New to framing! Hello everyone.

Say hello, and tell us a little about yourself.
Post Reply
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

Hi All
Hope you are all well.
I purchased a full setup of framing equipment a few years ago as the opportunity was too good to miss!
Morso F, underpinner, matt cutting kit, loads of stuff plus everything need to put them together etc and finish them off plus lots of mouldings.
I had a play when I got it all but didn't have the room and was busy with work and setting up a business with the wife so she could go self employed full time which she did, then Covid hit!
Roll on to now and we have finally moved home in to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales as I am also a landscape photographer on the side, while the wife does wildlife and macro.
I mainly got the framing business as it gave me a hobby/business opportunity to build and fall back on for retirement and I can tie it in with my landscape and fine art photography.
So far I have sussed out the Morso basics and knocked a few frames together from start to finish, naturally watched many videos and I can now set up it all up again as we have a large garage workshop so at last the room to do framing alongside our rustic furniture business.
I am initially looking to frame my own photography while learning framing.
But now looking at the best way to learn?
I did look into the week long wessex course but due to demand after covid I didn't manage to get on it and due to demand it may be a few years before I can get on it.
has anyone any tips on other courses up north?
I know some say find another framer to to help and learn from but I didn`t think under the current climate you would find anyone that would give their time to helping someone who they would ultimately see as competition?
unless you drive great distances but then with most business`s online today It make`s everyone the competition.
I am looking to start stocking up on basic mouldings to start practicing and learning while finding all the best suppliers here in the Uk.
Any tips and advice welcome, I will start looking through all these threads and look forward to seeing what you all produce.
All the best to you all for this year.
I thank you for your time.
Regards
Andy
User avatar
Gesso&Bole
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed 24 Mar, 2010 3:35 pm
Location: Nottingham
Organisation: Jeremy Anderson Picture Frame Maker
Interests: Framing pictures, testing out the latest gismos, and sharing picture framing knowledge
Contact:

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by Gesso&Bole »

Hi Andy

Welcome to the forum. I've just sent you a PM about training.
Jeremy (Jim) Anderson
Picture Framer and Framing Industry Educator
https://www.jeremyanderson.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/ja_picture_framer/
User avatar
prospero
Posts: 11492
Joined: Tue 05 Jun, 2007 4:16 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by prospero »

Hi and Welcome Andy. :D

You sound as if you have got your ducks in a row. 8)

There is a bewildering amount of mouldings and other materials on the market and it takes a bit of time to find the
'magic' ones. That is, what is easy to use and versatile. And the 'right price'. It's all too easy to scan through a reps samples
or a catalogue as if it were a box of chocs and end up buying lots of stuff that looks good but you ultimately never actually
use on a job. So avoid tying up capital in a lot of dead stock. Try and establish a good core stock of materials and buy others
in as you need.

Do a good job and charge a fair price and the World will beat a path to your door. :clap:

I'm sure other members will be along shortly to give you Pearls of Wisdom. :P
Watch Out. There's A Humphrey About
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: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Andy,

Some budget priced mouldings and not only be a great price, but often can create great looking frames. It may take some time before you get to know which ones will work best for you, so don't buy too much of anything to start with, until you get to know what works best for you. If you need to pay carriage costs, think about what value of goods works best for you, over what is a sensible order value. Carriage costs and VAT on carriage can add up quite quickly.

I've been doing this a while now and mostly manage to operate from stock and order sufficient to avoid carriage costs and the VAT related to carriage completely, but it takes lots of experience to know how best to do this. I also do my best to manage and make good use of my waste materials as well. Turning you waste materials into saleable goods is not always easy, there is quite a bit of a learning process before you get any good at doing it, but it can work to your advantage when you get to know how to make it work for you.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
fitz
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun 03 Jan, 2021 3:46 pm
Location: Dunning
Organisation: Latch Burn Framing
Interests: Picture Framing. Watercolour painting, dog walking, fly fishing.

