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| 400 N. BOWEN
RD #116, Arlington, Texas 76012 817-265-8206 817-253-5510 |
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ORNATE FRAME RESTORATION
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| I've done frame restoration for a number of years and have really
enjoyed seeing an old frame regain it's health and vigor with a little
(or a bunch) TLC. I will be happy to restore your frame for
you. I will replace the broken areas and match the new paint to the old.
I'll need to have some good pictures of the frame to be able to estimate
the time and cost. If you live locally, bring the frame in and I will be
happy to check it for you. If you want to mail me the frame
be sure to pack it well so we are not repairing additional broken areas.
If you want to try the repair yourself I have put down some procedures
and techniques that will help you. GOOD LUCK. Call me
if you have a problem
The way I am going to instruction you is QUICK,
and easy. Well, at least, I think so.
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| MATERIALS THAT MAY BE NEEDED
I easily have all these in my regular stock of junk, but you may need to
shop around. I'll give you some suggestions as we go along.
1) ONE old frame willing to let you experiment and learn.
Don't use anything that is a family heirloom or "precious" to someone.
Start with a garage sale find. However, I once found an extremely
valuable pre-civil war frame at a garage sale for $5.00
2) assorted tools, scrapers, sharp knifes, I love my
old dental tools I got at a garage sale, You can always gather these up
as your need develops. You will be doing some scraping and sanding.
3) assorted sand papers from rough to smooth. And your
Dremel tool will come in handy on this project.
4) fine and course steel wool is always handy
5) Alginate (it's that stuff the dentist makes
impressions of your teeth) Your dentist will probably sell you a cup of
powder from his can.
6) Bondo (be sure you have some fresh activator to
make it harden, I mix on a piece of scrap glass but anything slick will
work (but not the kitchen counter top, Honey)
7) Plaster gauze (like the doctor bandages your broken
arm is very handy) Probably will not use it on this project. It's
great for a back-up support on the rubber mold procedure. But it
take about 2 weeks just to make the mold before you start the repairs.
8) assorted paints and gesso when you start to
refinish your repaired area, to match your frame. You don't want
to redo the entire frame just the restored area.
acrylics work great because they will dry fast and easily
repainted. I also use bronzing powers from time to time More of this
later.
9) Furniture paste polish (look under the sink-that's
where Mom used to keep it and old is OK)
10) May require some dirt from the yard. Go gather up
some assorted colors in plastic bags (small ones, we are not going to
grow potatoes)
11) finish varnish (gloss or mat depending on color of
original frame)
12) lots of old newspaper, rags, paper towels and such
13) a comfortable place to work. If you don't have a
good table area then rig up something from a couple of trashcans and a
door. Whatever!
14) rubber gloves are good if dirty hands bother you,
in which case, you need to email me about the cost of my doing it for
you. This can be a messy job.
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| OVER ALL PROCEDURE-
read all the way through before thinking about
starting. |
1) select a frame with limited damage to start with.
A few chunks here and there and possibly a corner is GONE. Check the
entire frame and note places where there may be some loose compo (other
design raised areas) Compo is the name given to the composites of
materials that made up the original frame designed area. The compo could
be plaster, or ground marble and a number of other items. Our
raised area will be made from the Bondo, It sets up rather fast and is
easily molded and trimmed and carved. For every damaged area to be
repaired you need a good area of that same design to make your mold.
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2) KEEP ALL PARTS OF THE FRAME THAT ARE LOOSE, MAKE NOTES OF WHERE
THEY CAME FROM ON THE FRAME. Sometimes it is obvious but it's like
a puzzle later. It's always easier to reuse as much of the
original frame as you can. I usually start with one corner and work my
way around, brush, clean, glue loose pieces, When I get back to
where I started I check and make sure all my glued pieces are in proper
place and then I leave it to dry.
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3) Using a stiff brush (tooth brushes work great), get off any excess dirt, dust and
loose finish. You don't want to work on a "dirty" frame.
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3) you can also use alcohol (or lightly damp rags) to clean the
frame without damaging the original wood. Do not use excessive wet
rags on the frame or finish, Lacquer thinner (more aggressive_) can be used, but be careful
because it can also remove a lot of the original finish; so work in
small areas and watch for damage you may be causing.
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4) use a tooth pick to insert small amounts of a clear drying glue
to re-glue any loose compo. Be sure you are returning the compo piece to
it's proper original position.
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5) Now look at each damaged area. For every damaged area you
need to find a matching area just like it to make your mold.
