The Framers Forum

If the elements on the back of a frame are neat, carefully attached, appropriate for the size of the frame and look like they were finished by someone who cares, surely that's all that matters. I'm 100% with Ormond on this one - as long as my frames look pukka and professional on the back, then I'm...

Personally i would go nowhere near this job. If the customer would stand the expense I'd send it to a conservator, if not I'd shrug and apologise. If you do go ahead ensure the customer is aware of the risks and get it in writing that you have their permission and that its not your problem if it goe...

NYAF, You could market yourself at the fetish scene In fact why not go the whole hog and back your frames with suedette mountboard Black leather black latex! I like a lighter look myself - all my frames are backed with chamois. The upside is that it regulates the moisture level in the back of the fr...

I framed a whole show of charcoal drawings last year. They were on rough cream-coloured asian paper, and on this paper the charcoal was a lovely brownish grey colour. In the end i did them all in chunky raw American white oak moulding, and they looked great - and quite harmonic. NYAF is correct thou...

Matalan...I'm not ashamed to say that most of my daily wear comes from there And why should you be ashamed John? You're keeping a dozen 7 year-old asians in employment, who would otherwise go hungry - a laudible achievement! :clap: I hope you enjoy the mattress - i've been after one for the narrowb...

I don't sell prints John, but i totally take your point. The amount of money i have tied up in stock would have paid for an assistant for the last couple of years - i could have cut down to 50 or 60 hours a week

Thankfully Bill you don't have to train up or anything, and as far as i know nobody ever got it taken away. One irony is that if they lock you up for not buying the licence(and for then not paying the fine), you get to watch all day in prison, and you don't need the licence :Slap: The good news for ...

any thoughts :?: Here's a thought - punctuate! Its a real pain to read a post like that - one has to translate it into meaningful language. Back to the topic, i have a steady trickle of small jobs - ticking over rather than mentally busy. This being London, there's always plenty of exhibitions happ...

Do they? I think Mike(Welshframer) is right to query this. I just went and tested my Morso and if the ratchet is not engaged, ie the sprue on the handle is between 2 of the notches it still cuts fine with no movement. Even on chunky oak!* I think this is to do with how well set up a morso is and ho...

Ages since i had to do this, but its not so hard using the method described(and a rebate can hide a multitude of sins )

There's no way I'm spending £70 on a toy i will use every 3 years and can manage without in any case

John, if you are talking about the 6mm chromed steel curved plate with the notches on which the bare steel part of the(moving) handle ratchets on, I've seen the procedure done, but it was 14 years ago and i didn't know what questions to ask. That said, it looked totally straightforward, so I'm assum...

I recently got my first set back from Mainline. I'm very happy with the results, and hopefully the quality will always be this high - Until i found Cathandon I'd had endless problems cutting fat oak and ash mouldings. Mainline charged me £28.98 including carriage both ways but its a small price to p...

Lordy! Sorry to hear about this, John! Thanks for sharing the (perversely fascinating) photos. I hope you are all OK and back up and running again soon. So I'm off to - 1. check smoke detectors are working 2. check I've had all electrical stuff looked over in the last 12 months 3. Check my insurance...

If ever anyone needs a conservator of any type, the Institute of Conservation is a useful resource - http://www.icon.org.uk/ and specifically their conservation register - http://www.conservationregister.com/index.asp Always found who i need there, although photo conservators are really thin on the ...

You're going to struggle to attach anything to that wax!

I'd use an encapsulation method(or ask the customer if they mind me making holes in the artwork!)

Or too soft-headed

Thought I'd better say it before someone else does

I have a simple way of pricing, I charge four times the cost of materiels If that works for your business Davie, stick to it. It would bankrupt me. It depends how you work. Occasionally i make frames that take a week. One of these used £100 of materials; one used £1000 worth. If i just multiplied m...

I don't know what percentage of taxation revenue is used for healthcare, but about 8.5% of GDP is spent. This includes private medical provision, however. This is below the average figure for western Europe, but is way up from about 6% 12 years ago. I had a google around and couldn't find the figure...

Bill Henry wrote:I fear the days of good, fast, efficient medical care is soon to be over.

That depends how much tax you want to pay, Bill.

Get well John. I hope you're back soon to dispense your wisdom(and to rant about whatever is irking you!) I'm not even going to bore everyone by telling you about the NHS in inner-city east London, but i will just mention that everyone i know who works in the NHS thinks that the target culture is po...