My first picture frame :) (3x pics)

jerm · Post by **jerm** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:20 am

Well I finally completed my first frame and I wanted to share some pics and thoughts

First a shot of the entire setup:

FirstFrame-2 by J L Smith, on Flickr

This is an old painting (17 3/4" x 23", frame is 2.5" wide) of some sort that a co-worker wanted me to frame (no glass). It's on some sort of thick cardboard/backer board and was irregular in shape, which was a booger bear when it came to mounting it on the rabbet (I had to hand-sand down the tops and bottoms to fit the form).

I've actually got another frame to make for the matching painting, but figured I'd just show one

Primary wood was a beautiful cut of cherry, inlay is a thin strip of wormy maple. I applied linseed oil to the frame and let it sit in the sun for 8 hours to darken a bit, then applied 3 coats of semi-gloss lacquer over the top.

Learned a lot, that's for sure. My list of thoughts and mistakes

FirstFrame-3 by J L Smith, on Flickr

Luckly for me, one mistake I *didn't* make was planning where the details in the wood were going to end up. As above, I wanted the knot to be on the outer edge of the frame, and it came out great. Same with the inlay, as there were a few knots I wanted to keep in the look.

However, I did have a "whoa" moment - I was cutting the thin inlay with my table saw (because I don't have a bandsaw yet) and since the strip was so small, hitting a knot in it caused a massive kickback / break in the strip of wood (it was maybe 1.5" x 1", not a large piece I know).

I've since turned my SS 90 degrees so that any future kickbacks hit the side of my garage wall instead of towards the (normally open) door, as I'm scared a kid will get hit.

FirstFrame-1 by J L Smith, on Flickr

Mitered corners mostly turned out okay. I was using the SS Miter Pro , and I just couldn't get the corners to line up properly -- I'm probably going to just build myself the fancy sled for miters, as I don't like the Miter Pro, since the fence it comes with can't support longer pieces.

Luckily I remembered a tip I read about keeping sawdust, as I had one corner that was a bit too erroneous for good looks (not shown), so I mixed some dust and glue and patched it up afterwards and it worked fine. I should have also used maple dust/glue for the maple inlay gap, but I was too lazy to chop up some maple for dust and it wasn't that large in the first place.

Getting the inlay right was a booger bear. First, planing the inlay flush with the frame was darn-near impossible, as I'd be working great then the grain would change and I'd have a massive tearout. I had to resort to sanding for most of the work, though I'd get close with the plane if the grain on the maple worked (that's one negative about knots in the inlay, my plane hates them).

And of course, nothing's complete without an epic failure

I was compared all four pieces of wood before glue up (inlay already glued) and discovered two of my pieces, somehow, weren't planed to the same thickness as the other two.

I had to plane from the top of the board (yes, with the inlay already in). One piece made it through the Dewalt okay (cutting on fine). The other piece? Let's just say I had to reroute and place another piece of inlay in

The planer took it all, as apparently my inlay groove wasn't deep enough on that one piece!

Thanks for reading.

mountainbreeze · Post by **mountainbreeze** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:33 am

Nice work jerm. I like how you incorporated the knots into the frame.

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:56 am

Nice job on the frame jerm. Pictures frames are one of those things that are a lot harder than it would seem at first glance.

berry · Post by **berry** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:23 am

I think the project came out very well, I like the design and the photos were super.

jerm · Post by **jerm** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:35 am

Thanks all and we live and learn

So I was holding the frame by the wire on back when the wire unraveled and the frame hit the floor. All four sides came unglued (clean). Doh! Guess I will be learning my biscuit jointer! Me and the coworker laughed about it, and I said "see, this is why I gave you special introductory pricing !"

algale · Post by **algale** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:11 pm

jerm wrote:Thanks all and we live and learn

So I was holding the frame by the wire on back when the wire unraveled and the frame hit the floor. All four sides came unglued (clean). Doh! Guess I will be learning my biscuit jointer! Me and the coworker laughed about it, and I said "see, this is why I gave you special introductory pricing !"

When I did work study as an intern at the Hood Museum of Art's framing department (technically it was the exhibitions department but all I did was matting and framing), I was taught to measure the needed length of wire and add at least six inches of extra so that it could be securely wrapped with three inches wrapped at each end. Wrapping all that wire used to tear the hell out of my finger tips. We also did double wires on everything but the lightest frames and always used double hooks on the wall. Belts and suspenders. As you have learned the hard way, wire is relatively cheap and it it better to use too much than too little.

garys · Post by **garys** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:44 pm

I like the knots in the wood. The natural imperfections of wood are its true beauty. Most people cut away those beautiful knots. I like how you kept them. They add to the beauty of the finished project.

davebodner · Post by **davebodner** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:47 pm

Here's an imperfect frame I did a while ago. You can especially see the imperfections in the top left and bottom right corners. There are small gaps toward the inside of the joints.

[ATTACH]24351[/ATTACH]

There was no trimming of parts, and I made no effort to fill in gaps. I just aligned the pieces as best I could and glued the joints.

My point is to show what's realistic without any special equipment. The cuts were done with the standard pistol-grip miter gauge. I took the trouble of aligning the miter gauge and the rest of my 510 according to the book. I used no special procedures, no digital tools, and no magical incantations. I was merely careful, and I got an acceptable product. Certainly not professional quality, but good enough for friends and family.

Better equipment will yield better results. And Jerm's picture probably deserves better than what I did. My skill level is middling at best. But, if you're careful, you just might surprise yourself.

rcplaneguy · Post by **rcplaneguy** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:56 pm

I need to make a frame for an oil painting, thanks for the photos/ideas!

rcplaneguy · Post by **rcplaneguy** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:56 pm

I need to make a frame for an oil painting, thanks for the photos/ideas!