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by fitz »

Welcome Andy. I started out just over three years ago after a weekend (very basic) course in Telford. You will get a lot of help and advice from the experienced framers (you’ll find out who they are) on this forum. They are very generous with their time and from what I have seen there is no such thing as a daft question. Time spent with an experienced framer is invaluable and apart from my weekend I spent 4 hours every month for over a year with a long time framer who lived an hour and a half away. It was quite expensive but worth every penny. I learned a lot, enough to give me the confidence to advertise locally and I now have a regular (sometimes too much) amount of work. Apart from providing a service I simply love the art of framing and all its aspects. I would also like to advise you to always check if suppliers do a chop service for mouldings. This prevents a build up of excess mouldings that you may not be able to sell or use. I have often found that the price for this isn’t much above the price for the lengths of moulding and it saves stressing over perfect mitres. I always compare the amount of moulding I need to buy for any particular orders to the cost of the chop service. For mountboard Lion require a minimum order of 10 sheets although you can mix and match this with other board products but Wessex will send single sheets (subject to minimum order cash wise)
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

prospero wrote: Thu 17 Feb, 2022 10:06 am Hi and Welcome Andy. :D

You sound as if you have got your ducks in a row. 8)

There is a bewildering amount of mouldings and other materials on the market and it takes a bit of time to find the
'magic' ones. That is, what is easy to use and versatile. And the 'right price'. It's all too easy to scan through a reps samples
or a catalogue as if it were a box of chocs and end up buying lots of stuff that looks good but you ultimately never actually
use on a job. So avoid tying up capital in a lot of dead stock. Try and establish a good core stock of materials and buy others
in as you need.

Do a good job and charge a fair price and the World will beat a path to your door. :clap:

I'm sure other members will be along shortly to give you Pearls of Wisdom. :P
Hi , Thanks for the reply.
Great tips thanks you. I am looking forward to getting stuck in!
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

Not your average framer wrote: Thu 17 Feb, 2022 12:04 pm Hi Andy,

Some budget priced mouldings and not only be a great price, but often can create great looking frames. It may take some time before you get to know which ones will work best for you, so don't buy too much of anything to start with, until you get to know what works best for you. If you need to pay carriage costs, think about what value of goods works best for you, over what is a sensible order value. Carriage costs and VAT on carriage can add up quite quickly.

I've been doing this a while now and mostly manage to operate from stock and order sufficient to avoid carriage costs and the VAT related to carriage completely, but it takes lots of experience to know how best to do this. I also do my best to manage and make good use of my waste materials as well. Turning you waste materials into saleable goods is not always easy, there is quite a bit of a learning process before you get any good at doing it, but it can work to your advantage when you get to know how to make it work for you.
Hi, Thanks for the reply, thanks for the tips above, I have alot to learn so every bit helps, Thanks again.
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

fitz wrote: Thu 17 Feb, 2022 3:40 pm Welcome Andy. I started out just over three years ago after a weekend (very basic) course in Telford. You will get a lot of help and advice from the experienced framers (you’ll find out who they are) on this forum. They are very generous with their time and from what I have seen there is no such thing as a daft question. Time spent with an experienced framer is invaluable and apart from my weekend I spent 4 hours every month for over a year with a long time framer who lived an hour and a half away. It was quite expensive but worth every penny. I learned a lot, enough to give me the confidence to advertise locally and I now have a regular (sometimes too much) amount of work. Apart from providing a service I simply love the art of framing and all its aspects. I would also like to advise you to always check if suppliers do a chop service for mouldings. This prevents a build up of excess mouldings that you may not be able to sell or use. I have often found that the price for this isn’t much above the price for the lengths of moulding and it saves stressing over perfect mitres. I always compare the amount of moulding I need to buy for any particular orders to the cost of the chop service. For mountboard Lion require a minimum order of 10 sheets although you can mix and match this with other board products but Wessex will send single sheets (subject to minimum order cash wise)
Hi, Lots of great interesting tips there from experience, I will start looking at suppliers and comparing all their deal, postage etc and reputation. I will look into the chop service, good idea! Thanks again.
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

Gesso&Bole wrote: Thu 17 Feb, 2022 10:00 am Hi Andy

Welcome to the forum. I've just sent you a PM about training.
Thanks for the message, I will check out your site and have a think what we can manage this year, time off, holidays etc..
Thanks again for the offer!
Andy
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: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by Not your average framer »

Hi Andy,

I notice that you call you business " Rustic Interiors", interiors and picture framing sound like a great combination. It's not always the most obvious thing to be stocking up of lots of driftwood style commercially producted mouldings, but may make a bit of sense to make you own by distressing bare wood mouldings and handfinishing them youself. Of course the commercially produced distressed drift wood style mouldings, will be supplied already finished in different colours and any left overs are not necessarily going to be in matching colours, whereas if you product your own "Rustic style" frames and handfinish the individual frames, you can finish each frame according to the colours required and this may be particularly helpful to you.

