The Framers Forum

Sorry, but there isn't an easy way around your problem. Veneering over the edge is possible but will not look that good on finishing. Only advice I can give is look up a local joinery and ask them to trim off the edge. I'm surprised that that moulding now has a rounded outside edge. I used to use it...

Hi Jamesnkr. Good to hear you had success with the rosewood veneer. What you read about using Titebond as a hot-melt glue is rubbish. It has indeed got hot-melt properties but you would only use these on areas where the glue hasn't taken, like blisters or air pockets under the veneer. Done over a la...

If it doesn't contain any silica sand, I'm assuming it is just ground mica such as muscovite which is a commonly used adulterant in some paint processes. I've used mica flakes or powders in some instances and you can get a pronounced glitter effect. Some gilders use it in restoration work to simulat...

Use Liberon Black shellac polish, rubbing down with 0000 wire wool between coats.
Gilt cream will do the job.

Actually, stupid question. You would loose the mica effect if it was painted over!

Great work on those finishes. It's always interesting to read in debth discussions on hand-finishing. The mica sand you've been using. Is it a mix of silica sand with mica flakes added? And using it as an "inert pigment", is it mixed into your paints, or used as a base, and then painted ov...

Fiddes used to make "English Walnut " wax but now they don't. I would use "Georgian Mahogany" on rosewood, instead. [urlhttp://www.restexpress.co.uk/acatalog/Fiddes_Mellow_Wax.html][/url] If there was an easy step by step way to finishing veneers, I'd have written so much as to f...

Leading on from Hogarth frames to veneers, the most important thing you can do is sand or clean up the veneer properly. If that isn't done, then no matter what finish you apply, the frame will look crap. Assuming you have glued down the veneer flat, sand with 180grit first, then wet the veneer with ...

I've been making Hogarth style frames for nearly 15 years now. They are used by antique print dealers who want something more authentic than the mass produced mouldings. These can be quite nasty looking.
If you are interested, I can supply a finished frame costing anything from £18 to £35 per foot.

This looks like weathered Yew wood. From the blunted corner, I guess this has been "made" as opposed to factory finished. The short answer is you will need some weathered wood, ie left out in the garden pieces. Remove all the nails and have someone run it through a rip saw to cut it to siz...

Good advice from Framemaker. All the framing I do involves mounting antique prints and maps and nearly always, the image is un-square. They look fine on their own, but once inside a frame or mount, the difficulties arise. As Framemaker says, wriggle it around 'till you get an average look, but I alw...

That's a very convincing looking frame.
How many hours work?

That's an interesting discussion on the merits and profitability of hand finishing.Where you have a wide variety and quantity of customers, it makes good sense to have a selection of quick and easily replicated finishes. I would always prompt to explore the creation of higher spec. finishes. These t...

Iv'e never used the stuff but looking at the data sheet on their web-site, the product is an acrylic varnish with a wax dispersal, tinted with stains and/or pigments. I think that when dry, you would be able to enhance the wax element with some fine wire wool. Being a water based product, it would b...

Hello again. Good idea to get some gold size to use the existing book of transfer leaf. Make sure your bole surface has been sealed with shellac polish before applying the gold size. You'll get the best results if you apply the size as thinly as possible ie brush on the size, wring out the brush wit...

Hello Louisesimon I'm afraid you're trying to water gild with transfer gold. The book of gold leaf you are using is only meant for an oil sized surface where the size is allowed to dry tacky and the pages of goldleaf pressed on to the surface to release the gold. If you want to water-gild you will n...

Is it just me? What on earth is everyone trying to say?

Thanks everyone.

Thanks Kevlar for reminding me of the obvious - the prints are valuable and should be mounted first on smaller pieces of museum board before attaching to the blocks of foamboard. I agree with the use of PVA to fix the mounted work to the backing board. I was hoping to use conservation foamboard; sho...

I have a set of twelve antique prints to be float mounted in a group, within the same frame. The plates are about book size each and I will be fixing each print on to a slightly smaller cut piece of foamboard, 10mm thick and then fixing each onto the backingboard, in an evenly spaced group. What is ...