The Framers Forum

Good day
Any idea where I can get a 'wormy' wood moulding.
Not fussy about the type of wood just the finish which would ideally have 'worm tracks' and holes in making the surface quite rough to touch.
Many thanks

I know Wessex Pictures do a couple of wormy type mouldings which have an antique sort of look - A109, B1057, B1176.

Another option might be to attack a plain wood moulding with a dremel and hand finish it.

If you use a fine engraving tool on a Dremel, you can get very convincing wormholes and tracks.

Depends on what effect you are attempting to replicate. For example woodworm would not leave surface tracks only entry and exit holes. Tracks become evident only when the wood is re-planed or re-worked to reveal its internal structure. A wormy surface would therefore suggest that the frame had been made out of already wormy wood rather than one that had become wormy with age. An exception to this is where the wooden frame was previously painted or gessoed and the tracks are made beneath this and the coating is subsequently removed. Leaving/putting traces of paint or gesso on the wood would make this look more convincing.

Thank you - off to the hardware store for a Dremel then a bit of practice on scrap wood.
Much appreciated.

Simons do a range of flat mouldings with rough surface and worm tracks. Page 13 and 14 of the spring 2011 catalogue.

This is a frame I did using some of that pinky-coloured limed driftwood moulding that was popular a few years ago.

It already had a nice rough texture, but you can do this with a wire brush wheel on a drill. I gave it a coat of very diluted paint. I think I used the water I had been rinsing my brushes in.

Why?

Why not?

Because