Red Lacquer tray frames

[theframer]

Can anyone tell me if there is red lacquer tray frames available not the komodo range from larson juhl
And also any blue lacquer tray frames

Thanks

Dave

[Not your average framer]

Have you considered the possibility of hand finishing these tray frames with the exact colour that you need? It is likely to give you a measure of flexibility, beyond what you might otherwise be able to obtain, by other means. I like to make up tray frames by using one moulding for the side of the tray frame and to add an appropriate size fillet moulding fitted into the rebate of the side moulding. The side moulding is just a conventional flat moulding turned througth 90 degrees with the rebate facing to the rear, where you can fit the fillet into the rear facing rebate. I often use my band saw to cut left over waste mouldings to create fillets, spacers and slips to suit what I need and to recycle my left over bits of waste. My usual approach t0 hand finishing this would be to use two coats of a suitably coloured acrylic paint, followed with a couple of thin coats of Polyvine tinted acrylic wax finish varnish, again of the appropiate colour.

I'm not into using heavy coats of paint, or varnish as I don't want to raise the grain and I like to make good use of the self leveling properties of the acrylic wax finish varnish. Excessive thickness of the varnish is not good, but two even thinner coats will help avoid any possibility of runs forming and remedial action becoming necessary. I like the first coat of the paint to be thinly applied and gently dried with a heat gun to avoid the risk of raising the grain and also to seal the surface of the wood, before applying the second coat and then the tinted varnish. By avoiding using the paint, or the varnish in excessive coats, it is possible to avoid and extra sanding, or extending the time required to hand finish the frame, beyond what is necessary. I'm quite disabled from having experienced a stroke and therefore I like to keep things simple, quick and easy in order to remain efficient and profitable. As it happens, this approach also produces an excellent hand finishing result as well. I hope that you will find this helpful.

[theframer]

Thanks Mark
But i have copd a can not do any hand finishing now so must be somthing ready finished,

Dave

[Not your average framer]

Hi Dave,

I know about COPD, my mother had it and I realse how hard this makes things. I hope that you find the mouldings that you are looking for. This is just a thought and I don't know how possible this may be, but have you looked at possible aluminium tray mouldings as many aluminium mouldings are available in a wide range of colours. I don't use auminium mouldings myself, so I don't know much about aluminium mouldings myself, but I hope that the suggestion may at least be of some help.

Mark.

[Not your average framer]

I probably would never have thought about this, if it was not for this thread, but I already have enough materials to produce and try a small red lacquer frame to try in the shop window and see if it gets a favourable reaction from people passing by. To be really truthful, things like red frames are not really my thing. I've never even tried anything like that, so I won't be surprised if nobody wants anything like that, but how do you know if you don't give it a try. I am based in a small fairly historic small rural town, that has not much moved with the times and most of what I do tends to be quite traditional and produced to look right in the very old housing stock, which so much of the town contains. A large part of the town has housing stock, which goes back to 300 years old, or even more and a lot of t is small and rather ancient cottages, with low ceillings, exposed wooden beams and all sorts of little nooks, crannies and cubby holes.

Nicely aged frames made from natural woods, particularly oak and pine sell quite well around here, I suppose mainly because they don't look out of place in historic old cottages, barn convertions and the like. In recent years, various new housing developments have been springing up around the outskirts of the town, but for the most part the people who live in these new houses don't seem to shop in the town and prefer to go to other places like Exeter. I've tended to think that many of these people must work in Exeter, so perhaps it's easier for them to shop there too! Perhaps breaking out of the older style framing mode, might be a good thing. I don't really know, but I've got quite a reasonable amount of out of date mouldings, which might become most interesting with a bit of a make over. At the moment these mouldings are just sitting around not doing anything. Sometimes the odd moulding gets stacked with something else, but that's about it.

I am of course quite aware that making things happen during the coming recession, probably means raising my game quite a bit and maybe this might be part of how I do this. I'm guessing that only certain stronger, more vivid colours are going to be worth trying and I'm guessing that might only be reds and blues. I think that yellows and pinks are too 1970's, green's don't usually sell at all, so what's left? I would say not much! I tend to think that stronger, more vivid colours are more a big city thing, but maybe having some my shop windows might attract a bit of attention. Who knows?

[theframer]

Thanks again Mark i am going to go with the larson red/black lacquer as its the closest i can find,
Did look into the aluminium tray frames but really needed a wide top,
you sure do need the correct artwork for a red gloss frame and what i am framing its perfect.

Regards
Dave

[Not your average framer]

I know what you mean about havining the right thing for a red frame. Have a look at this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9429&p=77442&hilit ... ame#p77442

[theframer]

Very nice i love it when we get to use use old traditional mouldings.

[Not your average framer]

Me too. I have a large amount of old mouldings that need using up.

[Not your average framer]

Maybe red lacquered narrow slips might add some extra interest to white, black ready made frames and help to generate some extra sales. Doing things like this do not cost me very much as I often cut up bits of moulding from the scrap bin, to make something else from my scraps and left overs. Band saws cut things up extremely quickly and accurately.

It's always something different, that grabs the eye and produces those impulse sales. Sure it's a little bit of extra work, but if it puts money in the till on a slow day, then isn't it worth doing? I also regularly knock up the odd frame for the shop windows with red under black and distressed on the edges to let the red show through and stuff like this is always popular! Older style items like this are not out of fashion and therefore a waste of time, but if they look classy, they always sell very easily!

My shop and me are living proof, that old style stuff really sells, if it looks classy. I do lots of stuff like this and I always have done!

Important things that matter:

Moulding side profiles don't want to look particularly skinny! Skinny looks cheap, but deep says good quality. Don't display everything just to show the front view only, but angle some items along the sides of the window area, to draw their eyes further in and also let them see a bit of the front and side view at the same time.

Don't produce anything that is in the same styling that is popular with cheap stores and supermarket frames. You really need to spell it out that you are offering something different and really special. People look in shop windows and much of the time their brains are not enguaged at all. I you are not using your shop windows to sock them in the eye balls, what's the point!

How often do you change you window stock around? If it always looks the same, what is there to make passers by want to look? Probably not a lot! It's also a good time to vacuum up the dead flies that seem to head for the shop windows when the get stuck in your shop and can't find anything to eat, or the way out of the shop.

I hate stickers, or notices on the windows! Anything that is written and needs to be in the window, needs to lie flat on the shop window display surface and not be blocking the view of anything else. People come in and ask me to display notices and posters in my windows, what for? Am I crazy, the windows are for selling my stuff, not to provide free advertising for someone else. If the main impact item in the window is promoting someone else's event, everything else in the window has lost it's importance and impact! Am I up for that? No, not me!

Your shop windows are really important, if somebody is looking in your shop window and sees something that they like a they have got the money in their pocket, it's only a quick step through the door and it can be theirs! That's a lot faster that buying anything on the internet. How's that for instant gratification?

Items for gifts! I bought some wrapping materials and some little mailing boxes. When I get my shop open again for business, I will be offering a present wrapping service and a packing for posting service as well. I can even tell the how much it will cost to post it. I've got some ready made boxes, that match the maximum size for Royal mails "large letter" size parcels and I'm also getting some boxes for Royal mail's "small packet" size parcels. People are always realising at the last minute, that they have forgot to buy someone a present for that special occasion. Well, I can help with that!

Is any of this complicated? No not really!