The Framers Forum

Afternoon all,

We recently added a couple of Valiani mountcutters to the work shop (amongst other new goodies) to improve productivity and now we are SO efficient that we've caught up with all our work! .
Our usual three week diary is now empty and we're twiddling our thumbs until the summer rush.....hopefully..... arrives.

We now need to generate new business to match our productivity,does anyone have any suggestions on this?. We are a High Street Framer in a smallish Welsh town,offer all the usual picture framing services and Canvas printing (from an Epson 9800) s there any merit in setting up a website to do email orders etc?.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards,Mike

I think that having a website is obligatory in this day and age. Even a single page with a description of your business, contact details etc can make a difference. People remember your shop name or just the village so a quick search on google may bring in more orders.

A basic site will only take an hour or so to create but purchase a personal domain for the site ie miketheframer.co.uk - looks much more professional and only costs peanuts per year.

Don't worry if you have no website experience. Most of the big internet providers (1&1 etc) offer some sort of instant web page facility which will be good enough to start the ball rolling.

I am also looking forward to the summer rush, spent today scraping old tape of a frame and watching the tumbleweeds rolling past

Hi Mike,

we know the feeling, since adding in the valiani matpro 150 to our machinery, work is completed in half the time.

I just went out and marketed our shop to a different client, we are actively contacting large companies now, (to make use of the downtime) although the custom framing side of things is quite busy at the moment!

Whats this Summer Rush you are talking about - down here we are steady at the moment but as soon as the sun comes out our customers disappear to the coast or to the hills- roll on September!

RobinC

Two CMC's. How flash is that?

Hand finishing is worth a go. How many times has a customer wanted a paricular moulding shape, but wanted the finish off another one. Or liked a particular moulding but asked, "Have you got it in a smaller size?" It's nice to be able to produce frames that are truly unique.

I'm being a bit selfish with this advice. It's just that the more framers that hand-finish the more likely moulding suppliers are going to expand their range of plain profiles.

Hello Mike,
Have you thought of making a range of Welsh tourist souvenirs? Such as small pics of typical Welsh scenes. The Valiani can make such small items look so much better simply by creatively cut mounts. Rounded corners look so much better than square ones.
Take a look at what's currently available in the shops frequented by tourists and see how you could do a better range.
The reason I say SMALL pics, is because they will sell much faster than full size because they are an IMPULSE buy.
And if you can get your product displayed near a till, they will sell even faster.

Thanks the replies all,some very interesting ideas there,must admit I've never considered hand finishing due to volume of "Want it quickly" customers we seem to get.

How do you sell this to Joe Public?,obviously the cost will be greater,do you folks that offer this presently find much resistance to the price differences?.

And finally,suitable reference/study materials for hand finishes,any thing recomended?.

Regards,Mike.

Mike wrote:Thanks the replies all,some very interesting ideas there,must admit I've never considered hand finishing due to volume of "Want it quickly" customers we seem to get.

How do you sell this to Joe Public?,obviously the cost will be greater,do you folks that offer this presently find much resistance to the price differences?.

And finally,suitable reference/study materials for hand finishes,any thing recomended?.

Regards,Mike.

Start with staining ash & pine. It doesn't take long. The prices you charge are about the same/slightly less than similar finished moulding, but you get more profit. 70% of my sales are stained ash!

Whereabouts in Wales, Mike?

Mike wrote:I've never considered hand finishing due to volume of "Want it quickly" customers we seem to get.

That rings bells, Mike. I do the odd hand-finished frame or three, but it's something that I would like to do more of if I wasn't so busy doing more 'run-of-the-mill' work. FWIW, customers I have done custom finishes for have been really pleased with the results.

Polished woody finishes are simple. Stain/shellac/wax and a buff up with a yellow duster. Or paint with acrylic for interesing effects. Some of the maple/walnut finishes I have done look better than the real verneers you but nowadays..
If you do if after the frame is joined you can smooth and blend the corners, eliminating tedious touching up. Saves having to stock a multitude of colours of one profile. Less waste.

The only thing I would't attempt are hi-gloss lacquers. Some of these are done with extremely hazardous processes. (Idon't like em anyway)

The really good thing is you can create mouldings that are just not available off-the-shelf and totally unique.

Same here. I have watched Mr. Bingham more than a few times. And I also liked the nice subtle gilts done by Frinton Gallery. A lot of the pre-finished gold moulding are too 'brassy' to my eye.

Most of the techniques I use were learnt by experiment. You don't need lots of expensive equipment and materials. As Mark says, there are very few reference books that touch on the subject.

learnt by experiment

.........or by accident. I have more that once become frustrated because what I want is just not happening. So I climb in with rags and thinners to wash it all off and the resulting 'cleaned' moulding turns out quite stunning

Time constrraints coupled with finite materials choices can also result in serendipitous results!

That, and the "hit 'n' hope" method...