Some of you expressed some interest when I posted the old page about
duplicating the fake "photofinish" found on many old radios.

Here is a preview of the new page. It is not totally finished. The
section on using oil paints is not there, but will be added later. I an
currently working on duplicating the entire front of an old Philco
tabletop and pictures of that will be added to the page when it is done.

http://pages.cthome.net/ptf/photofinish.htm

You'll notice the concern that any method used on old radios must accept
lacquer which was used on old radios from about 1930. And they didn't
use stain. They ran the cabinets down the production line using toned
lacquers.

Stewart

Eddie Munster wrote:

This is a very interesting process. Thanks.

Eddie,

I have a friend who wants to build a poker table. He's thinking of
having a decorative radiating burl pattern in the center. Perhaps some
pattern around the outer edge too. Naturally, he wants my help and if he
builds the table I'll be glad to do it.

You can see that if you simply glue your paper image onto wood the
thickness of the paper will be there. Under layers of finish it would
not really be a problem, but for a table top this method would not be my
choice.

There are two other methods for doing this that are not on the page yet.
One is what is now called acrylic transfer and materials for doing it
can be bought in craft stores. They are too expensive to bother with.
You can make your own much cheaper the way I described. I posted once
that this method had been accidenly discovered back in the early 1960s
by a student in my art class. Basically, you glue your image upside down
and then remove the paper.

The other method is to use decal paper, especially the decal paper made
for color printers because they are permanent inks and you dont have to
worry about water bothering the ink when you apply the decal.

The trick to doing large decals is to apply them upside down. You print
them in reverse and put them face down and brush water onto the backing
paper until you can lift it off.

My friend is notorious for not getting things done so I have not been
spending any time looking for good burls to copy. But, it sounds like a
fun project and I hope he builds the table.

Stewart