Turning Wood into Gold (frames)



Step one



I recently had the opportunity to take a few days away from the shop to visit a former business partner of mine in the Netherlands.  The trip was mostly for the pleasure of seeing him and his partner in their fabulous house (castle), but we peppered in a little bit of business to make the trip appear more plausible (or so I could at least write some of it off as a business expense).  Little did I know that it was going to be quite the educational experience in a trade that I considered myself an expert in: framing.



Step Three

 Chelsea Frames chops and finishes a line of our own mouldings (a topic for a later discussion), but we also carry several other "brands" of frames.   Larson Juhl is arguably one of the bigger, if not the biggest, picture framing manufacturer and distributor in the United States.  While our own line of frames primarily consists of basic hardwood profiles and finishes, their lines are much broader and include golds, silvers, laminates and a host of other finishes and profiles.



Step Three

 I had always wanted to see how others worked their magic, especially Larson Juhl. We've had a longstanding relationship with them, one that predates my existence at Chelsea Frames.  A few weeks before I left town I had the pleasure of visiting their New Jersey distribution branch which services New York City and it's surrounding areas.  I was impressed with their process of supplying moulding to our company so that we could sell it.  This visit was only scratching the surface.



After stepping off the plane, enduring a few train delays, and a quick nap, I set out to visit Larson Juhl's Boxtel facility, which operated in a similar manner as New Jersey's.  In fact, it was almost hard to tell that I was in a foreign country because it looked almost exactly the same.



Step Four

Somehow, when my framing career was budding, I adopted the term "commercial moulding" which I often used to refer to moulding that was manufactured or machine-made.  I had never really thought how some of these processes were done, but I assumed that a stick of wood was probably stuck into some sort of contraption and came out the other end a nice shiny finished length of moulding.  That is, until I took a trip to Larson Juhl's Senelar facility a few days later, located in Hazebrouck, France.  Then I saw how frames were really made.



Step Five

Because of confidentiality and trade secrets, I'm not sure I can delve into the specific details, but the process astounded me.  Because of the extensive process, I was aware that the technique of water-guilding is done primarily on individual custom made closed-corner frames.  Here, they were mass-producing moulding mostly by hand, using these same water-guilding methods the old master frame makers used. Everything down to the dust in the little crevices was hand applied.  This is not to say that all mass-produced mouldings are hand-made, but a chunk of Larson Juhl's are.  So, when considering the cost of custom framing, this experience immediately comes to mind.

The finshed product

These are a few of the steps they took:
1. The wood is milled to a specific profile by passing through a series of knives.

2. The milled stick gets a gesso applied to it. Gesso is a hard white plaster compound that is used as a base for gilding.

3. Bole (red clay) and ornaments are then applied to the stick.

4. Individual sheets of gold leaf are carefully laid down on the stick and burnsished by hand. 

5. A wax finish is applied to seal in the frame. This helps to mute the gold finish making it appear less shiny.

6. Unique finishing touches are applied, depending on the style of frame.

You also can view a video of the water-guilding technique on C&J Frame's website (a manufacturer of closed-corner frames) or here.

This industry continues to teach me new things everyday.  The intention of this blog are to serve this purpose--to educate, inform, and maybe even show off our talents to others the fine art of custom framing.  As young professional who is still fairly new to this business, I want to share with you the things I've learned and continue to discover along the way.