Two coats of gesso, sand them forever, red bole, buff them forever, masking tape, glue, gold leaf, shellac, black bole, buff again, wax, two coats of bitumen, buff again, retouch, then clean the gold leaf from every nook and corner of the studio. I’m probably forgetting something, anyways, not worth it. This was my first time making frames and while I think its good for painters to understand every aspect of their materials (and making paints, mediums and canvases is definitely worth it for the cost savings and the control), I’ll draw the line at framing and leave it to the experts.