Woodworks by.John

Quite a few years ago I began making floater style frames for my wife’s work and wrote this blog post. Since then, I’ve made a number of them and my methods are different from most of the commercial floater frames available. My goal is to elevate the floater frame from its origin of lattice strips tacked to the sides of canvas to one that has more of a presence. Granted, as a furniture maker I tend to overbuild everything and at this point in my life I have the time to do that. The Picture Framers Grumble has been a place where I can have interactions with other frame makers and I really enjoy that. Unfortunately, here in Las Vegas there isn’t a thriving art scene. This painting is one Diane recently completed, it measures 18″ x 24″ and the frame is about 1″ wide and 2″ deep. The finish is imitation silver leaf which has been sealed Platinum shellac which was toned with French Ultramarine blue powdered pigments.

I’d like to share my process with a series of pictures to illustrate the process. I’d be interested in hearing from other framers who make their own frames and moldings. Basswood begins with 5/4 stock which I try to get at least 7″ wide. A combination of hand planes and a power planer will yield material that is about 1 1/16″ to 1 1/8″ in thickness. I hand plane every surface of the boards after cutting them to rough length and finished width. For this profile I wanted a slight chamfer on the edge which was cut with a low angle block plane.

To support the painting I cut a 1/4″ groove on the inside of the piece about 1″ from the top surface. Plywood (1/4″ thick) is eventually glued into it to support the painting and strengthen the corners. The corners are strengthened further with a face frame sized biscuit. Miters are cut using my shop made jig on the tablesaw and the frame is glued and clamped overnight. In the clamped picture you’ll notice a spring clamp in each corner; there is another piece of plywood on the backside to strengthen that — I know: overkill!

I keep projects glued up over night and check for any misalignment, glue, scratches, etc. before starting the finish process — it is so easy to miss them; don’t ask me how I know!

The first step to the finish process is to use Zinsser Seal Coat shellac on every surface. Once dry I lightly sand with 400 grit paper. Next up is taping off the top edge to apply a flat black paint to the inside of the frame. I tape down about 1/2″ from the top and use latex simply because it’s easy to clean up. Once that’s dry, the black areas are taped off so that the gray burnisher/sealer can be applied. Prior to applying the slow set size the frame is buffed with 4/0 oil free steel wool. In my experience, whenever an area is taped off for gilding it’s best to press the taped area down firmly and remove the tape right after gilding. I used to wait until the size was completely set (24 hours or so) but that could result in a jagged edge. By carefully pulling the tape off before the size has set I find that any leaf that wants to rip off can usually be pressed down while slowly pulling the tape off.

Imitation silver leaf always needs to be sealed to prevent it from tarnishing, my preference for that is Platinum Blonde shellac made from flakes. Since the paintings for both of these frames have a blue palette the shellac was tinted with French Ultramarine Blue dry pigments. To tone down the garishness of the silver leaf it was lightly buffed with 4/0 steel wool prior to airbrushing on the shellac, you can see the difference it makes in the left photo. After the toning was dry, cotton pads and Liberon clear Black Bison wax was used to rub out the shellac and add a slight sheen.

The final step of course is to install the artwork. Holes are located and drilled through the plywood using a 1/4″ forstner bit. I’ve found that the forstner leaves a clean hole which allows for any slight adjustments. Number 6 screws with washers are used, the hole size allows for slight adjustment. My process is to use spacers to center the painting and then locate the holes from underneath the frame. They are pre-drilled with a gimlet and the art is attached with the screws, snug at first to allow any adjustments in case the painting is slightly out of square; this does happen sometimes! One thing I like about the depth of the frame pieces is that the D-ring can be installed so that it isn’t visible from the side. In the picture showing the back view you can see the gusset that is glued into each corner.

So there it is, my process for floater frames which I’m happy with as is my wife and her gallery. Are there any other frame makers that use a similar process? Like I said earlier, Las Vegas doesn’t have a thriving art scene so there are few that I can share frame making with.

