Search found 114 matches

by Benhen
Sun 29 Oct, 2023 3:53 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Nitric Acid?
Replies: 6
Views: 3601

Re: Nitric Acid?

Thank you for sharing your hard-won experience, Dermot. Really, thank you.
by Benhen
Sun 29 Oct, 2023 2:00 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Nitric Acid?
Replies: 6
Views: 3601

Re: Nitric Acid?

Thank you, Dermot, Jerome and Prospero -- much appreciated. Perhaps there are no shortcuts. In 'Practical Gilding' by Peter and Ann MacTaggart the only assistance is hidden in a short sentence to coat the areas one wants with shellac then dust rottenstone into the cracks and fissures. Here's a photo...
by Benhen
Sun 29 Oct, 2023 10:33 am
Forum: Help!
Topic: Nitric Acid?
Replies: 6
Views: 3601

Nitric Acid?

Hi, Need help over how to bite into gold leaf and gesso to get that aged look. Mechanical wear is essential but it can look somewhat pretentious on its own. Does Nitric acid work and if so at what strength. I have been reading about Aqua Regis. But again I know nothing. Can anyone offer any assistan...
by Benhen
Tue 30 Jul, 2019 10:17 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Half-Lap Joints / Machinery
Replies: 21
Views: 7524

Re: Half-Lap Joints / Machinery

Prospero's sorcery -- could be a good title?

It was mine Art,

When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape

The pine and let thee out.

— The Tempest, Act 1, scene 2.
by Benhen
Mon 29 Jul, 2019 5:01 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Half-Lap Joints / Machinery
Replies: 21
Views: 7524

Re: Half-Lap Joints / Machinery

You are wicked, Prospero. Quel genius! Thanks for the head's up guys. So table saw is best? Perhaps I was just trying to shirk the hard work. Prospero, though it is a marvel and great for a stretcher, the half laps are for a frame -- think all those Cornish Mod Brits, Hepworth, Nicholson, Lanyon etc...
by Benhen
Mon 29 Jul, 2019 12:12 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Old frame with woodworm - advice?
Replies: 15
Views: 5401

Re: Old frame with woodworm - advice?

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole..... Sorry, just having fun. I've messed a round with these sorts of frames before -- it ended in tears. As the man says, tape top the back and take it to an auction.
by Benhen
Mon 29 Jul, 2019 12:05 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Half-Lap Joints / Machinery
Replies: 21
Views: 7524

Half-Lap Joints / Machinery

Hi, Advice needed, please! Can anyone recommend a decent machine for making half-lap joints about, say, 90-100mm wide? At present I'm using a cheap Titan table saw from Screwfix, which, if set up and treated carefully, is absolutely brilliant. However there is a good deal of sawdust and it is a slow...
by Benhen
Sun 28 Apr, 2019 5:11 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Toning
Replies: 13
Views: 4763

Re: Toning

Thanks guys. You are very generous with your help. Very kind indeed. I like the idea of a blow torch very much - all 3 ideas are crackers - apols.
by Benhen
Sat 27 Apr, 2019 10:15 am
Forum: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Topic: Massive Mouldings
Replies: 43
Views: 31610

Re: Massive Mouldings

Forgive me, Prospero, I mean :xcomputer:
by Benhen
Sat 27 Apr, 2019 10:13 am
Forum: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Topic: Massive Mouldings
Replies: 43
Views: 31610

Re: Massive Mouldings

That’s some sandwich, Robo. Yum-scrum.
by Benhen
Sat 27 Apr, 2019 10:08 am
Forum: Outgassing
Topic: Van Gough Works Deteriorating
Replies: 5
Views: 12510

Re: Van Gough Works Deteriorating

Interesting. Not so long ago a senior director of a major American museum messaged me privately about his Monet, bits of the painting were shearing off at a disturbing rate and they were desperate. There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the care of pictures, despite global conservation conventions et...
by Benhen
Sat 27 Apr, 2019 9:56 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Toning
Replies: 13
Views: 4763

Toning

Does anyone have any ideas on how this finish (see photo) can be achieved? I need to tone down the side walls of a frame and thought that this technique looked good (and timeless)
Grateful for any tips.
Ben
by Benhen
Mon 11 Mar, 2019 4:18 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Glass
Replies: 14
Views: 5146

Re: Glass

Interesting, Mark.
Reminiscent of the way new perspex magnetically sucked acrylic paint from the surfaces in the ? 60s/70s.
by Benhen
Mon 11 Mar, 2019 10:20 am
Forum: Help!
Topic: Glass
Replies: 14
Views: 5146

Re: Glass

Prospero, ur a pedant, but we love you :D
by Benhen
Mon 11 Mar, 2019 9:38 am
Forum: Help!
Topic: Glass
Replies: 14
Views: 5146

Re: Glass

Great so uv 70 is the way to go. Mind, two years ago at the Manchester art gallery, sitting in their caf, surrounded by lovely paintings.... except every single one of them was peppered with little green spots, about the size of tennis balls. It was the non-reflective glass in the frames turning the...
by Benhen
Mon 11 Mar, 2019 8:59 am
Forum: Help!
Topic: Bleaching oak
Replies: 7
Views: 2808

Re: Bleaching oak

Thanks guys, Mark, Dermot etc. Bottle of Liberinon order. Looking at that link, it seems a shame to remove all that beautiful patina. In my case I’m trying to add ‘touch and time’, to soften the new oak.
by Benhen
Sun 10 Mar, 2019 7:13 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Glass
Replies: 14
Views: 5146

Re: Glass

Thanks, YPF.
TBH I'll probably just stick to normal glass, the priority stuff being so expensive... people quite like looking at themselves after all.
Regards to the doggies.
by Benhen
Sun 10 Mar, 2019 2:15 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Bleaching oak
Replies: 7
Views: 2808

Bleaching oak

Anyone have much experience.... products, pitfalls etc.?
Much obliged.
by Benhen
Sun 10 Mar, 2019 2:14 pm
Forum: Help!
Topic: Glass
Replies: 14
Views: 5146

Glass

Old subject, apologies, but can anyone recommend glass for a 50X40cm oil. Requirements: cheap, easily cuttable, no tone and very little reflection. For a dark toned oil painting. UV is not a big problem as the oil pigments are robust. With thanks, Ben Robo, am hoping for info and your good experience.
by Benhen
Fri 03 Aug, 2018 11:03 am
Forum: Help!
Topic: Casein v Egg Tempera
Replies: 3
Views: 1874

Re: Casein v Egg Tempera

Thanks Dermot, most interesting. Would you say casein is more brittle? I want a crisp effect. Perhaps like a layer has broken off, like one might find on an old frame. Frustratingly Cornellissen only supply casein powder by the 1kg bag — I have lots of pigments and a sack of lime in the farm shed an...