Radigator frame

Terry Hart cpf

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 23, 2003
Posts
2,087
Loc
Excelsior, MN
It isn't everyday I get a chance to make this frame. In fact this is the first time. I came up with this alligator skin texture a long time ago for another project but then it ended up going in a different direction so when a customer wanted something special for this Radiators concert poster I had to give it a try.
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Man, that is cool! You should have entered that in the Grumble Competition Terry. I'm sure you have something even better waiting in the wings.....
 
Backcast gator skin, or just direct apply? Very nice look. I love the blue and green verdigra. It gives it life.
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Cheesecloth.
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Cut pieces to fit what you want to texture. Pull it apart a little to make the weave irregular.
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Lay on a couple coats of gesso, lay on the cheesecloth & add a couple more coats. All wet on wet of course.
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Let the gesso gell for a couple minutes and gently pull away the cheese cloth. It won't come away real clean but the roughness works for this texture. Cornel gave me a tip for getting a cleaner pull. Let the gesso dry & then lay a damp cloth over it to soften the surface & then pull it. This would work better with a stronger mesh. Cheesecloth tends to shred a bit with this technique.
 
Man I wish i could work a place that does cool a$ stuff like this. I love frames, i am a nerd...my wife said so, but it would be nice to be in a place like this. Neat frame, I wish I could do spiffy stuff like that.\


PL
 
Yeah I just wish I could intern for years at a place and learn stuff like this. But you know having an old lady limits the free work. Plus most of these places that can do these types of projects are in real cities. So too far from here. Next trade show I guess...but a few hours makes not a master but a mess.

PL
 
Here's an idea for you Terry - (since I am stealing your idea!) -

I keep the little bits of cheesecloth that I use to wipe down acrylic finishes on frames. Before they dry out completely I unroll them and flatten and stretch them out. I have a little collection of these in different color combos which I have been saving for some unspecified art project - they look pretty cool - linds like a pinto pony!

Anyways, the dried paint stiffens up the cheesecloth just enough that perhaps it could be used for your technique with the damp cloth. Pieces could even be rinsed out and re-used.

Funny, I have glued cheesecloth onto projects to achieve texture and I have spray-painted though it - never thought of your great idea!

Thanks for sharing!!!
 
Fabulous mats and frame, Terry! Thanks for sharing your cheesecloth technique. Yet another idea I'll squirrel away for future use :D
 
Terry, I was hoping someone else would ask, but since they didn't, and I'm dying to know...how do you charge for something like that? By the hour?
We were talking about it today, and wondered if that was one of those labor of love, can't possibly charge what it's really worth, just did it for the pure fun of it kinda things....or what? But since it's for a customer, and we aren't non-profit organizations (sometimes I wonder!), how?
 
Welcome to the Learning Grumble Marion.

BTW: We don't know why but the auto editor doesn't like D U D E, but ignores Alto but will kill ****.

So you have to be careful how you swear as a framer on the grumble.

Just a "heads-up" for when you graduate from being a student. :D
 
Hey y'all. Didn't mean to ignore you but I've been real busy at home getting things ready for the big open house. Our eldest graduated high school this spring. & I thought he was still 6. The shaving shoulda been a tip off. Where does the time go? I just sneaked into the shop for a few hrs before my wife finds more stuff for me to do. So to try to quickly cover some of the questions. This was a pretty easy finish as they go. About three hrs to do the frame. Material costs are always low compared to time on these jobs, not much more than $20 on this one. Cut & build the frame. Round the corners & notch a band to seperate the corners from the rails. I sealed the wood with PVA size. Four quik coats of gesso as shown & pull the cheese cloth. A very quick light sanding with 220, not too smooth. A quick coat of yellow followed by a shellac. oil gild the corners (quick set) with metal leaf. Rub the leaf when set & shellac. Then I did a coat of green over the whole frame (Rubbed off the corners)& shellaced it. Then a coat of black paint, rubbed & shellaced. Finished with wax & black pigment for the rails, burnt sienna & black for the corners & dusted with rottenstone & buffed. Of course thats over a period of a number of days as there needs to be some set time between some of the steps but mostly its 10 or 15 min. work at a time. I have a pretty good idea in advance of the time involved. I know what to charge per sq. ft for oil gilding, painting etc. I just covert that to lineal ft for the size mldg I'm using, taking into account any ornamentation or other things that add on plus the moulding (with mark up) itself and put the price per ft into my POS & write it up! It's pretty accurate. I don't get to do these every day but with the way the price of pre finished mldg has jumped in recent years the playing field has leveled. The mat was cut on my Wizard. That merge feature is great. The top mat is a 2 template combo while the bottom mat is a 5 opening merger. Beats the **** out of cadd but it did take about an hr to get what I wanted. I don't hand cut too much anymore but when I do I just use an xacto. & Mar I understand completly. I have stacks of sheets of paint peeled from my old pallets. Someday I'll figger out why too.
 
Thanks for the additional info, Terry - I save paint "peelings" too! They are just so way cool - if i figure out what to do with 'em I'll let ya know!!!
 
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