I even somethimes have made my own distressed oak drift wood style moundings out of bits of scrap oak moulding and I have done this with a small angle grinder fitted with a wire brush. I am less inclined to do this using a powered wire brush these days as it is quite agressive and not quite so easily controlled as I would like. Although I have not done this yet, I am thinking about creating something which is still using a powered wire brush with a much better controlled depth of the drift wood effect and a shielded area around the wire brush to minimise safety risks. I'll probably get around to doing this one day!

I personally tend to think that distressed oak drift wood style frames look really quite special, but this might also be true of ofter hard woods as well!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
dalesframer2021
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 13 Oct, 2021 6:58 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Organisation: Rustic Interiors
Interests: Photography & Framing

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by dalesframer2021 »

Not your average framer wrote: Fri 18 Feb, 2022 10:23 am Hi Andy,

I notice that you call you business " Rustic Interiors", interiors and picture framing sound like a great combination. It's not always the most obvious thing to be stocking up of lots of driftwood style commercially producted mouldings, but may make a bit of sense to make you own by distressing bare wood mouldings and handfinishing them youself. Of course the commercially produced distressed drift wood style mouldings, will be supplied already finished in different colours and any left overs are not necessarily going to be in matching colours, whereas if you product your own "Rustic style" frames and handfinish the individual frames, you can finish each frame according to the colours required and this may be particularly helpful to you.

I even somethimes have made my own distressed oak drift wood style moundings out of bits of scrap oak moulding and I have done this with a small angle grinder fitted with a wire brush. I am less inclined to do this using a powered wire brush these days as it is quite agressive and not quite so easily controlled as I would like. Although I have not done this yet, I am thinking about creating something which is still using a powered wire brush with a much better controlled depth of the drift wood effect and a shielded area around the wire brush to minimise safety risks. I'll probably get around to doing this one day!

I personally tend to think that distressed oak drift wood style frames look really quite special, but this might also be true of ofter hard woods as well!
Hi, Thanks for replying.
We are currently restructuring our main venture due to the gradual but mounting change in pretty much everything that has happened since last September which has resulted in the huge change in the cost of living as it daily increases and the huge knock on effect it has on business today.
Framing is more of a longer term plan but possibly a part of todays business planning and products if all goes well with learning.
Peoples spending understandably has been drastically reigned in with such huge uncertainty and cost of everything rocketing for us all, so our current business is under huge change and to reflect the changing times.
But Framing will be more of a enjoyable hobby, learning curve and future project as it will undoubtedly take some years to become proficient.
We have looked at framing with all sorts of wood and driftwood etc, the more rustic the better and we work with alot of live edge wood which is another means of framing, mirrors etc.
We have lots of ideas in mind so far.
First job is to organise the workshop and integrate the framing tools with everything else.
Thanks for the reply, lots to think about!
Andy
User avatar
MITREMAN
Posts: 536
Joined: Thu 07 Feb, 2008 8:05 pm
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
Organisation: Framers Equipment Ltd
Interests: Conservation & box Framing memorabilia, Fishing, Sports, Keeping fit & healthy, Supporting Southend United, Computing, Cooking, Ale drinking (Camra Member), Eating out, films, Music and Concerts, DIY, Socialising, Walking, Holidays, Forest School, Wood Carving, Grandchildren and anything else I can fit in.
Location: Northampton
Contact:

Re: New to framing! Hello everyone.

Post by MITREMAN »

Welcome Andy,

If you need help with training we can help and any other tools or equipment you may need.
https://www.framersequipment.co.uk/training_framing.htm

Kind regards
Mitreman :D
MITREMAN
Jan Stanlick GCF Picture Framing Consultant & Teacher
Working in association with Framers Equipment Ltd, Northampton http://www.framersequipment.co.uk
Post Reply