Crash course in plainwood moulding?

[cebrooker]

I have a customer who is adamant that they want plain oak frames. I intended to get involved in finishing my own frames but under my own steam. Unfortunately the pressure is now on as they might well be a very handy repeat customer!

Please could someone tell me the basics and ingredients that will give me a range of desired effects so I can cut up a couple of lengths and give him something to look at next week?

Thanks very much

[David McCormack]

I like oak frames Oak will vary in colour and can be darker or lighter than samples you show your customer so remember to tell them it is a natural product!

Three simple finishes to get you going:
1. Clear wax
2. Liberon Black Patinating Wax + clear wax
3. Liberon Liming Wax + clear wax

All three samples from the same length.

Simple oak.jpg (728.72 KiB) Viewed 5153 times

[cebrooker]

David,

Thank you so much for taking the time. I don't want to appear gushy but you have genuinely excited me with the possibilities considered "simple" The mind boggles at what would be considered complicated!!

What sort of wax do you use for the clear? And what is the process for the liming?

[Jamesnkr]

The mind boggles at what would be considered complicated!!

Shellac and gold leaf?

Anyway, it's as simple as polishing your car/dining table/rubbing in sun cream (depending on what you prefer). It will take you at least 90 seconds to pick it up. I apply wax with a paint brush (dedicated wax use only), leave it to dry and polish it off.

Liming: https://lionpic.co.uk/p/7713/Liberon-Wh ... -Wax-250ml

Clear: https://lionpic.co.uk/p/7897/Liberon-Bl ... 0ml--Clear


Underpinning oak, make sure you don't go too close to the outside, it will gape; and use hardwood pins. Also look at the grain before you cut, you probably want a similar look on the faces of the moulding. http://www.hardwooddistributors.org/blo ... wn-lumber/

[David McCormack]

I use Liberon's clear wax and their neutral wax but can't see what the difference is really. The clear wax looks a lovely yellow colour in the tin and smells great The neutral looks white in the tin. I tend to use the clear for the 'au naturel' look oak and the neutral wax to finish on top of the lime and patinating finishes.

For a lime wax finish:

1. Wear gloves (nitrile type).
2. Open the grain of the oak by rubbing vigorously with a bronze brush (again Liberon is the one I use).
3. Dip a brush in white spirit and then into the lime wax tin (don't apply the lime wax with wire wool as recommended by Liberon as this turns the lime wax grey!!).
4. Brush plenty of lime wax into the oak and make sure you get it into the grain.
5. Wipe excess off with a cloth and then leave to dry.
6. When dry rub or brush on clear wax (neutral wax) to remove some of the lime from the surface of the oak leaving the lime in the grain only.
7. When your clear wax is dry buff up to a nice sheen with a soft cloth and/or furniture brush.

I like the look of lime just in the grain but you can experiment to get a whiter look by not removing so much of the lime with the clear wax.

Have fun

[David McCormack]

Interesting link there about different ways of cutting wood. Sometimes the front of the moulding can be quite different from the side. This is a deep moulding and the front has what I call flecks on the surface which reflect the light at certain angles and looks great. The finish here is black patinating wax and walnut wax... walnut colour not made from walnuts

Oak.jpg (572.19 KiB) Viewed 5134 times

[prospero]

Oak and indeed Ash are probably the easiest woods to finish. They are quite hard and come with
an attractive grain pattern. A coat of clear wax and a quick buff up with a yellow duster is all that is
required. Some folks think you can just use the bare wood, which you can, but it will tend to get grubby
with handling. Waxing will shift the colour a tad from the bare wood.

You can varnish/shellac it but this is only necessary if you want to put a deeper shine on it.

If you stain it it will accentuate the grain, but this may or may not be desirable.

[Jamesnkr]

I think that using liming wax isn't a liming process. Does anybody know for certain?

Traditionally wood was coated with lime - a nasty caustic product - as it deterred insects, woodworm etc. The white colour was a side effect. Liming wax I think is just a white pigment in the wax; a recipe elsewhere on the 'net suggests mixing whiting with wax.

[prospero]

I tried using Liming Wax once and found it hard-going. Not to mention messy.

If you paint the wood with white emulsion and wipe off while wet, then clear wax it when it's
dry, you get much the same effect with less elbow grease.

[David McCormack]

I used to find it hard work on larger frames and so asked here on TFF how others did it... I now use a brush dipped in white spirit and then into the lime wax tin which is as easy as using paint

But when this tin runs out I'm going to try the white paint method.

[vintage frames]

Oak moulding looks it's best when cut with the quarter sawn face showing. These are the attractive little flecks that David McCormack mentioned. They are called medullary rays and radiate out through an oak log. To show them however, the log needs to be cut "quarter-sawn" and this is the least economical way to split the log into planks. So the wood that goes into making pictureframe mouldings is cut for cost efficiency and the medullary markings, or figure, only appear incidentally.
Can anyone say if any of the moulding suppliers provide oak cut from quarter-sawn boards?

[cebrooker]

I just wanted to say thanks for all the suggestions. Have had a play and am very pleased with the results. All of these are from the same length of oak.