Random slightly imperfect mitres of one particular moulding.

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Not your average framer
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Random slightly imperfect mitres of one particular moulding.

Post by Not your average framer »

I have a favorite scooped obeche moulding which somewhat randomly has small gaps with the scooped part of the profile. These gaps are often in the middle of the moulding profile with no gaps at the edges of the profile. These gaps are often not easy to fill and sand back flush, because the shape of the profile is shaped rather than flat. Over the years I have acceptedthis situation as something which just happens with this particular moulding.

It is somewhat annoying, when this happens and also slows things down quite a lot. I'm not really sure that there is an easy way of beating this, but it would be nice find a way to make this issue go away and save me the added time to correct this. I was just wondering if anyone else has found a quick and easy foolproof way of fixing such issues. I would be greatful for any ideas which I have not tries so far!
Mark.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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Re: Random slightly imperfect mitres of one particular moulding.

Post by vintage frames »

I think decorator's caulk is the answer to this. It can be squished in quickly with your finger and smoothed out so as to blend in easily. And it shouldn't crack as the wood shrinks or moves in the corners.
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Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Random slightly imperfect mitres of one particular moulding.

Post by Not your average framer »

That's almost what i normally useI I like "Hard as Nails" which a gap filling adhesive, but it is quite hard to get these days! I'm probably going to switch to something else before long, but I'm not sure what it will be at this stage. I have tried fine saw dust mixed with PVA glue, but I don't like waiting for the glue to dry. I might go for fine saw dust and paste wax, the saw dust seem to greatly reduce any tendancy to skintage. My band saw has a lttle pull out drawer which collects the very fine saw dust that it produces, so I have an endless supply of very fine saw dust. If you heat the wax with a hot air paint stripping gun the solvent in the wax rapidly evaporates and when it cools it becomes really hard. If you sand it a little, acrylic paint sticks to it really well, or you can mix a bit of acrylic paint into the wax.

I like using wax, which I can heat up, because it's very quick and I can paint over it, or use pigmented wax to produce pre-coloured filler for use with factory finishes mouldings. Wax is one of the earliest adhesives known to man and since I already have lots of tins of wax, I think it makes good sense to use some of it like tis! Measuring out the best ratio of wax to saw dust, something which I still need to do at this stage. As usual, it won't be by super accurate measurement. I do things like this by what I call bucket chemistry and measurement is partly be guesswork and I adjust the mixture until it looks and feels right. I like old fashioned ideas and old fashioned ways of doing things, mostly because a lot of them are based on using what you have already got.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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