The Framers Forum

Hi all, does anyone have a view on the best way for a novice framer (me) to learn the trade. Go on a scheduled course like DIY Framing's? Pay to spend time in an existing gallery/framers to learn on the job? Trial and error? Other options?

thanks as always,
David

If you are prepared to go on a course then I would go on a decent course aimed at framers and not DIY framers. Work experience in a local gallery framers may be a start however a framer may not be to happy giving a potential competitor experience.

I spent some time training one-to-one with a GCF framer. Money well spent. It laid a firm foundation from which to start, kind of like passing your driving test. You know the basics but still have a lot to learn. I have two more courses later this year. As far as trial and error goes, spread over a few weeks, you may find yourself spending as much on wasted materials as a days training costs and be none the wiser.

hi plankd,
I can help Kind Regards
Jan Stanlick GCF
Mitreman

David

You didn't say in your original post whether you intend to pursue framing just as a hobby/sideline or as a primary source of income. To my mind that will determine what kind of training would suit you best. As one who started as a hobbyist ten years ago, I went through almost every training course that DIY Framing had to offer, and learned an immense amount that was extremely useful. The one problem with their approach though is that they don't train on anything other than very basic DIY equipment, so once you move up to a setup such as Morso/Casesse underpinner/Keencut mountcutter or similar, you'll need to undertake more training for those items too.

Tim

Have you spoken to Roboframer? He was talking about offering training in his shop, I don't how much of it he does, but he is a very successful framer, businessman and inovator.

He's in Sussex by the sea. Nice part of the country, real ale pubs, iglenook fireplaces and King & Barns ales.

Hi PlankD, I trained at DIY Framing (possibly a mis-nomer - they do help those who want to start framing as a business as well as the home framer, both practical and in the ways of framing business). I love the way DIY work - they start off by teaching you using a hand mitre saw, a small underpinner and mountcutter, and they teach you the basics of framing, why you do what you do, and how you do it. I swiftly moved onto larger equipment which I have had no trouble working out how to use (with invaluable help from the forum), and have been running successfully for the best part of two years, making a profit in year two.

DIY's business week covers a lot of subjects in a relatively short time, and gave me a lot of help in how to set up and run a framing business.

There are plenty of other courses out there, but this one is the only one I could find that covered all aspects in some form or another.

Good luck

Simon

From my own experience, I would suggest look no further than the Lion basic framing courses, which I did , twice actually. You'll see every bit of kit that the professional framer uses, also be able to tour and see the myriad of framing components and ancillary items offered by a major wholesaler, and find a ready source of advice and information for future assistance.
I'm not suggesting that others cannot provide this, but you can rest assured that with the Lion courses you'll come away with the basics and the appetite to progress.You'll also benefit from the sheer range of what products are available, even if you shop elsewhere therreafter.

Not your average framer wrote:Have you spoken to Roboframer? He was talking about offering training in his shop

He has.

Graysalchemy wrote:Work experience in a local gallery framers may be a start however a framer may not be too happy giving a potential competitor experience.

I'm not sure what I'd say to anyone asking for training with the intent of starting up within a radius of X miles away from me, but I think that if this was the sort of experience I wanted, I wouldn't be looking local - wouldn't have the neck!