Hand finishing

[Julia]

Hi all,

I'm new to framing, and just trying to learn the ropes and set up a business from home. I'm keen to do some hand finishing of frames, for some artwork that I'm making myself, and wondered whether anyone knows of any good books on the subject? I've searched everywhere for information, that's all in one place, on all aspects of handfinishing. I've managed to find info on liming, and some American info on staining, but they use words for products, and I don't know what the equivalent is here, so it's all very frustrating.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[David McCormack]

I'm sure you'll get plenty of help here from the likes of Not Your Average Framer, Prospero and Framemaker, all wise in the ways of hand finishing, but in the meantime this makes interesting reading:

http://www.lionpic.co.uk/infostore/Know-How,1953.aspx

Download the Everest paint finishes.

[prospero]

Hi Julia.

There aren't any definitive books on the subject as far as I can tell. There are framing books that have sections on hand finishing. As you observe, mostly US origin. There are books on wood finishing, but these are mainly aimed at general woodwork. They do have some application to picture frames though....

All in all it's a bit of a dark art and people who do it tend to have their own individual methods which evolve from experiment and aren't in any books. There is only one rule really - Whatever you put on a frame has got to be reasonably durable and stay on.

[Jonny2morsos]

Here is a little job in progress. A small oil on board approx 330 x 160mm.

I have made an inner liner which is in place from some left over 15mm cushion moulding that was originally brightblue (!). Painted with Stone from the Everest range.

The outer pieces which I have to complete have had an undercoat of Clay Red and a top coat of Black (Everest again) These are Arqadia 471 000 137 again left over from a previous job.

Tomorrow I will very gently rub over the highlights with 0000 wire wool to show the red through. The next stage I have not yet quite worked out but will probably be a light wash of burnt umber artists acrylic to tone down the black and then a good waxing and I might just rub over some bronze gilders paste.

Will post another picture when completed.

In Progress.jpg (452.95 KiB) Viewed 7489 times

[birdman]

J2M, that's handsome that is. Looking forward to seeing the finished frame.

Rolf

[Jonny2morsos]

I might prepare another piece of the outer moulding to experiment with to get the finish I have in mind. Unfortuneatly I only dabble at this hand finishing lark so am learning all the time.

[Not your average framer]

Hi Julia,

None of us get there overnight, but we all started at a basic level and worked our way up. Don't be put off, by your lack of knowledge, or experience. It doesn't take long to learn the basics and there are many on this forum who started off just like you and within a matter of months are confident and proficient hand finishers in their own right.

How about telling the rest of us, what sort of finishes you are hoping to achieve and see what suggestions and advice you get offered.

Besides Framemaker, Prospero and myself, there are a reasonably large group of others also doing their own hand finished frames. We are all a fairly helpful lot and between us all, I'm feel sure that we'll get you on the right road.

[yasminfrench]

The key to liming (which is the only hand finishing I've done!) is just buffing, buffing, buffing... circular motions and keep checking it's going on evenly. And make sure your cloth is completely clean before you start. I don't know what sort of wood you buy - I don't know the technical terms in framing - but I've only done it on uncoated wood, I haven't stripped a frame to lime it. Someone else might have more info.

[prospero]

I do liming with paint. Less elbow grease required.

[Jonny2morsos]

Ok, so the frame is now finished. I rubbed down the black to reveal a little of the red and gave it a wash with some burnt umber artist's acryllic and then waxed with Liberon dark oak.

It is a little browner than the picture shows but I feel it could have been more brown. If I do the same again I will go with the burnt umber over the red and leave out the black.

Still Life.jpg (1021.4 KiB) Viewed 7395 times

I was given a free hand on this by the customer so let's hope she likes it!

[Steve N]

Very nice job J2M

[Not your average framer]

Hi J2M,

Very nice job!

[framemaker]

Hi Julia,

When I first started framing one of my favourite books was 'The Art of Framing' by Piers and Caroline Feetham. It is a broad ranging book but has some brief info on various finishes and lots of photos that should give some inspiration as to what can be done. As Prospero said, I don't know of any single book that covers the many different types of hand finishes in step by step detail.
The forum is perhaps the best source of methods, ask away! and you will get some ideas on how to get a specific finish. Apart from that it is just a case of experimenting and looking at what others do for ideas.
It might also be worth looking at training/tuition with a framer who does lots of hand finishing.

[Not your average framer]

I would agree with Richard, it's a great book with a lot of interesting information, from a one of the industry's class acts. Not only do I also have that book in my collection, but also his other book "Displaying Pictures" by Peers Feetham & Caroline Mogg.

