Rorton
Established Member
Another thread mentioned there was a lack of project threads, and I try to take pictures of stuff I do, so thought I'd post this on how I do picture frames.
My dad had some Mahogany in the garage for years which he gave me a while back, so I used this to make 2 frames:
Cut into 8 strips each 40mm wide, then ran them over the tablesaw blade to create a groove for some inlay
Inlay then cut from some offcuts of oak
Checking for fit
Then glued into place
Once glue had a chance to setup, I then put a 10 degree bevel on the face and cut the rebates
When I cut the mitres, I always cut one end of each piece, so they have a good 45 on them, and then I can put a stop block in place to do the other sides - works well for me, and I always get decent mitres. The saw is a 10 year old Aldi special, with an 80 tooth blade, and ive got it dialled in dead on at 45 degrees - bit of sanding too, cleaning things up.
I can then measure the length of the rebate needed for the picture/glass etc, and mark that, and cut the first one - using a stop block, and also a block of wood to hold the beveled side flat to the fence - I also use a sacrificial fence on the saw to line up the marks made with the kerf of the saw cut in the fence, and to allow me to secure a stop block easily.
Once the mitres are all cut, I go for glue up - I apply a small amount of glue to each face, and then leave that for 10-15 mins, then wipe my finger over it - this stops the end grain sucking in so much glue straight away, ive had the joint starve a few times, so doing this since has stopped that happening. Using a band clamp then to pull everything together - removing any glue squeeze out with a damp cloth and making sure everything is aligned.
Once the glue has a few hours to set up, I then add in some splines to re enforce the corner joints. I made a spline jig for the table saw, so run the frame over the blade using the jig to cut the splines
Oak splines then rough cut to size, but importantly the grain direction is parallel to the joint for strength
Once the glue dried, I cut off the ends of the splines, and gave everything a good sanding up to 240 grit - ready for finish
Finish then applied, and glass tested for size
And the finished frame with picture mounted in mount board - ready for hanging
My dad had some Mahogany in the garage for years which he gave me a while back, so I used this to make 2 frames:
Cut into 8 strips each 40mm wide, then ran them over the tablesaw blade to create a groove for some inlay
Inlay then cut from some offcuts of oak
Checking for fit
Then glued into place
Once glue had a chance to setup, I then put a 10 degree bevel on the face and cut the rebates
When I cut the mitres, I always cut one end of each piece, so they have a good 45 on them, and then I can put a stop block in place to do the other sides - works well for me, and I always get decent mitres. The saw is a 10 year old Aldi special, with an 80 tooth blade, and ive got it dialled in dead on at 45 degrees - bit of sanding too, cleaning things up.
I can then measure the length of the rebate needed for the picture/glass etc, and mark that, and cut the first one - using a stop block, and also a block of wood to hold the beveled side flat to the fence - I also use a sacrificial fence on the saw to line up the marks made with the kerf of the saw cut in the fence, and to allow me to secure a stop block easily.
Once the mitres are all cut, I go for glue up - I apply a small amount of glue to each face, and then leave that for 10-15 mins, then wipe my finger over it - this stops the end grain sucking in so much glue straight away, ive had the joint starve a few times, so doing this since has stopped that happening. Using a band clamp then to pull everything together - removing any glue squeeze out with a damp cloth and making sure everything is aligned.
Once the glue has a few hours to set up, I then add in some splines to re enforce the corner joints. I made a spline jig for the table saw, so run the frame over the blade using the jig to cut the splines
Oak splines then rough cut to size, but importantly the grain direction is parallel to the joint for strength
Once the glue dried, I cut off the ends of the splines, and gave everything a good sanding up to 240 grit - ready for finish
Finish then applied, and glass tested for size
And the finished frame with picture mounted in mount board - ready for hanging
