Framing an OS map « Singletrack Forum

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Framing an OS map

24 posts & 17 voices | Started 3 months ago by headfirst | Latest reply from cinnamon_girl

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headfirst - Member

I've got myself a custom OS map centred on my house ( I'm near the edge of the actual local one) and I'm now after getting it framed. The thinking behind this is obviously easy route planning but also so that I can mark out the route I'm about to do (with a whiteboard pen/highlighter) so the wife knows roughly where I am in case of a problem. (This occurred quite recently when I fell off and broke my wrist only about 15 minutes into my ride). I'm not after anything fancy, it will go in the rarely-used back room, but I need it to be behind a wipe-clean surface (glass or perspex).

So before I go off to my local picture framer (not cheap) has anybody had this done themselves and can recommend something or someone. Cheap clip frames seem to come in standard sizes, none of them being OS map size.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

OS Maps sizes are big - as in wide in both x and y which makes most frames tricky. You could chop your nice new map...
I recycled some old frames I had for some large nautical charts I had done years ago. The framer reset the frame and re-cut the glass.

I managed to fit all but an inch or so in one direction inside the frame and surround.

I have a 1:50k and 1:25k site centred map.

clip frames, chopping your map and cutting the glass to fit might be your cheapest option.

EDIT: PS obviously you need to keep the perimeter of the map on at least one horizontal and vertical edge to be able to read grid refs.

Posted 3 months ago #
molgrips - Member

My mate has one by the door which is handy for a quick check of something before you pop out - it's faded almost to nothing in three or four years though.

Posted 3 months ago #
globalti - Member

Mark your route on a map?

Tsk, why not carry a homing pigeon like the rest of us?

Posted 3 months ago #
crispedwheel - Member

It might also be worth checking out any local auctions for stuff from companies going bust etc - the size you want is similar to those you might get in office receptions etc isn't it? Or maybe army surplus places?

Posted 3 months ago #
GrahamS - Member

so the wife knows roughly where I am in case of a problem.

Can I suggest an alternative technological solution?

If you have a smartphone with GPS then there are quite a few apps that can transmit your route + current position to let your wife check up on you as you ride.

Might be a bit more useful than "Well officer, I know he is somewhere on this 30 mile route. Unless he decided to take a detour.."

But a framed map is a nice thing to have anyway

Posted 3 months ago #
headfirst - Member

technological solution
and the wife do not go hand in hand

Posted 3 months ago #
GrahamS - Member

Fair enough.

Perhaps a hybrid? Use your phone to text your grid ref so she can look it up on the paper map

Posted 3 months ago #
collinstiffee - Member

you get an app that can follow phones and when you put the details into the tracker site, it shows position of phone on a map.
it's dead easy.

Posted 3 months ago #
TooTall - Member

Do you need a frame around it? Just some ply for the backing and a perspex sheet screwed to the front using mirror screws does a decent job. Chinagraph on a bit of string to write on it and you are sorted.

Posted 3 months ago #
zokes - Member

If you have a smartphone with GPS then there are quite a few apps that can transmit your route + current position to let your wife check up on you as you ride.

This isn't much use if you're really just off to the pub, but want your wife to think you're exercising....

Posted 3 months ago #
headfirst - Member

Graham, colin - yeah I've got GPS on my phone, but that doesn't solve the problem of getting my map framed!

Stoner: is the one of the left South Pennines Explorer (1:25k)? I'm just off that, so mine is 1:50k and includes most of that.

I don't trust myself with any DIY solutions...

zokes: nail + head!!!

Posted 3 months ago #
brassneck - Member

Framers cost me around £70 the last couple of times, but to be honest I think it's worth it for something to hang on the wall. I had a cut down one in an Ikea mount and it all fell apart within a year.

Posted 3 months ago #
headfirst - Member

Yeah, a £70 frame for a map that cost me £16 seems arse about tit, but you're right it's the best solution in the long-run.

Posted 3 months ago #
frogstomp - Member

Depending on how big it is, laminating might be another option.. a local printers may be able to help...

Posted 3 months ago #
andyl - Member

Take a look at Ikea. Lots of cheap frames in some odd sizes.

Posted 3 months ago #
psling - Member

Have a word with these people.

They may be able to help; possibly printed onto a wipe clean board? Never used them and they may be prohibitively expensive. Worth asking the question though?

Posted 3 months ago #
Neil Fones - Member

i have too a map centered on my house! as a good solution to frame inexpensively.......buy a 70x100 frame from IKEA and chop down your map cutting off those less interesting bits or maybe the key so it fits

it works!

neil

Posted 3 months ago #
Esme - Member

headfirst
Stoner: is the one of the left South Pennines Explorer (1:25k)? I'm just off that, so mine is 1:50k and includes most of that.

No, I reckon it's the Malverns

Posted 3 months ago #
cinnamon_girl - Member

Phew! Quite relieved that I am not the only person to have a framed map on the wall.

Mine is from 1906 and I need a magnifying glass to plot my routes.

Posted 3 months ago #
chaos - Member

it's faded almost to nothing in three or four years though.

Can you get UV-blocking glass/perspex?

Posted 3 months ago #
GrahamS - Member

Just rub it down with sun tan lotion?

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

No, I reckon it's the Malverns

tiz indeed. You can see the M50 running through from west to east and the hills north to south.

Thats the 1:25k n the left, and 1:50k on the right.

Mine were never printed brilliantly, I think the blue was running out of the printer they used, but I didnt really make a fuss.

Posted 3 months ago #
cinnamon_girl - Member

Here's mine:

Close up, maybe:

Anyone recognise the singletrack:

Posted 3 months ago #