Freshly Sprayed Gesso

A cassetta frame made from tulip which has been sprayed with gesso, this frame will have aluminium leaf on the inner and outer sections with the flat section painted.

Spray twirler

Another job that I have got done at long last, is to make a rotating table top for the spray booth. You can buy simple metal tables and expensive ones for this purpose, but I always prefer to try and make something myself and none of the ones I saw online did quite what I wanted. So my table is made from an old walnut veneer repro cupboard, a lazy susan bearing (idea poached from Bronislaus Janulis), a piece of 6mm MDF, 4 drawer slides, and some flat mouldings. It works well and can support surprisingly big frames which can't be rotated fully in one go, but do go half-way and then moving the large frame slightly on the supports means the whole frame can be easily sprayed all round. The largest size (at around 25" x 30" or 24" x 36") we make regularly does fit easily though, and can be rotated fully. The only thing I need to do is watch the build-up of gesso on the slide bearings when the arms are fully extended, I might need to design something to cover these but I will see how it goes for now.

Gesso day

I have a lot of frames to gesso at the moment, 24 done today, amongst other jobs like cutting/joining more frames, spending time with customers and clients, and doing repairs. I've got another frames 12 to gesso later this week, and about 12 more next week. Thankfully spraying makes it much easier to get frames coated in gesso relatively quickly.

Bright spray paint

Spray finish

These two frames will eventually have bright glossy sprayed finishes. The barewood frames are obeche which has been coated in several layers of gesso which was then sanded smooth. In these photos I have just sprayed the frames with two coats of white primer, next the surface will be lightly sanded back, and then I will use cans of car spray paint to get the smooth finish which will then be sealed with spray lacquer. Sometimes I mix up paint and use a spray gun but occasionally I use the vast range of colours easily available for car body repairs. It can be tricky getting a good even finish without drips or runs, but when thin layers of paint are carefully built up, you can get a really good smooth finish.

Gesso

I am gessoing some frames at the moment, 10 are done and 10 more to do this week for gilding jobs that need doing in the next couple of weeks. The gesso on the frame in the top photo was brushed on, only because it was a little big for the spraying area to easily move round. The other frames were all sprayed, you can see in the bottom photo the nice smooth finish from spraying; which means minimal sanding needed and quicker production. For ages I have intended to make a simple turntable in place of the current spray table (an old Black & Decker workmate), I have all the parts needed but never seem to have enough time. I currently use a simple gravity feed gun although I plan to get a new set-up in the coming months.

Spray gesso

Two frames which have just had one thick coat of gesso sprayed on, these will have quite distressed paint finishes so one coat will be enough.

Two colour spray finish

Sprayed box frames

These box frames are made from tulip, which is a good wood for painted and gilded finishes. The frame in the photo above has a sprayed on gesso base which is given a coat of white primer which is then sealed with a matt varnish.

The frame in the top photo is the same as the first, but after the primer coat it has had a bright white gloss spray finish which is sealed and protected with a gloss varnish.These frames are very simple and cleaning looking, with seamless corners as the mitres are not visible. It is also possible to spray directly onto the wood, building up the paint layers to get a solid finish.