Handfinishing course with a difference

[Not your average framer]

This is advanced notice of a handfinished framing course planned for Monday 7th April & Tuesday 8th April to be held in Bovey Tracey with training jointly provided by Pete Bingham and myself. Places on the course with be limited to about 30, so please indicate your intention of coming to me by PM in good time.

The cost per person for the whole two day course will be £180 for non-forum members, or £150 for forum members. If you are a lerker who has never joined the forum, here is an incentive to join and take part in this great forum.

A large part of the content of this course will be different to the previous course and I will investigate if there is scope to be able to offer an additional discount to those who attended the previous course, as it will be helpful mix a few are experienced in with those who are learning handfinishing for the first time.

As will be obvious to those who attended the previous course, the £150 for forum members is a saving of £30 compared to last year and this is because I want to make this course particularly attractive and beneficial to those who would like to come, but also want to exercise some financial restraint at the same time.

Unfortunately, as a result of limiting the price and at the same time wanting to offer something of real quality and advantage as the previous course, it is unlikely that the course will be viable with any less than 20 bookings. If there are not enough bookings, then the course will not go ahead. Members who came on the last course may be willing to tell anyone who wants to know about the fun, enjoyment and benefits of the previous course. The course will almost certainly be a one-off.

I will be posting more details as time goes on.

[Ricky]

Got to say we all had a great time on this course & at this price its a snip, almost temped to do it again. For those of you thinking about it, here are some highlights from the last one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am8KPGtpdb8

[Not your average framer]

We got through doing a lot more different finishes on the course than just those in the video. The last chevron shown in the video is not shown in it's finished state.

I keep the price down with the intention of keeping it affordable for everyone and making it an enjoyable course. We had two evening meals in two really nice pub settings, where the food is good at great prices. Loads of laughs, having fun and a really informal atmosphere.

There's a follow up thread somewhere on the forum, where those who were on the previous course gave their reactions after attending the course. Various people have asked me to do another one and I agreed to arrange one for last year, but it needed more numbers to make it viable, so in end it never happened.

To make it work this year, I asked Pete Bingham if he would like to help presenting /teaching and dropped the price as well. At this price, the course needs at least 20 people attending the course to make it viable. There's a lot of work and expense to putting on something like this. Everyone on the course was able to take away little pots filled with the remaining paints, etc., plus the brushes for the course and all the chevrons that each of us completed on the course.

When I can find the forum threads leading up to and after the previous course, I post some links. Pete has agreed to supply some everest paints for the course and I will supply some of my own concoctions for some really interesting finishes and effects. I am hoping that Pete will be able to arrange some of his paint kits at a discounted price for those on the course. As before the emphasis of the course is the best value for money course that I can put together.

[Not your average framer]

Here is the link to the follow up thread to the previous course. It has four pages of posts and contains quite a lot of useful hand finishing information, so I suggest that all four pages are well worth looking at.

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... ing+course

[Not your average framer]

Here is a link to the discussion thread which led up to the idea of the original course. At first, it was just gonning to be a get together of various framers to share ideas about handfinishing.

It's a lot of pages of posts. I was told that it is the bigest number of posts for any thread on the forum. It's worth going through the whole thread, as it's a very interesting thread with contributions from so many people.

It's also possible to see how the idea of a handfinishing get together slowly became a handfinishing course.

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... ing+course

[Not your average framer]

I'm looking around for the threads showing some of the hand finishing examples and other information I was posting during the time that I was getting ready to run the original course. I'll post the links as I find them!

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7763

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8048

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8253

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8289

[An Old Master]

I think it might be a good idea to also say that it is intended to include a good segment on mount decoration as well. My own emphasis will be on down to earth practical easily achieved effects using a range of readily available materials. And having a few laughs.

[Hannahframer]

Count me in!

[huntvambo]

Could be interested, is it a go'er?

[Not your average framer]

I have not confirmed the bookings for the town hall yet. I would like to have Pete Bingham to be part of the course as well, but it would be neccessary to cover his costs, so that will depend upon actual numbers on the course.

I've still get a couple of boxes of pre-made moulding chevrons from the previous course and a good stock of handfinishing materials, so my costs won't be quite so critical as with the first course and maybe I can still find some slack to cover Pete's costs if the numbers are lower. Requests to join the course have been growing over the last couple of weeks, so I'm quietly confident that things will be happening.

I have not started preparing sample finishes to photograph for the forum yet, as February is a difficult month for us and I got some urgent work to complete before the end of the month, but I expect to get that moving from next week and sample photos was the big trigger for registering for the original course.

I think that we are on course for a workable event!

[Not your average framer]

The response to the course is looking promising, so I have provisionally booked the town hall this morning, for the dates of Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th of April.

[theframingwizard]

I'm really tempted. Last one was great fun, might be better (warmer!) camping in April too.

Anyone going I highly recommend reading through Marks posts and having a go at some of the finishes before you come. It'll help you take in more when your there cos there's plenty of info to digest!

[AllFramed]

Won't be able to make this one Mark, my birthday weekend! Enjoyed the last one though. The side bonus is meeting up with others over food and beer and discussing other stuff too. Bet it won't be as warm this time! Good luck with it.

