The Framers Forum

There is an easy way to do this - but you might not want to hear it. Traditional rabbit skin glue gesso. Paint on a couple of coats. Leave to dry. Sand back a bit. Now paint on some cold water, let it soak in - and now you can scrape in with a wire brush to create whatever effects you wish. And of c...

On my website - https://www.dermotmcardle.co.uk/ - there is now a full 7 part video course on how to gild with gold leaf. This is with special reference to professional framers who may want to add this craft to their many existing skills. Knowledge of gilding would be of significant value in attract...

As everyone in the previous replies has said, gilt cream is just a wax paste with a coloured mica pigment. You can apply wax over wax with no problems but there might be a chance that the upper wax solvent will soften the lower gilt cream and cause it to streak a bit as you rub in. But, don't worry ...

There - Prospero manages to sum up the whole debate in just a few short sentences. What I could add and to echo Justin's point, preparation is everything. If it's a basic flat obeche frame, make sure to sand the mitres perfectly flat and give the outer corners a wipe with the sandpaper, so as to blu...

Acrylic gesso is fine if you just want to ' fill the grain '. Only problem is that it's a hard chore to sand to a smooth finish - compared to traditional gesso made with rabbit skin glue. And this indeed is an animal by-product, same as leather shoes and belts. But then you have acrylic gesso which ...

Or .. go to a garden center and you can buy plant wire to tie up shrubs. It has a dark green coating and comes in several gauges, from light to heavy duty.

That's interesting that you find the medullary ray pattern a distraction on oak mouldings. I suppose if you prefer a plainer bleached oak effect, then the appearance of these marks can be a bit irritating. One way around it is to sand the surface down a bit more. As the oak ages, the medullary patte...

Hi Sarah. Those are nice frames and very skillful gilding. If the new frame shop can keep you busy and you get to use their workshops, then all you need to do is double up on your materials costs and add an hourly rate at which you can live comfortably. You already have your previous salary as a gui...

Another way to do it is to give the scarves to a seamstress or local sewing group ("stitching and bitching" etc) and have them hand sew the scarves onto two linen squares, cut 130mm x 130mm. Then you can wrap that 'round whatever size of foamboard and stick it down however you like at the ...

Have you tried decorator's caulk? It comes in white, but you could mix some paint into it to match whatever your frame colour is. Caulk is very flexible and intense, and the easiest way is to rub it over the mitre whilst wearing vinyl gloves.

Look for the Air Flow Regulator Valve in your user manual. It should be a small brass knurled knob, located somewhere down either side of the machine. Tightening it will slow down the blade advance and loosening, speed it up.

Buy the large single sheets of double thickness corrugated cardboard first and make your own boxes. Then when you have some volume sales, have the boxes made.
Go to a builders supplies yard and buy their 25mm insulation polystyrene board - much cheaper.

That works really well Mark. I see you also understand the importance of the first 10 or 15mm of profile in from the sight edge. Something I've been blathering on about. Get that inner profile to stand up alone first and then you can do whatever wiggly moulding you like around the outside.

I don't know which shade of Liberon gilt cream you have but I would say that Chantille is your best bet and if you mix a little burnt umber into the cream, that should tone down the colour a bit. Better if you have the dry powder as that will matt down the finish too. Or maybe stipple some matt varn...

Just a small technical point. If you want the gilding to have a mirror effect, then the leaf has to be water-laid. This is done first, using the mapping underneath the glass as a guide. Then the leaf is ruled into with a dampened wooden stylus and all the excess rubbed away. Then you only need to ma...

That's easy. Just sandwich an ordinary mount with a much wider aperture between the glass mount and the art.
You won't be able to see it behind the black of the glass mount.

I've had several similar sanders made by Makita. Good sanders, light and easy to use. But I only got a year out of any of them. The problem is the small nylon supports for the sanding bed fatigue over time and that's the end of the sander. I've been using a pneumatic orbital sander for the last 25 y...

The original glass mount was called a Verre Eglomise mount. That was where a gold line was drawn on the glass around the sight edge of the framed image. A bit like the beveled edge on a cardboard mount. Then the remaining area of glass to the frame edge was painted black. The line of gold needed to ...

Hello again. First let's talk about the saw. As I said on my previous post, forget about using the clamps. There should be a pressure adjusting knob which regulates the speed at which the blades move towards the moulding. On my Brevetti saw, it is a small brass knurled knob, on the right hand side a...

Hello jtremblay I know this is a UK forum and you're in America but I couldn't help being intrigued by your problem. I too have a Brevetti double mitre saw and it's a bloody good machine. First thing is forget about the clamps. I've had my machine for nearly 30 years and have never bothered with cla...