Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
As a newbie I seem to dive in , accept the job and then worry about the practicalities.
This question will be a simple one for you old hands.
The frames are to be 36mm bare light oak with a flat profile, customer wants a nice matt/silk sheen finish. My first thought was to rub them down with some neutral wax and just buff to a dull shine.
Am I right or wrong. what other options do I have?
Something I noticed recently when doing some oak frames and using Liberon Black Bison waxes was that the Neutral produced a dull finish where as the Dark Oak buffed up to a nice sheen. The Dark Oak also darkened the moulding (unsurprisingly, I guess) and filled in the grain which I thought gave it a classier and slightly weathered/aged look.
I cut short sections and experiment until I get what I want, not forgetting to write on the back of each piece what I have done so I can repeat the finish another time.
Wax is one of the easiest finishes that you can get and lots of framers do it. If you want a finish, with no major learning and skills issues, then this is a good candidate. Buy some wax and you're ready to go! No major expense is involved and there is very little to go wrong.
Don't forget to consider some stains, paints, sanding sealers, shellac finishes and that wonderful Polyvine "Wax effect acrylic varnish".
Experiment and enjoy the creativity! Once you're hooked, there's no turning back. As you go along, no doubt you'll want to ask some more questions and perhaps show off some of your results.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Thanks guys.
The effect she wants is to get all the grain and colour of the light oak. maybe enhance the grain and get that natural looking matt / silk finish. Im just itching to get into hand finishing and I see this as my very tame starting point.
What effects will I get with a sanding sealer as opposed to a wax?
Getting into hand finishing is not an overnight thing. All that your current job needs is a wax finish with a colourless or neutral wax. Nice and easy, job done!
Then you can practice other finishes as demands on your time will allow. The key here is practice and making some samples to show your customers.
As for sanding sealer there are both water based and spirit based types. The main purpose of these is to seal the surface of the wood. Most framers use a sanding sealer as a basic, quick and easy finish. If you are staining the wood, complete any staining first, before applying the sealer.
If you are using a spirit based one as a basic finish, it is often a good idea to give it a quick wax finish of the top to prevent any fogging of the finish due water absorption, from the humidity in the air.
I usually lightly sand and wax both types, but it's not a hard and fast thing!
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
See you soon. You'll have to look at some of my stacked moulding samples. I have a range of mouldings which I match and mix to make up different styles of stacked frames. Some of them are MASSIVE! Hand finishing is not just about finishes, but also mouldings and in particular stacked mouldings. I don't have to worry about competitors prices, as they don't do anything like them!
I also sell, hand stained bare wood mouldings which are stained with my own selection of paint colours custom mixed on the machine at B & Q. I hardly ever use normal wood stains anymore. It's a different technique and a very different "designer" look and feel. The customers love them and I do them in Oak, Ash and Pine. The effect is still very natural looking, with no loss of grain detail and the colouring has an added richness without being "over the top". Oak is my favorite and it out sells all the other stained woods in my shop.
Mark Lacey
“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Sometimes when you put wax directly on barewood the finish can be a little patchy, I guess as the wax is absorbed into the wood more in some places than others. So when you polish it you can be left with shiny and duller areas. Unless its just me that has this problem?
Using a sanding sealer before apply the wax will help to give a much more even finish.
As the others have already said, best thing is to experiment
French Polish (Shellac) is good as a sealer. Wipe it on with a rag. The more coats (sanded inbetween), the shinier finish.
The standard grade imparts a nice golden colour to the wood. There is a more refined grade that will not darken the wood. Also darker grades such as Garnet right up to Ebony.
You can get some nice 'woody' finishes using the basecoat and wash method. Basically, apply a couple of coats of a midtone colour (I use artists acrylics mainly). Then a diluted coat of a darker shade, flooded on, brushed out and wiped off on the highpoints. Black over Red Oxide makes a beautiful deep cherry red finish. You can sponge/stipple the wash to get other effects. Acrylics take a wax polish very well.
Im really grateful for the advice And I do like the effect in that pic Prospero...
Now this is where my novice status shows through. Do you apply the finishes to an assembled frame or do you apply them to the stick and then chop and assemble?
My instinct is to do the stick as Id be worried about colour bulking in the cut corners and showing up as a heavy line
or is it a case of making a chevron and having a bit of an experiment before deciding what to do.
Depends on the moulding. I would say: If you are doing simple, modern frames, do the stick first. It's quicker. But the real hand finished look is best when the frame is joined first, corners smoothed and gently radiused. The big advantage of this is that you don't have to retouch the corners. It's also good if some of your joins are not quite perfect. (cough).
A lot of the time I finish off with a grey(ish) wash of emulsion. In this case, a build up of paint in the corners is desirable. It's how dirt and dust would naturally accumulate over the years.
One thing I did at one time was to spray cheapo black cushion with cellulose(car) paint. In this case, join the frames first.
No need for primer. The solvent eats into the 'plasticy' surface and forms a tough bond. Looks great. Paticulally the metallics. And if they do get scuffed (which don't do easily), you can respray them.
And if they do get scuffed (which don't do easily), you can respray them.