MIrror Frame

[Byron Trantham]

A client needs a new frame for her keepsake mirror. The mirror is 18x40". The original frame was gold filigree and quite large. She wanted it restored but it was done with plaster over wood - about 100 years ago! I told her is was beyond my talents. Then she confided in me that they has a restorer look at it about ten years ago and they wanted $1000 and would not grantee the result!

I started from scratch. These pics are the rough result. Cutting the miters was a bear! :mad: They were just beyond the reach of my 12" SCMS! Anyway, given the problem, it came out pretty well. The strange thing is it's square! I am filling the gaps and sanding. [My brother-in-law says "If you can jump over it, you can mud it! :D The finish will be gold acrylic. SWMBO is going to wash a darker color over that to create an aging patina.

I will post the results in a couple of days.

[Todd Burch]

Byron - aren't you retired?!! You sure are taking on a lot of work lately!! You GO GUY!!

[Jim Becker]

Beautiful, Byron. That's a spiffy frame! 'Tis true that the old-time method of using plaster, etc., to make these frames is a real art and from what you found out, quite pricy to actually restore. You have to admire the old technique, however. The house that I grew up in was previously owned by an artist and I know for a fact that he made his own frames, including the plaster work. And "work" is an appropriate description!

[Byron Trantham]

Byron - aren't you retired?!! You sure are taking on a lot of work lately!! You GO GUY!!

Todd, you don't know the half of it. From last October till last March I didn't have much to do. Then we [read SWMBO] decided to convert a bedroom over to a full blown sewing room. I've posted several times on that project. I'm on the third and last phase. Then a lady in the neighborhood wanted fixes in her house. Then another lady wanted four new kitchen cabinet doors, a train table for her husband, several shelves installed in her closets and finally the mirror frame. We were asked to make yet another picture frame [shadow box] for an Alpaca Rug she bought in Peru. All of this happened within a month! Then THE BIG ONE, a 12' long floor to ceiling cherry wall unit! :eek: Yea, I'm busy and yea, I'm retired. :rolleyes:

Busy, busy, busy!!!! :D

[Mark Stutz]

Byron,
Have you given any thought to using gold leaf? Craft stores sell kits with sizing, etc. and you can use different kits to achieve antiqued effects as well.I haven't tried it yet, but I picked up a kit for an upcoming picture frame project.
Regardless, this is already a remarkable job!
Mark

[Carl Eyman]

Byron, how do you make the design that is "carved" into the various pieces of the frame? When done commercially it is pressed in, I believe, but surely you can't make the tooling necessary for that. I echo the comments of others. Awesome!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Byron.

If the corners were just beyond your saw how did you make them?

It is a great looking frame.

Thanks for posting it.

[Byron Trantham]

Byron, how do you make the design that is "carved" into the various pieces of the frame? When done commercially it is pressed in, I believe, but surely you can't make the tooling necessary for that. I echo the comments of others. Awesome!

Carl, you caught me! :eek: Heck man, I didn't carve that stuff. My wife and I went to the borg and SHE picked out combinations of pressed trim to create the effect you see. We made a base from popular and glued and pined on the trim. Now I have four picture frame elements that can be mitered into a finished frame.

The trim is made of bass wood. I have most of the sanding in the miters done now and I hope to get it primed before COB.

[Byron Trantham]

Hi Byron.

If the corners were just beyond your saw how did you make them?

It is a great looking frame.

Thanks for posting it.

With GREAT DIFFICULTY! :mad: The saw cut everything except the last 1/2" or so. I used a sharks tooth saw [flush cutting] to cut the remainder. I cut two 45 degree blocks on which I set the frame element. The blocks were pushed up against the fence. Not too great but it worked [for the most part]. Here's the deal; I knew this guy was going to be painted and there is so much "carving" I figured I would have some leeway if the joints weren't perfect [and they weren't!]. Any anomaly in the joints would be lost in the carving and it looks like my expectation was valid. I have the joints filled and almost sanded. I hope to shoot the primer today. That will tell for sure.

I will post more pics tomorrow.