Remember that frames will have right and left area and they do not
interchange.
Some areas on a frame may actually have to be hand carved after you have
made a mold of the best area you can find.
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6) Select the area on the frame that will make a good mold for
a damaged area. Mix up enough alginate to make a good clay ball to cover
the selected area. You can put the alginate inside and outside the
missing area, which will help you line it up later when you are casting. The alginate will not damage the frame when you
remove it. It takes about a minute for the alginate to set up
enough to remove it from the frame. You now have a mold of that
area. (NOTE; the older way to make a mold took about a week) Alginate is
the cold yucky stuff your dentist puts in your mouth to make a mold of
your teeth. Your dentist may sell you a jar or 1/2 jar he has.
Probably about $20 for a pint size jar.
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7) Now mix up enough Bondo to fill your mold. If you have
never worked with this product it may take several tries. Too much
hardener and it will set up too fast. As soon as you put the Bondo
into the mold press the mold onto the frame and place it so that the
finished items will be in place. Again, it may take a couple of tries.
If when you remove the mold you don't like it, then pull it off and make
another fresh molded piece. But by pressing the mold onto the
frame you know it is going to fit the shape of the frame. You do
have to be careful that you do not squash the entire design by pressing
down too hard on the top of the mold, thus distorting the Bondo inside.
It will only take a minute or two to set up enough to remove the mold.
You can now adjust the piece a little to be sure you like the alignment
of the new piece to the other compo. Any cracks and such can be
filled in later. Right now just work with the major shapes. If you
wet your fingers you are less likely to stick to the Bondo. (the old
lick your finger trick)
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8) Now work your way around the frame, and make a mold and make a
casting and insert the good piece into the missing space on the frame.
Again, get in the major large damaged areas and then worry about the
filling later. You may have to cast the mold more than once until
you get the hang of it. You may have to do the mold more than once
to be sure it is properly place. There is a learning
curve.
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9) If you are not happy with the area you are working on, remove it
now while it is fresh and recast another piece. Your mold will not
last very long and cannot be stored for later use. As it dries, it
shrinks. If you seal it up in closed jar it will last a day
or two.
So work to get a good fit before you move on.
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10) Check each area that you have repaired, and remove any edges or
unwanted lumps with a blade or sanding tool. Get those off before they
dry. It's easier now than later when they have hardened.
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11) Let all the restored area dry.
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12) Now recheck all restored areas and using some freshly mixed
Bondo and your wet finger, add any Bondo where you may need to fill-in
an area or sculpt something that did not get caught in the mold you
made. Don't be overly critical, after the frame is touched up you
will be surprised how a somewhat bad area will "blend in" Go
over entire frame and tough up anything that needs filling. And
remember these old Compo frame ALWAYS had cracks in them. It is their
nature. So don't try to restore every little crack. Let it dry
well
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13) Now using your sand paper, steel wood, dental picks and such, go
over the repaired area(s) and smooth and be sure you haven't missed
something. If you have Dremel tool that works great.
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| 14) Now to refinished the the new areas to match frame. This
one is hard to help in this format, but you need to look at the frame
closely and analyze what you will need. I'll give you some
suggestions NOTE: you will get a better look if you put on
several coats of gesso on the new compo areas before you start the color
touch up. Gesso and sand and gesso and sand,
GOLD FRAMES- If your restored areas are small, you can possibly get
along with just using one of the liquid gold paints like Rub'nBuf.
If the area is large it may be best to actually gold leaf that area.
After you touch up the gold see if it need to have some antiquing rubbed
over the gold to tone it down and blend it into the older finished
areas. You can use a brown acrylic paint to do this (for a fast dry). Rub on and Rub off. I
like using oil based paints for my stain because the oils are more translucent.
Some gold frames I buff into the acrylic antiquing some gold bronzing
powder. You may need to carry your new finish into the older
areas so they blend. Often, when finished, I WAX the entire frame
and rub it with a good color or "back yard dirt" (rotten stone power is
good, but hard to find) I've even used crushed artist pastels to
get the color I need.
But I usually just re-gold leaf the entire frame so it is uniform.
Use normal rules and procedures for doing the gold leaf.
Brown tone finishes. You don't often see the ornate compo frames done
is brown but from time to time they do pop up Just match the new
area with as close a matching color as you can find. You may get a
better look if you put several And you may need to repaint or
stain the entire frame. You can also gold leaf the repaired
brown frame. Use whichever finish will
best match your frame (gloss or mat)
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