Favorite mouldings for ready made frames

[Not your average framer]

To date I've mostly produced ready made frames from off cuts and left over stock, but if everything goes to plan, my retail area is about to get bigger and I intend to provide a large display of ready made frames from a stock range of mouldings, with a fast to order service for out of stock sizes.

I'm just wondering if anyone else already does this and has any favorite good selling mouldings to suggest. I'm also thinking that I might buy some mouldings by the box, if it makes sense to do so.

[Roboframer]

Our main range of RMFs is in Simon's ash profiles, mainly ash 6, 7, 8 & 11 - all hand finished in batches. Neutral wax, limed, antique pine waxed and 3 Colron Stains - antique pine, Jacobean dark oak and American walnut, the last two stains are also limed and we also make gold and silver sight edges with mount fillets - the tiny ones that Arqadia, Nielsen and Mainline (probably others) do - they look great when combined with a mat with an exact matching fillet.

That gives us 96 different styles. (Check maths - 8 finishes x 4 profiles = 32, add gold filets another 32 - or add silver fillets, another 32 = 96 - correct, just sounded a lot!)

I like ash for RMFs because, apart from liking ash anyway, it's customer-proof. There's a way around damage caused by browsing of course - just put one example of each frame on display with the stock nice and safe out back - just that I prefer to put the lot on display - or as much as I can -saves time.

Buy 100ft + from Simons for a 20% discount on a list price that I don't think can be beaten anyway, and then for pricing, well, this is what I do anyway........

Pass on that discount - then put it back on for hand-finishing

Go to my bespoke pricing chart (the dartboard) deduct a fitting charge and then another 20% for quantity

Works for me

Apart from ash and depending on the 'avalanche alert state' in the workshop - I take advantage of the odd very silly price offer from Simons now and again.

Don't have a best-selling size or type, but nearly all our range has artcare mats and foam board, no single mats either, (unless they have a coloured core) doubles or fillets, some have UV glass and some (smaller sizes) even have museum glass - square frames go well and so do triple apertures.

Avoid deep rebates unless you are using something other than flexible points - the backing, mat and glass can be removed OK - but getting it all back in is a different matter!

I put them out with no hardware - but with pilot holes for either orientation, and hand out the 'D' rings and wire separately - or a standing device - also wall bumpers and gummed tape - all pre-packaged and included in the price. If anything above that is required, like wallbuddies, mirror plates, security fixings or any type of wall hanger - that's extra.

[Not your average framer]

Hi John,

Mmm, that's quite interesting! I've already been thinking about getting a box price for Ash-6 and perhaps Oak-6 as well. I like the profile because being flat it can be cut upside down, so you don't need to set the rebate supports. This helps when rushing out a non-standard size while the customer waits. The price for Ash-6 ain't bad either!

I find that for about the last year or two Oak has been gaining in popularity against Ash, so I think Oak will have to be part of the plan too!

Every now and then, when I'm passing a pound shop, I nip in and buy a cheap pack of small rectangular sponges. You get between 6 and 10 to a pack and they're great for fast staining of full lengths of moulding.

It's very quick! Two coats of stain, wipe off the surplus and leave to dry between coats, follwed with a quick coat of liquid polish or even arcylic wax finish varnish. My nornal colours are, Antique pine (stain), Light Oak (stain), Dark Oak (stain), Antique white (watered down Regency white acrylic emulsion), Antique brown (watered down Raw Umber acrylic and a smaller amount of black & white) and Soft black (watered down Raw Umber acrylic with Paynes grey and just a touch of white).

Liming on top of a stained finish works well too!