The Framers Forum

Hi again,
This customer (a celeb!) wants to have very large prints framed with a 'brushed steel' look. Only problem is one of the pics 3.4m x 1.1 and the others slightly smaller. I have tried my usual supplier, Arqadia and a couple of others, but nothing doing. when I told him I could have problems with the lengths, his suggested solution was to try a greenhouse maker. He is likely to be wanting more framing, so I would like to tell him I have tried all avenues, before saying no. By the way, no glass needed and they will be supported on the wall. Any suggestions, apart from the obvious?? Thanks again Anne

How about an aluminium moulding, I'd guess that the likes of Arqadia and Neilson have the extruded lengths longer than the normal 3m of wooden moulding.

There are many more options in aluminium sections if you think outside of frame mouldings. There are lots of firms who supply the engineering world with a vast selection of profiles and looooong lengths. Might be worth looking in that direction. A simple L shape stuck on a wooden core would do it.

You can always take a wire brush to it.

Hi Prospero, why don't you simply lay imitation silver leaf over a profile. This can easily be done with wundersize. It is aluminium leaf and a brushed steel look is very simple to achieve with little effort. If the profile is relatively flat the easier it is. Hope this helps?

Sign maker suppliers may be the answer here. A lot of signs come with aluminium edges into which they slot the purpex signs, otherwise have you thought about window companies who manufacture extruded aluminium frames?