The Framers Forum

Hi,

I've never hand finished a frame in my life. Now, for various reasons, I'm trying to replicate a hand finished frame by someone else.

Any ideas where to start?

Any help would be appreciated...

Start with some scrap bits of wood and a match pot, or two. Just get the feel of doing some fairly basic stuff first, you don't need to get out of your natural comfort zone until you feel ready for it. There is no definitive way that things have to be done, but it does help at first to try and do things in ways that others are already doing. You will in time find your own techniques and favorite brushes and paints.

Don't go over board buying lots of paints at first, I did this and wasted my money. Later when I had developed my early skills, I found that these colours were not as much use as I intended and had to go and buy some more usable paints. Feel free to ask lots of questions and pick as many brains as you can. You will find that most of us have our own ideas about hand finishing, all are worth taking notice of.

I use 1/2 inch glue brushes for most stuff and at least some of my finishes are based on finishes originally taught by Pete Bingham. Pete taught some interesting finishes based on easy to learn techniques. I've moved on quite a bit from Pete's finishes now, but they may be somewhere to start. Don't be afraid to experiment and develop your own style and techniques. Most of us find our own way of doing things after a while and if we are offering something that is a little bit different and appealing so much the better.

When anything goes wrong ask the forum. We all had to start this from square one, so you are no different to the rest of us. Best wishes.

Meant to post a photo with the last one...

This is what I need it to look like, but genuinely no idea where to start. Doesn't look that difficult

Might have to be an outright "no can do" but thought I would try first!

Meant to post a photo with the last one...

This is what I need it to look like, but genuinely no idea where to start. Doesn't look that difficult

Might have to be an outright "no can do" but thought I would try first!

That's easy in one way and not so easy in another.

It looks like a stain/varnish/wax'n'buff to me.

The hard part is getting the right colour. There are water based stains but may I suggest that you get a set of acrylic paints
and try mixing the right colour. You need to make a very diluted mix. If you have any water-based stains on the plot then try a few
of those. Chances are the original stainer used a proprietory brand so you might hit on the colour right off.
It looks like a quite 'earthy' colour so Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre..... That type of thing. The ones that us natural earth pigments.
You'll need to experiment quite a bit. Wipe the paint on with a rag and try to get it even. It will look different when it's dry and
different when it's varnished. Try a weak mixture first. You can apply another layer to darken it, but you can't lighten it.
Bleached shellac will cause the least colour shift. If you use Raw 'Button' shellac it will go very orangey.
You could use any varnish really. I just like shellac. Hope I'm not being a varnish snob. Shellac isn't technically a varnish anyway.
When the shellac is dry, de-gloss it gently with v.fine steel wool and wax it. Then give it a good going over with a yellow duster. Magic.

Good Luck.

It's worth checking Amazon at the mo there is a Daler Rowney system 3 acrylic "starter set" comprising 6 colours in 22ml tubes for £9.55

If I were starting out they would be worth a punt and when you figure out what you are going to use then buy in bigger/more economical quantities.

Hope that helps.

Peter

That looks like, it might not be of course, something I've done on a number of occasions i.e. Paint on a thinish layer of black and immediately wipe it off. It leaves a stain rather than a coat of paint. Wax and buff.

GeoSpectrum wrote:That looks like, it might not be of course, something I've done on a number of occasions i.e. Paint on a thinish layer of black and immediately wipe it off. It leaves a stain rather than a coat of paint. Wax and buff.

Bingo!

Tried this and it looks almost identical! Just a bit more brown than the original but I think as close as it's going to get.

Thanks!

Welcome to the dark side. Are you prepared to share a picture with the rest of the class?

Not quite what I was going for but about as close as I think I'll manage.

Tempted to look in to doing more HF stuff next year. I think most of the guys here would manage simpler finishes like this. Charging more and paying less seems a good mix to me!

Once you've done one you think 'what was all the fuss about' and 'why have I been putting up with white showing through in my corners for years'...

Jamesnkr wrote: Once you've done one you think 'what was all the fuss about' and 'why have I been putting up with white showing through in my corners for years'...

That's exactly what I've been thinking!

It's quite enjoyable too!

Looking for some tips with this one again...

The way that gets closest to what I'm trying to emulate is exactly what GeoSpectrum suggested: black acrylic painted on then wiped off and waxed (black buffalo wax).

The ones I've done have a fairly flat matte finished whereas the one I'm trying to copy is decidedly shinier. It's by no means a gloss finish but definitely different to mine.

Any ideas if I'm doing something wrong or anything else I should be doing?

Thanks!

andrew

You're not doing anything wrong - you just need to do a bit more.
Try grain-filling the surface first, sand it back a bit, then a brush of shellac. Now you can do whatever colour effect you want. Seal it with another brush of shellac and then wax. This should give a much more solid appearance.
You can buy a transparent grain filler from most finishing suppliers.

It's worth remembering that some varieties of wood will be easier to get a top class finish on than others. Some are better with a surface grain filler, but there are others where there is less need of filling the grain. In time you will develop your own way of doing certain things and also your own preferences. Stick with it, the initial starting learning curve does not last too long and you will soon develop the confidence, speed and techniques, then you'll be going places.

How are you using the wax? I paint it on with a paintbrush, leave it to dry for 20 minutes and then buff.

There's no "must do it this way" about techniques, it's the result that matters, so don't treat how I do things as the only way. Some of my hand finishes are what I call the quick and easy variety and what I am looking for is a cheap solution that works with the minimum of fuss and effort.

One example is that I like to mix a durable acrylic paint with the same colour of a chalky emulsion. In the case of a black finish, I cannot get a black paint in my favorite range of chalky emulsion, so I mix a dark brown and a dark blue together and that gets pretty close. I then mix the resulting paint with approximately the same amount of black acrylic paint and add a smaller amount of acrylic matt medium.

The acrylic matt medium is only matt because it includes colloidial silica which is the matting agent. Silica is the principle substance in grains of sand and it's a very tough and scuff resistant ingredient when included paint. Not everybody knows this stuff, but it not hard to find out stuff like this if you ask the right questions on the web. I like matt finishes, but a little wax on top will add a little extra sheen if that's what you are looking for.

I offen find it helpful to use a very light first coat, not thinned down, but brushed out thin, to avoid too much moisture getting into the grain and causing the grain to rise. A thicker second coat is usually good enough once you have mastered a good technique. You need to work with a flow and not to spend lots of time doing basic finishes, productivity is the key to making money with these basic finishes. Good technique comes with practice.

Thanks for all the advice.

I've also realised that the paint I had lying around was of the cheap and nasty variety. Hoping better paint will help too.

Ordered some shellac too, so I'll give that a go.

Enjoying this far too much!