The making of Photo Blocks
The blocks take lots of efforts to make. So grab your favourite drink and let me show you how it’s done in our workshop.
One thing to keep in mind is how critical it is to keep the surface dust free. No air bubble. No dust. No threads. Perfect. Smooth.
1. Prepare the block.
We bought the custom wood block from a local supplier and then get it painted perfect black on the borders and the back. Tim is sanding the surface to make it as smooth as possible. After the sanding, use a soft cloth to cleaning up any dusts left over from the sanding process.
Yes, it’s a static-free wet cloth. Static attracts dusts which we don’t really want.
2. Apply the sticky paper.
The photo will be attached to the block via the sticky paper.
First we need to apply the sticky paper to the sanded surface. We then use a sharp razor to cut the block off from the sticky paper.
3. Put the photo onto the sticky surface
Before we peel off the paper and stick the photo on, we use a soft brush to make sure there is no air bubble left. Then, time to peel the backing paper off. The surface under it is very sticky now. (The glue is transparent so you can’t see it. )
Only peel off a thin slice of the backing paper. Make sure the photo is glued tightly to the paper.
4. Laminator: two becomes one.
We carefully put the photo onto the sticky surface but leave as much photo un-touched as possible. Then we use a machine called laminator to firmly press the photo to the sticky surface.
Here you can see that we gradually lift off the sticky paper as it moves under the roller. Let the roller pushes the photo evenly and firmly onto the sticky surface. We gradually lift off the sticky paper to minimise the time the sticky surface exposed to the air so that dusts won’t get between the block and the photo.
5. Put on the Crocodile hook.
We are almost done. The block has a hook on the back and we need to find the right location to put a hook there. If we are not careful, the block won’t stay levelled when you hang it onto the wall.
