This is an archival survival sort of question.
Having just a few miscellaneous prints to frame, and preferring dark, wood frames to metal, I have several times recently picked up frames at a thrift store (anywhere from walnut to light oak) and painted them with stained polyurethane, such as Minwax or Varathane, to approach the tone of a warm selenium-toned near black. (I have found that a combination of black and very deep wood tone gets me in the ballpark, though I have yet to settle on mixture. Stay tuned.) My cost is then just a few dollars, a necessary economy for now.
I am aware that polyurethanes outgas and am wondering if a couple of weeks' curing should be adequate before putting the dry-mounted and over-matted print in the frame, behind glass. Of course, I don't know exactly what the frame may already have had in/on it, so that's another variable. Archival is too big a word for what I am concerned with here; I am rather more careful with prints that I really hope to survive me a good while.
I'm not a woodworker, and never seem to get a smooth finish anyway, no matter how hard I try or smooth between coats, and painting over previously varnished frames doesn't seem to help. Anyway, if someone has info on the fumes/volatiles issue of what I'm painting on, I'd be grateful.
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