The Framers Forum

Greetings!

Calling all handfinishing gurus. I've just had a job in today - and of course it's needed for Christmas!

Is there any quick way to put a "rosy blush" over a champagne silver moulding finish? I'll be even more grateful than usual for your words of wisdom!

Show it a risque painting?

Sorry, just finishing off the pear cider..

Hello Áine,

I do a lot of hand finishing, but my experience of modifying existing finishes has not always been good. I assume the finish is on a wood moulding? If so, try this: first, rub down gently with 00 grade wire wool or very fine glasspaper to provide a "key", then apply a coat of artists' synthetic oil colour gloss varnish. This can be tinted with oil colour or spirit based stain to suit the tint required. Allow to dry well (say 12hrs) then wax over with Briwax or similar. Compatibilty of the various solvents can be a problem. I wouldn't even attempt this with such a short deadline, but you may be braver!

After 20 years in the trade, we stop taking Christmas orders on November 30th. the order book is full by then and we have time for shopping etc. Maybe I'm getting old...

Dave

Easy. Sell 'em some rose-tinted specs.

Bur seriously, you could try a transparent glaze but this is not simple. If it's a factory finish then it will probably have a protectice coat of varnish over the leaf, but there is no way of telling (unless you work at the factory) just what it is composed of and what will stick to it. It's a question of try it and see, but this is best done when you are not pushed for time. Mixing a dry pigment with a varnish is a start, but you would probably have to have numerous goes before you got a formula that did the trick. And then you would probably have to spray the glaze on to get an even finish.

Sorry, but I have no magic answer to this one.

Hi Áine,

This may be a tall order getting everything together to do this, but this is how I would do it.

1. Cut back the sealer top coat on the moulding with Brasso (the liquid stuff, not the wadding).

2. Clean the surface with a clean kitchen tissue and white spirit. (You're not supposed to, but I evaporate the white spirit with a hot air gun, might be a bit dodgy).

3. Get the following from a good art shop:

Real Copal resin varnish

Good quality Rose madder artists oil colour
(check supplier info - Rose madder should be stated to be a transparent colour)

Real turpentine.

4. Mix a glaze from Copal resin varnish and turpentine. Add a little Rose Madder to tint. Needs to be very thin so as to not show brush marks.

5. Brush on thin coat and dry with hot air gun (again probably not the right thing to do, but I always do it)

6. Seal with a coat of Acrylic varnishing wax (from Lion) and dry it with a hot air gun

Important: Keep the hot air gun moving back and forth, to avoid strange things happening to the finish.

Both the copal resin and the turpentine promote fast drying of the oil colour, which white spirit does not do. Don't use damar resign varnish, it discolours with age and can crack too!

Copal varnish is the business, and a little goes a long way!

w00dward wrote:Show it a risque painting?

Gee, t-ha-n-k-s for that one, Paul!

Thanks for the lightning-fast replies, peeps!

Just had a quick go at Tammy's light sand/ gloss varnish + spirit stain suggestion, and have actually achieved the effect I'm looking for (1' sample length). The profile is a simple dome, so flooding the colour over the surface and allowing it to flow down the sides is giving a pretty even finish. However, it remains to be seen how it will dry off...

Tammy, what is "Briwax"? Not familiar with the term. Currently, I only have bison wax in the workshop.

Prospero, I actually gently rub off the "top coat" of this particular moulding from time to time, and it yields a regular "white" silver. Rub harder and one starts wearing away the leaf.

If all else failed and I decided to strip off the existing finish, can you good people recommend a way to get a "rosy silver" finish? (It's a very good customer, and I'd like to get the job done for her for Christmas if possible. But if I can't, I can't...

Briwax is IMHO the best finishing wax available, in any case I can't abide the "perfumed" smell of Black Bison! It is available in Clear and a range of tints from Rose and Hollis among others. See: http://www.briwax.co.uk/products/briwax.html

Thanks for the link, Tammy! Also, thanks NYAF for your response. Don't think I'd have a hope of filling the shopping list on this side of the pond in the time available, but will be sure to add to my "list of useful materials"!

Sounds like you cracked the case.

An old technique for making silver leaf look like gold was to give it a coat of brown varnish. The effect is known as 'silver-gilt', more a brassy finish than a gold, but can be quite pleasing. Sounds like your 'champagne' finish was done the same way. Most of the gilding I do is with gold powders. I have been using Liberon gilt varnish for many years, but just recently they have discontinued the silvers. In fact I hear that the whole range is due for the chop, so I have been exp with mixing my own.
Gold powders are readily available in many different shades but the base varnish is more of a prob. Spectrum picture varnish (from Lion) is good but takes too long to dry. I found some stuff on the web called 'Klarlak' which I have been testing and so far the results are promising. Dries fast and is very hard. Also removable when dry with white spirit, which is a must for me. The trick for a nice finish is in the application. You can't quite replicate the look of a leafed finish, but with a bit of practice you can get damn close. I use it over a basecoat of artist acyllic. The basecoat has a great effect on the final result.

My original recipe for 'champagne' gold was 50/50 Liberon Trianon and Sceaux over a dark brown base.

For what it's worth, I did my little "tester" using Daler Rowney Artist's Clear Picture Varnish (for oils). Loads and loads of varnish with a goodly drop of Chestnut Red Mahogany spirit stain with a weensie dash of Chestnut Purple stain for the craic. Will see how it dries and post comment about the results. Will order the wax for finishing tomorrow.

If the waxing goes OK, and I attempt the full job, if it goes pear (cider?) shaped, I'll put a "temporary" frame rim on for the customer to tide her over Christmas, and redo the "real thing" in the New Year for her. The frame's large enough that I'll get decent lengths for reuse back from the "inte-rim" ...

(Sorry - fumes getting to me... )

PS...

I am in awe of the knowledge, experience and craftsmanship you chaps have! Thanks again so much for helping this puisín!

Another little useful tip.

One thing I know will stick to (most) finished moulding is French Polish (Shellac). This is good if you want to re-cycle odd bits of moulding. The thing about Shellac is, because it is porus when dry it will accept water-based paints. Other synthetic varnishes won't.

Hi all,

Just a little update. The tester piece held its finish. It's still very, very slightly tacky to the touch, but withstood a polishing today without any problems, and colourwise it is a lovely compliment to the artwork! My customer popped in for a look today, and is happy to wait till the New Year to see the piece as designed. She's going to use her pre-Christmas reserved slot to get another job done instead. Result!

Thanks again to all for your help! So very much appreciated.

I often use washes on standard mouldings - spirit stains thinned with meths can be effective - as can finishing and patternating waxes.
One of my favorite tweaks for a standard dutch metal finished frame is to apply verdigris patternating wax after fairly aggressive use of a wire brush on the standard finish - it gives a very good aged look.