I’m betting that many of you have heard the phrase so that’s why I’m using it for this blog. It’s a phrase that has been attributed to many different people. This frame showed up on my Pinterest one day and it really appealed to me. It was originally from The Frame Blog which discussed Australian artists work from the late 1800’s. Those frames were made in Japan. The blog showed some of the construction details which consisted of the moldings assembled with miters and cross dowel construction. The framework was covered with paper or cloth. My wife recently completed a 10″x10″ figurative painting and I thought her painting would be a good fit for this style of frame. This work of her’s is going to her gallery, Meyer Vogl in Charleston, SC. It’s for their Ten Year Anniversary show the end of March.

The first part I made was the spandrel. That’s the piece that is inside of the frame; for tabernacle frames they are often curved or arched at the top. From the blog I learned that this frame had a lattice like arrangement of wood which was covered by material or paper. I chose to use 1/4″ MDF for that but still needed to figure a way to support the painting inside of the spandrel. Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of that before cutting it open but milled some pieces of Basswood 13/16″ square which were glued, pin nailed and clamped to the back of the MDF. The reason for 13/16″ is so that I could pin nail from the backside with 1″ nails and not go through the front — that would not have been good!

The exact opening in the grid on the back is 10″ x 10″ and was removed on the router table with a pattern cutting bit. However; the opening needs a rabbet for the painting to sit behind. I used 3/16″ spacers which were attached with double sided tape. The first step was cutting the opening with a pattern cutting bit on the router table. Next, a small roundover bit formed a radius. You can see the rabbet in the left picture after the 3/16″ spacers were removed. The picture on the right shows the completed spandrel sealed with 4-5 coats of Zinsser seal coat shellac. There was some debate in my mind about using the MDF for the spandrel since it can be affected by moisture. Since I had MDF in my shop and had success with a very large tabernacle frame commission decided to use it. In addition to multiple coats of sealing shellac the next step will be a yellow burnisher/sealer followed by slow set oil size, and finally imitation gold leaf.

Once the spandrel was made it was time to start creating the molding for the frame. I liked the small, unobtrusive molding on the original piece. I’m imitating that so started out with 3/4″ x 2 3/4″ Basswood. Simplicity was my goal so the top of it has a shallow profile created with a router bit used to make tray bottoms. Knowing it’s almost impossible to center it exactly the insides were marked so that the rabbet is on the same side of each piece. Before cutting the rabbet I took the time to sand a slight radius on the upper edges to prevent the gold leaf from cracking (left picture below). The rabbet was cut on the tablesaw with a rip blade. Marks were made with a marking gauge, the first cut was done flat at the top of the rabbet. Cutting off the remainder of it required careful set up with feather boards and my shop made push stick (right picture below). It took some careful set up and planning but the creating the molding was a success. I know I only need 4 pieces for a frame but cut some extra just in case.

The frame was assembled in the usual way, after cutting the miters it was glued up and clamped with a band clamp overnight.

My usual procedure is to apply a coat of Zinsser seal coat shellac to the frame followed by Yellow burnisher sealer. I use slow set, oil based size and gilded the frame and the spandler at the same time. I wait at least 24 hours then burnish the imitation gold leaf with 4/0 Liberon oil free steel wool. The final finish on both of them is several coats of Platinum Blonde shellac applied with an airbrush. To mellow out the gloss of shellac, Liberon wax is applied with 2500 Mirlon abrasive pad. All that’s left is assembling the frame and spandrel.

This was a bit of a challenge since there is a very limited amount of space to insert a fastener between the frame and the lattice work on the spandrel for attachment. That dilemma was solved by using a piece of Basswood that I had pre-drilled holes at a slight angle. After putting that piece in place the holes were marked with a pencil. A gimlet was used to create an angled starter hole into the frame for an eventual screw. That part of the frame is only 3/8″ thick so very careful to not go through with the screw. Assembly was successful — no screws p

Here’s a better picture of the finished project than the one above in the comparison shot. I concentrated when laying the leaf to keep the lay lines continuous through the cut out area where the painting is. The painting is on panel and was secured with points.