Expert: Eileen Cronk - 11/22/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi Eileen,  I have an old picture from my grandparents home that would be better in my sister's home than mine (her husband is a farmer and the picture reflects that kind of work).  It has great sentimental value.  But, the frame looks bad - looks like rugged wood with a few pieces of wood sticking out - perfect for slivers.  I'm wondering how best to refinish it w/out losing it's charm.  My thought is to sand it down and just repaint it maybe even with spray paint.  Would that work?  Thanks, Becky

ANSWER: Hi Becky
Nice to hear from you.
A couple of winters back I worked on nothing but refinishing old frames with pictures in them.
If memory serves I did well over 100.
So I can give you a few tips on doing them LOL.
Before you do anything to the frame carefully remove the picture and glass from the wood.
Sanding down will be fine to get rid of the rough areas.
If you want to retain the wood look, you can simply rub on a couple of coats of tung oil with a rag after sanding.
And if that doesn't suit, you can paint over it afterwards.
Don't use a gloss paint of any kind.
I found the best and cheapest paint was craft paint from the craft store.
Black is the best color choice. Black goes with most any picture.
Make sure the groove where the glass goes is cleaned and painted.
You would imagine that because its hidden it does not matter but it does. The glass reflects this area so finish it correctly.
You will no doubt want to put new hangers and wire on the frame. Add the hangers before painting so you don't marr the paint while doing this. The wire goes on last of course.
And spray paint is fine if you choose but not gloss.
Best of luck with this.
Regards
Eileen





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Is it best to sand gently by hand or would it be okay to use a sander?  The frame is approximately size 16x20.  
And, where would I find tung oil?

Answer
Hi again Becky
I would stick to doing this by hand.
If the back of the frame looks cruddy, its OK to use a little hand sander there.
Tung oil is readily available at hardware stores.
Heres the one I like
http://www.swingpaints.com/1802.htm
Get back to me if you run into problems
Regards
Eileen