Shopsmith Forums

A good frame vice will work just fine and you can glue the joints and just pre drill and nail the frame on the top and bottom where it is least visible. A little colored putty over the nail head and it is almost invisible. I have built many frames this way before I purchased my Hoffman system. I still go that route for smaller frames. A good band clamp is handy for either method and I usually leave them clamped overnight. I have used the V nail systems but do not prefer them.

mbcabinetmaker wrote:A good frame vice will work just fine and you can glue the joints and just pre drill and nail the frame on the top and bottom where it is least visible. A little colored putty over the nail head and it is almost invisible. I have built many frames this way before I purchased my Hoffman system. I still go that route for smaller frames. A good band clamp is handy for either method and I usually leave them clamped overnight. I have used the V nail systems but do not prefer them.

That is pretty much the method I have used in the past. I have a corner clamp that lets you clamp a corner in place to glue/nail it (air nails). I then have a frame clamp I made back in 1975 that has a center clamp area that pulls everything together. Maybe that is what I should stick with.

Making a couple more of the clamps would be easy and then allow me to have a half dozen batch size which would be just about right.

I have band clamps but have never tried them for a picture frame, actually I have 3 of them so I could give them a try and maybe not have to do anything extra.

I was thinking that the V-nails would be a way that would not need any clamping thus saving time in that way.

Ed

My band clamps have adjustable plastic corners for squaring frames but you could use a wooden corner just as well. I have seen some homemade units made with threaded rod that work well.