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The first step in mounting a puzzle involves gluing the puzzle. The most important thing you can do for yourself and your puzzle is to put a piece of thin plastic or another sturdy material under the jigsaw puzzle to prevent the puzzle from adhering itself to the surface on which you are gluing it. This will prevent you from having to later destroy your puzzle when you have to scrape it off the surface.
You should use an all liquid base glue. We personally don't like the spray-on glues because we find they don't cover evenly and usually end up gluing everything but the puzzle. The glue that comes in a powder form is great if you manage to mix it correctly. Often the powder glues are designed so that you can take your puzzles apart afterwards. We recommend using a glue that seals clear, solid and strong.
To glue a puzzle is a rather simple process and includes merely placing the completed jigsaw puzzle (picture side up) on a protected surface like a piece of thin plywood or another sturdy material. Take the jigsaw puzzle glue and evenly coat the surface of your jigsaw puzzle. When done, wait for it to dry (Some glues may take 2 to 4 hours to bond, seal and dry). For a glue that applies thinly, we recommend applying multiple light coats to the puzzle. Brushing too much glue on at first will cause your puzzle to swell up and may even cause the picture to begin peeling off the puzzle pieces. Customers have told us this problem usually only happens with lower quality puzzles like Ceaco, Great American Puzzle Factory and Kodac Puzzles. (The cheap puzzles that you can buy in craft stores and dollar stores along with puzzles sold in large chain stores are not worth buying). We recommend buying only these puzzle brands due to the solid quality of the puzzles. (Ravensburger, FX Schmid USA, Falcon, Piatnik, Clementoni, Jumbo, Serendipity, Ricordi Arte, Springbok and Educa)
Sometimes, once your puzzle has been glued, you'll notice that the edges may have curled up somewhat. This can be rectified by turning the puzzle over so that the unfinished side is facing up and then brushing glue on the back of the puzzle. When the glue dries, it will usually pull itself flat again. Alternatively, the puzzle can be covered to protect the surface and then be placed underneath a piece of plywood or anything flat that is bigger than the puzzle with a little weight on top in a dry area for a day or so.
We recommend two types of puzzle glue. Both types are applied directly to the surface of the puzzle. (To avoid ruining the finish of a Metallic puzzle, we recommend gluing the puzzles from the back)
By gluing the puzzle from the back, this saves having to flip the puzzle which is always a risky procedure. Since the glue is liquid it will seep through the puzzle so we recommend sliding a sheet of plastic underneath the puzzle before flipping it over. A drop sheet or garbage bag is usually enough to protect your table. Apply one even coat to the puzzle surface and let dry 30 to 60 minutes. Then lift off the plastic to see the spots missed on the first pass. Touch up and apply a full second coat. This will usually turn the puzzle into a stiff sheet of cardboard. It will take some practice to learn exactly how much glue to apply.
Ravensburger sells a quality glue that will glue up to four 1000 piece puzzles and is recommended for many puzzle types.
Since paint brushes leave streaks, your best bet might be to use a sponge to apply the glue. |
