Woodworks by John
CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Like to share the creation and results of this recent frame I made for my favorite client -- my wife! Some of the other people I make frames for prefer that they're not shared on public boards; why?, I'm not sure. Anyway, this painting is oil on panel and measures 12" x 16". My wife wanted to portray this model as a rough and tumble character, perhaps one with a switch blade in his back pocket! If you look at the palette and brush work she used you'll agree that a nice, gold leafed frame wouldn't compliment it. I decided to make an ebonized frame from Red Oak. The profile was made with a plow plane for the beads and then tablesaw to cut the slight bevel and rabbet. Hand planes were used to smooth out the tablesaw work. When I posted the ebonizing process on my blog it drew lots of attention, so much that I included a short video to illustrate the process: https://woodworksbyjohn.com/2019/12/13/frame-185-ebonized-oak/
If you've never heard of this essentially it's a matter of dissolving oil free steel wool in white vinegar which reacts with the tanins in the Red Oak. Always some variation and this piece came out very black. I prefer this over staining which obscures the grain. The finish is Osmo Polyx oil which is a product I've begun using on my furniture as well, it's replaced my old stand-by of Watco Danish oil which isn't the same since EPA rulings caused them to change the formulation.
To further add that rugged look to the frame I added small clavos around the outside edge between the beads. These came from Jordan and were found on Etsy.
I explained that process in this blog: https://woodworksbyjohn.com/2020/01/04/frame-185-completed-clavos/

If you've never heard of this essentially it's a matter of dissolving oil free steel wool in white vinegar which reacts with the tanins in the Red Oak. Always some variation and this piece came out very black. I prefer this over staining which obscures the grain. The finish is Osmo Polyx oil which is a product I've begun using on my furniture as well, it's replaced my old stand-by of Watco Danish oil which isn't the same since EPA rulings caused them to change the formulation.
To further add that rugged look to the frame I added small clavos around the outside edge between the beads. These came from Jordan and were found on Etsy.
I explained that process in this blog: https://woodworksbyjohn.com/2020/01/04/frame-185-completed-clavos/

