Last week I finally finished up the 5 large frames for church and delivered them to be installed. Today I put the final coat of spray finish on the 5 smaller frames and delivered them so they will be installing them  tomorrow. They are happy with the frames and they look great with the printed media that they put in them. I am still not happy with the final finish on the 5 large frames, but they are and that is what matters. So I shot some photos of the large frames now that they are installed and next week I will get some pictures of the smaller frames. It was a good project and I learned a lot including how to use dye and working with a new spray gun which improves my ability to finish future projects.

The large frames are 43"x43"x1" Beech. With the fluorescent lighting the frames appear much lighter than they are.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Outstanding, Allen! First class.

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

Allen

It i a great thing to see the final of product of what we do for Christ. I'm sure you are very proud of your efforts as I am of you. Great job my friend.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Allen, those turned out really great. Now it all comes together seeing them in the place they are in. Very contemporary and very well designed for the wall they are on. I love em, and the color turned out great! So, what did you finally do to fix your finishing issues>

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

I started out with stain on the large frames, but it turned out uneven. I tried to do a top coat with some trans tint dye to even it out, but that didn't work either. So I had to sand them down to bare wood and start the process over. After doing a bit of experimentation, I ended up doing it with a trans tint dye using a mixture of 1 TBS to 1 Quart of water. With the wood so porous I had to dye it twice to get the colors even. Once it was dry then I did a seal coat of blonde shellac in a 2 lb cut and then sprayed 3 coats of a satin water based "Polyacrylic". Since I did the finish on the small frames after the large frames, I used dye only in multiple coats so the color turned out more even and just a hair darker. In appearance the large frames have more pronounced grain than the small frames. This is due to the stain that brought out the deeper grain pattern which didn't show up as pronounced with the dye only. But since the smaller frames won't be place next to the large frames, the color and grain variation is not a problem. If you look at the 2nd frame photo that says "Active In Service" you can see the really bold grain pattern on the bottom piece. That was the most difficult one of the 5 and gave me the most fits.

I did like using the dye, but I had to use 1 gallon of it since the Beech would soak so much of it up. I had to get a spray bottle and a sponge and keep it wet until it soaked in as much as it could and then wipe off the excess. It was a very messy process which left quite a few stains on my garage floor.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Wow Allen those turned out awesome. I love the color on them and the finish is perfect. I see what you are talking about on the second one, but boy I love the grain in that piece of wood. I can see why those at the church love them so much. Nice job.

If I remember you also made them so the pictures could be changed our easily?

Look forward to seeing the small ones in place next.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Yes, these were made so that the printed media slides in from the top. I have 2 rabbits in the back with one that is about 1" wide and 1/4" deep and the other about 3/8" wide and 1/4" deep. The larger one is set deeper from the back and is sized to fit the size of the printed media which in this case is 30"x30" which is mounted to hardboard. The 3/8" rabbit is where the 1/4" backing is mounted to hold the media in. It worked out perfectly for them to slide the media in and out. You do have to take the frame down off the wall first though.

John Moody said:

Wow Allen those turned out awesome. I love the color on them and the finish is perfect. I see what you are talking about on the second one, but boy I love the grain in that piece of wood. I can see why those at the church love them so much. Nice job.

If I remember you also made them so the pictures could be changed our easily?

Look forward to seeing the small ones in place next.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com