After a year or two of projects, I had a fair amount of scrap wood sitting in the corner of my shop. So, I figured it was a good time to use it up while I was in between other larger projects. I used some on a cutting board, but the rest was slated for picture frames. I have been wanting to frame an old worn out plot of our house that the previous owner had marked up with the landscape design.

The Wood

I was going to make one dedicated frame for the large plot, but then make as many 11X14 frames as I possibly could from my stack. I had a fair amount of Ash and some walnut. After I found all of the pieces that would work for the frames, I cut them to rough length, milled one edge and rough cut to width on the bandsaw. The frame pieces came out to be about 1 1/2″ wide. Th e process for deciding which board would be be which side of the frame took a while to maximize the amount of usable lumber. You can see the letter designations on the end grain below, so I wouldn’t screw it up later.

Frame Details

In order to house the picture, glass, backing, I cut a deep rabbet in the back of the frame. First I had to know how deep to cut, so I pulled out the calipers. 1/4″ backing, 3/32″ glass, 1/32″ Matting (roughly). So roughly 5/16″ deep to house it all. I used my router table for this cut, but a table saw would have worked as well.

Next up was the decorative inner edge profile on the frames. I spent about an hour trying to figure out what I wanted to do here, but ended up doing something very simple, chamfer. So I chucked up the chamfer bit.

Cutting Miters

Next up was cutting the miters, so I started by making sure my miters saw was cutting true and then built a little sacrificial surface to prevent tearout and allow a continuous work surface. I mitered the saw to the left, which would allow me to make the second cut with the pieces upside down. This is important since you have to measure how large the rabbeted area is to fit the picture. I would cut one piece with the front up then gang two pieces together (like below pic) and make the second cut to ensure they were the same exact length.

After the first couple of pieces were cut and I was happy with the fit of the rabbet, I could make a mark on the sacrificial table. That way I didn’t have to measure the rabbet any longer since all of my frame pieces are the same width. If the frame pieces were different width then the rabbeted are would change size due to………..geometry, I guess. I will have to say there are some pretty slick table saw sleds I have seen (on the internet) that would make this real quick and repeatable, but I was only making 6 or 7 frames, so I didn’t think it was worth the time. Maybe in the future.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good picture of the glue up or clamping, but I used “strap” style clamps and a lot of glue. The two style clamps I have are the Bessey and the Pony Jorgensen ones. They both work well and provide enough pressure to do the job. I keep losing or breaking the rotating pads on the Bessey one though.

Spline Time

After the frames came out of the clamps, it was time to add splines to each corner. The miter joints alone may not be strong enough to keep the miters together over time. In order to add the splines I use my spline cutting jig for the table saw, I made a while back. It is loosely based on King’s Fine Woodworking jig, but simplified a bit.

The major mistake I made here, was trying to cut the spline openings to match my existing splines. I had the spline material cut before hand and had to make the cuts match. Pretty huge pain honestly since I had a rip cut blade and had to keep bumping the stops over. Made a couple too big and then some were too small and were difficult to install.

Sand and Finish

After the glue from the splines dried, I cut off the excess at the band saw, by using a little spacer. Then I started to sand everything.

I sanded everything with 120, 220, wet it, then hand sand with the grain with 220. With miters, I had to be careful hand sanding and angle the sander to match. I have also seen the ability to add masking tape, but didn’t go that far.

After all the fun of sanding was over, it was time to pick the finish type. For the ash frames, I added 5 coats of Mission Brown dye (diluted with water) to darken it up. Then I added two coats of Garnett Shellac to all of the frames (except the big one, whoops). I hand applied the shellac and has some overlap marks in the corners. Next time, I will try spraying the shellac, so I don’t have to sand so much afterwards. After the shellac, I sprayed two coats of water based poly with 400 grit sanding in between coats.

Glass and Pictures

After all the finish was applied, it was time to fit the glass and backs. I was a little hesitant to cut the glass, but it was actually really easy. I had an inexpensive glass cutter tool, some oil, and a straight edge.

Once I scored the glass, I placed a small dowel under the score line and smacked the offcut side with my hand. Then I cleaned the oil and lines up with mineral spirits.

I used these little screw-on clips to hold the back onto the frame.

Finished Pictures….of Pictures

My mom came to visit during this time and we got to work together where she made a frame as well. It was a fun time and a memory I will always have.