.

On the Wizard Mountcutter, I entered the pathtrace function, to make up the guitar shape and modify it for size, held into the front door by tabs.
To hold the guitar in place, I cut 6 pieces of 12mm wood dowel, painted them black, and drilled the ends to take a 3mm screw, OFF centre. Placing the guitar in situ, I drew around the base, and also the neck, and drilled 4 holes around the base and two at the top of the neck, straight through the back board. I offered up the drilled dowel, and screwed in place, but did not tighten. I put the guitar back in, after rubbing out the pencil lines. The guitar did not rest on all four pegs, so I rotated each peg in turn until it did. (THAT is why I drilled them off centre!).

Fancy brass hinges on the side, with fancy clasp finished the job. I hope you like it Noel.
 
Dave, from DRAF ENGINEERING LTD collected it, and has promised to get Noel to sign my banjo.....actually I have 4 banjo's but I guess he will only sign one.

This was a most difficult job, because the customer wanted a wall mounted display case to show 360 players (yes I did say 360 players), standing up, facing you as you looked at it.
A method of holding the players using pins into double Corex board worked fine, so that was the design easy enough, however we first had to stretch a green cloth Subuteo pitch and mark out 360 dots for the pins.....not easy. I managed the marking  by using a piece of 2000 micron board and drawing lines 18 horizontal and 18 vertical. Then I drilled 360 holes 2 mm diameter, laid it on the pitch and marked throught the holes with a Pilot Pen.
The frame consisted of two frames (Bret 20) hinged back to back, and held closed with 2 tiny brass hooks, and the job was glazed with 5 mm Perspex. Finished job was  fabulous. A photo will follow. The customer loved it.
He has promulgated it on the Subuteo website somewhere.
That's him holding it proudly!

We had a job to do for a customer which was something completely different.

The customer wanted the cloth Subuteo pitch stretching, and mounting onto some medium capable of inserting a pin, stable enough for it not to come out, to carry a player.....times 360!
Then he wanted the whole thing framing in a manner which allowed him to open and close it so that he could add the figures at a later date.
The mounting medium chosen was double Corex board which worked a treat. The frame used was Bret 20, back to back, glazed with Perspex for lightness

Well, Lawrence paid up with a grin on his face when he saw the outcome of the job, as you can see from the photo it was rather stunning. So all you fire damage assessors out there, this is the place to bring your problems. Mike

My Pal Lawrence from Pictor Gallery Boothstown brought this Fire Damaged piece in for restoration saying "this is right up your street Mike"...........what he really meant was he couldn't be bothered doing it! Actually, it was right up my street,as I love doing anything that is challenging or difficult.
Fortunately the boot cast was not damaged, but the signed photos were, but I managed to dress them out ok, and then backed them with Arqadia Permamount to get rid of the wrinkles caused by the fireman's hose!
The net result is astounding.........but Lawrence was not smiling when I told him how much.

Anyone wishing to buy my Wizard 8000 mount cutter should contact me immediately, £4500. Mike

Well, after 10 days of racing, and after all the dust has settled, yours truly ended up in 5th place.....a noble effort indeed considering that my glider is 40 years old and I was competing against the most modern ships available, and as a K.O.S - I was competing against all the hot shots.

Radio failure took my attention half way through the event, but I located the problem  and can fix it this weekend.

I will write later with more details and photos, anyone wishing for immediate details can log onto Yorkshire Gliding Club/northerns/results. Mike 

Don't forget all you framers out there, you can be trained AND tested to GCF standard both on the Wizard CMC and hand mount cutters at Sports Framing Ltd in Oldham. Training is one to one, and testing can be taken to suit your schedule.

Mike has entered the competition, and discarded the idea of going to Spain, based on the fact that it's too darn hot out there. The last few days of really hot weather made his mind up to stay in England! watch this space for his progress in the comp.

We have started to make presentation boxes for Amy Cunningham, who has a business called Casting Memories. It is rather a unique venture in that she takes a casting of babies feet and hands, colours them gold or silver, adds a name plaque, and there you have it, a memory of your child for all to see, which lasts for eternity. What a lovely present for grandparents. I will upload photos and Amy's web site shortly. Mike

Sports Framing Ltd are, like just about everyone else in the Oldham area, suffering as a result of the ongoing, seemingly endless upheaval caused by the new tram facility, that it would appear, nobody wants!
We are being hit on two fronts, firstly, as a result of the 'tempory' traffic lights which have been operating for 6 months so far,  motorists are no longer bothering to use Featherstall Road because of the hold ups, and so our footfall has fallen dramatically.
Secondly, there is no parking facility outside the front of the building, so clients are not bothering to stop.
If  you are visiting our factory, there is a large free car park at the rear of the building, so please feel free to use it. Mike 

I was all set to enter the Northerns this year, however, there are only 8 entrants at todays date (1st June 2011), and the competition is in the last week of July.............oh dear, there are normally 20 plus entrants by this time. It could be as a result of the bad weather conditions last year which has dampened every ones enthusiasm.
Sooooooooooooo I am fancying , by way of a change, taking my glider to Fuentemilanos in Spain for 3 weeks, (it's not worth going for less), travelling down to Portsmouth and catching the ferry to Santander, then tow the trailer overland to the airfield, which is just short of Segovia, in the mountains. The weather, although hot, is spectacular for gliding.
We will be putting a blow up bed in the trailer for sleeping arrangements...a bit basic, but loads a fun......will keep you in the picture.


Eyup, I flew at weekend, in a temperature of 25 degrees, and if that's a foretaste of Spain, I might give it a miss!