[Bagpuss]

Just wondering about train travel / accommodation to Bovey Tracey anyone ?

[Not your average framer]

Train travel is not a problem! The problems with the railway line at Dawlish should be over by then and the line is due to re-open on the 4th of April.

Alternatively, you can get a train to Exeter and travel from Exeter to Bovey Tracey on the Number 39 bus, or we may be able to collect you from Exeter by car.

We are also expecting to collect another person on the course from the airport, so we don't mind helping out where we can.

I need to contact a few local accommodation providers during the next few days, to see if I can get some discounts offered and Post the details for everyone.

We will arrange for a Sunday evening get together in a local food pub as before and an evening meal also in a local food pub, so that poeple are not left with nothing to do during the evenings.

As with the last course, we will have a meal in these places beforehand to make sure that the prices are reasonable and the food is really good too.

[Claim to Frame]

This course if probably above me at this moment in time (very new to framing and mastering the basics first before I start running!)

However for somewhere good to eat, I personally rate this place:

http://www.rock-inn.co.uk/

Go there every 3 months or so, and its lovely when you get up over the top into Dartmoor.

[Not your average framer]

I'm sorry to inform those who wish to come on the course that Pete Bingham has today told me that with regrets and apologies he is now no longer able to attend the course, due to an important business commitment which he cannot ignore and has to give priority to.

Pete is currently not able to post to the forum and has asked me to apologise for him. He is disappointed not to be able to be involved, and he and myself have been looking forward to his being involved. As a result, I will be taking the whole course myself, as I did so on the previous course, but this also means that due to not needing to cover Pete's expenses, I will not require so many to attend in order to make the course financially viable.

The start of the course is getting nearer and therefore I need to ask who is still wishing to attend the course, with a view to confirming by the middle of next week that the course will go ahead and then request payment from those who are coming. I am part way through producing samples to photograph and post on the forum during the next few days, so those wishing to come will see what to expect on the course before committing themselves to coming.

More mouldings for the course samples are due to arrive on Monday, so expect to interesting photos during the next few days. As those who came on the previous course will already know, I am into producing exciting looking profiles by combining (stacking) mouldings together and I think I have got some particularly good combinations to offer this time, so look out for the photos!

Now as for the previous course, providing a great course for the best possible value for money has always been a primary objective and as a result, I do not intend to re-schedule the course to a later date, because accommodation will become more expensive and less available as the season starts.

Currently it appears that three of those who attended the previous course are intending to attend this one, so I guess that this could be considered some kind of endorsement.

This course will not be a repeat of the same samples and finishes as the last one, but will use different moulding combinations and finishes. As before a full range of techniques and principles will be taught, which can be combined and used in many different ways to achieve a wide rage of finishes and results. I also intend to teach some worthwhile mount decoration techniques during at least one of the eight sessions over the two days of the course.

I hope that this will meet with the approval of all concerned.
Mark

[cuthbert]

I’ve no idea who this Pete Bingham character is but I have to say that your explanation for his not turning up does not sound too impressive on his part…

[Not your average framer]

The urgent need to be elsewhere was not of Pete's making. He had no control of the events which caused him to drop out of the course. I know the details of this and fully support him in what is a difficult decision.

[Not your average framer]

O.K., here is a picture of what I have prepared so far. The mouldings I had expected today have not arrived, so they will probably get here tomorrow, but time is pressing and the picture shows what I already have prepared. I can add the rest later!

Sample chevron for course.jpg (226.58 KiB) Viewed 11104 times

The top five chevrons on the left hand side are produced by stacking Rose & Hollis mouldings A9 pine and A15 obeche. From top to bottom the finished are: gold over red, gold over green, gold over blue, gold over black and raw sienna over prussian blue.

The next one down has a florentine centre section with a warm white top coat over red, yellow, green and blue specks underneath. I don't know why, but the colour of the centre section in this picture does not look anything like the actual appearance of the moulding. The moulding came from Venton Enterprises and I am told that it is still available from Norfolk Mouldings.

The bottom one is Rose & Hollis PW403 obeche stacked with a rope twist moulding. This has not been finished yet and I'll choose a finish for this later.

The mouldings on the right hand side are all unfinished and from top to bottom are as follows:

Rose & Hollis PP108 obeche stacked with PP702 obeche.

One of my own designs (made by Norfolk mouldings) stacked with Rose & Hollis A145 obeche.

Rose & Hollis A173 obeche.

Rose & Hollis A288 obeche.

Rose & Hollis A176 obeche.

Rose and Hollis A9 pine, Simons PIN/25, Simons PIN/29 and Rose & Hollis SW1845 pine.

Included in those waiting to arrive will be a stacked combination of Rose & Hollis A233 obeche and A10 obeche and I've got an interesting designer florentine finish with inner and outer gold edges planned for this.

As previously, I will have more prepared materials for the course than time will ever allow us to use them all. So, I am happy for those on the course to suggest some of the available mouldings and finishes they would prefer use on the course.