Working on some new mouldings and finishes

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vintage frames
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Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by vintage frames »

This is where I got to so far -
IMG_3041.JPG
I've painted on an ebonising shellac finish on two of the samples, and a traditional wood finish effect on the third.
To sum all this up so far, I started with a bog standard A40 obeche moulding.
Stuck a rosewood veneer on top. Sanded it down with a hand sander.
Cut a steep bevel into the front - (run it through an angled table saw)
Painted gesso onto the bevel and applied gold and silver leaf. No need to mask it out - just sand away the excess from the top.
Then two layers of black shellac and a wood finish on one other.
The next stage will be to give the shellac finishes a bit more character and then work on the gilding to create some 'attitude'.
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Not your average framer
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Demot,

That looks really great, simply stunning!

:clap: :clap: :clap:

I planning on do something similar with some of the older lengths of mouldings which are out in my out building and are at the moment largely surplus to requirement, but they won't bu getting gold leafed. I don't really enjoy making traditional gesso, mostly because I don't like the smell of the rabbit skin glue. So the gold will be Liquid Metal paint, or bronzing power paint.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
vintage frames
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by vintage frames »

Thanks for the praise Mark.
If you buy rabbit skin glue from what I would call a third party source, ( ie. general wholesale framing supplies ) then you would be buying a low grade and quite rough source of glue. As you say, this will be quite strong smelling and pretty coarse for any fine work such as gilding.
If anyone does fancy giving traditional gesso a go, make sure to buy the refined grades from a specialized gilding supplier.
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Orde02
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by Orde02 »

Great work Dermot. I love the wood finish one.
I've bought RSG from a a framing supplier and found it to terrible to work with. I bought some of better quality on Dermot's recommendation and it's like night and day, much much better to work with. I actually quite like the smell of it, Mark.

Matt
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Dermot,

I was just wondering what the process is for applying the veneers.. I know that it is possible to buy veneer in thin sheets from suppliers like VALE Veneers in Aylesbury and that it is also possible to cut you own veneers as well, with the right blade on a bandsaw. I've mostly patched and replaced damaged on old furniture, where I have put watered down PVA behind a veneer where it is lifting and after the PVA has set, the ironed it down with a domestic iron and release paper. But I also know about the existence of vacuum presses as well.

Are you using prepared veneer, or making your own and how are you applying it. Is this something that the rest of us might consider doing.

Thanks.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
vintage frames
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by vintage frames »

Hi Mark
I buy my veneers from Capital Crispin in London. They are quite 'old school' in their history and choice of decorative veneers. Whilst I use a vacuum press and Titebond glue, you can just use some sheets of iron on adhesive to attach the veneers. Ebay is a cheap on-off source. And I notice that Vale veneers sell some pre-glued veneers that you can cut out and attach using a domestic iron.
The whole idea is to hide the really boring obeche wood grain and replace it with a much more attractive grain pattern, and this is what shows beneath the top painted finish, black, white or whatever.
Cutting your own veneers using a bandsaw is technically possible but would require extra effort in sanding down to a fine enough finish. And unless you had a board of fine mahogany, walnut or rosewood - I'm not sure why would you do that.
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by Not your average framer »

I'm doubtful whether I would ever go as far as to veneer my own frames, for one thing I don't know if there's a worthwhile market for me to do this and also I would need to have the available time to to do this. Considering the limitations created by my present health, I have to ask myself, if this makes any sense in terms of being able to do this in a time scale which is makes sense in terms of getting a workable financial return for the time expended.

I am planning to planning to make some items using veneered wood, by using good quality plywood with a nice surface veneer, nicely mitred so that the veneer continues round the edges. This is not that difficult to do, with a purpose make jig to allow accurate cutting with a table saw for a slot both sides of the mitred joint to accommodate a thin piece of wood inserted across both halves of the mitre to ensure perfect alignment and additional mechanical strength.

The surface veneer on some decent quality plywood grades does does not allow any filling in the surface veneers, but it is not always particularly expensive to buy it you dont mind shopping around. I am fortunate enough to have a really good timber stockist, within about three miles of me who know what they are doing and do free delivery, regardless of the order value, so this is my future go to supplier for such materials. The layer of plywood visible at the rear of the frame would easily be taped over with gummed brown paper tape and therefore would not be visible.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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prospero
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Re: Working on some new mouldings and finishes

Post by prospero »

I've done 'mock maple' with a paint technique and (from a distance) it gives a better impression of an old
maple frame than many ready-made mouldings using real veneer. :P

Image

I made a huge boob on that frame. I continued the finish over the mitres. Slightly phoney effect. :|
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