TOUCH UP MATERIAL FOR WOOD FRAMES
When handling and exhibiting picture frames they can get nicked & scratched. Touch up material such as wood filler, magic markers, & acrylic paint can be used to repair them.
Wood filler
This is the touch up material we use on unfinished frames. Apply the wood filler on the face and sides of the frame in any area where you see a gap. Sand off the excess putty. Wait for at least 15 minutes so the wood filler has a chance to dry and sand the wood until the surface is completely smooth. These fillers are available for different types of woods. Match the filler to the wood of your frame i.e. maple frame would use a maple filler.
Magic Markers
Magic markers which work well as a touch up material on black, charcoal, graphite and wood tone finishes.
Black, charcoal, & graphite frames.
We are using the Extra Black (P-99) from Chartpak for the Black #13 and Charcoal #14 finishes. For Graphite #19 we found a Cool Gray #5 (P-185) from Chartpak. These markers are available from most art supply stores. With some experimenting there are probably other markers that will work just as well.
Wood tone frames
On wood tone frames most professional picture framers use a brown colored markers for touchup and most art supply stores should have a good selection to ensure you get the correct tone.
Application|
Basically the method is applying it to the edge of the damaged area, then immediately after applying the material have a dry or slightly moist rag ready to go over the touched up area to eliminate any excess material. You want to ink only on the damaged edge and not on the surface of the frame, next to the touched up area. This method will ensure the color does not blend into the paint on the surface of the frame and leave a different shade of color.
FRAMER'S TIP:
If you are joining wedged frames, we would suggest using these marker materials for darkening the inside of the mitered edges before you assemble the frame. This will eliminate and raw wood from the inside of the miter to show if the face or sides are not quite joined perfectly.
Acrylic Paint
We have found that acrylic paint is a good touch up material on our white and off white frames.
We recommend Dick Blick matte Acrylic white for Metropolitan’s White #15 finish and Rising White #17 finish.
We recommend Dick Blick’s matte off-white acrylic paint for our Rising Warm White #18 finish and Rising White #20 Antique White finish.