I always wondered if Caroline Mogg became the Caroline Feetham who was Peers Feetham's co-author of "The Art of Framing" already mentioned.

[CalicoFraming]

How are people pricing hand finished frames?

Calico

ps. I have 'Understanding Wood Finishing' by Bob Flexner which isn't specific to framing but is a fantastic primer (excuse the pun) for someone like me who's basically a total novice in these matters

[framemaker]

If it's a simple finish like limed, painted, or stain & wax then I just add a charge for the time taken to do the finish and materials used. This is based on experience knowing how long something takes to do.
If it's something more like gesso with painted finish, gilded, or gilded and painted then these are charged per foot.

[Gesso&Bole]

The crucial point here is that you are earning your 'hourly rate' for the time that you put in to hand-finishing.

I work on the basis that, for me, there are 2 types of hand-finishing:

1) Where I create a simple quick finish to avoid me having to stock more mouldings. This finish would normally be done on the length, and would be a quick stain/paint and wax, or even just a coloured wax. I am already benefitting by using some wood I have in stock, not having to pay carriage, and offering my customers more choice than I would otherwise have space/desire to keep in stock.

2) The full closed-corner bespoke, match the picture, exactly what the customer wants, hand-finished frame.

For option 1, I am not charging a premium price, my decision as to whether to buy finished moulding, or hand-finish is made on the basis of how quickly I can get the required effect, do I want to stock this moulding at all (purple for instance), and whether I would incur a carriage charge to order it in. I would certainly make sure my time was covered, but this would probably be a similar charge to a 'special order' where I would be charging the customer an admin fee for ordering in (I wouldn't discuss this with the customer - it would be included in the price). A typical example would be that I would rather take a piece of plain ash moulding and lime wax it white, which might take me 10 minutes, rather than pay a carriage charge to have it delivered - the customer pays the extra either way.

For Option 2, my pricing programme calculates the full price of the basic framing job based on the unfinished moulding, mounts glass etc, and I estimate how many hours I will spend on the hand-finishing multiplied by my hourly rate which I add on. I find that long-winded finishes such as gilding are not realistic for most customers, so I have developed a range of paint and wax finishes that can be completed quickly, and got into the habit of scheduling the job so I can do stage 1 last thing at night, leave it to dry, and crack on first thing in the morning. This way, I can get a lot of finishes done in minutes not hours.

[Not your average framer]

Jim's approach is essentially the same as mine, except I don't have a separate component to cover labour, but instead different finishes get marked up by different amounts. I don't have a set formula, but a range of options covering a range of prices. Being a framer is one thing, but being in business and being a realist is something else. Over time you learn how to create profitable hand finished options to appeal to different price requirements. After all there's some very useful cheap mouldings around, if you are prepared to think out of the box a little. I also like to stack smaller cheaper moulding together to make larger profiles and this can be a useful way of boosting profits.

I like to use those same smaller mouldings individually as well for cheaper framing orders. Quick and easy finishes are an important area of business for me and they need not look cheap at all. We've all got our favourite techniques and ways of getting durable attractive finishes for budget framing jobs, but generally customers have no idea that these lower priced options are not factory finishes. I mix all sort of different paints and ingredients together to get the result I want, and by doing so I get some really classy looking, quick, easy and durable finishes.

It's good to be able to price different mouldings and finishes at different levels, so that you've got something for everyone and where you can you can add more to the price, because it looks good enough to justify a higher price. Hand finishing gives you a lot of kudos with the high class end of the market, but is equally applicable to the lower end of the market, if you are prepared to employ other techniques and materials to suit.

[GeoSpectrum]

I'm pretty new to framing and only just beginning to experiment with hand finishing just starting with basic acrylic painting of obeche 'L' profiles for canvases to save stocking more moulding.

What I find daunting is that there are so many finishing materials out there and so many products on the market that I am not sure where to start. Can anyone suggest a short 'shopping list' of waxes, paints etc that newbies could start with? I know it’s a bit of 'how long is a piece of string' type request but a little point in the right direction would be a great help.

Alan

[Jonny2morsos]

Alan

Do you mind travelling 49 miles, are you willing to invest a fiver (£5) and are you free on the evening of 21st March?

The next meeeting ot the east Midlands branch of The Fine Art Trade Guild has one of hand finishing's gurus booked for a demo. None other than Pete Bingham.

I am just waiting for our Branch Master to confirm he is happy for me to post his contact details on here tomorrow. If you can't wait that long PM or email me for details.

You will also get a buffet meal and drinks so it is a win, win situation.

Hope you can make it - John.