| Make Your Own Picture Frames |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-106 |
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Q: I'm tired of spending a fortune on framing pictures for our new home. I'd like to convince my husband to try to make frames with his table saw. Any tips on this type of project?
A: (Bruce Johnson, Ask DIY Woodworking expert) Cutting the miter joints for frames can be tricky, but the incentive is simple: saving money. You can also match the decor of your home more easily by picking out your own boards. Here's what you do to make your own frame: Materials:
Safety glasses
Headphones that restrict noise
Table saw
Four boards, all cut the same width and about 10 percent longer than you want each side to be
Belt clamp
Wood glue
For larger frames, small nails or dowels
- Find wood to suit your project. You can buy inexpensive oak or pine boards at a home-improvement store, but you're just as likely to find scrap boards you can use in the shed. You may want to use leftover trim from your latest remodeling project.
- Find your table saw or borrow a friend or neighbor's (someone you know is bound to have one hidden away somewhere).
- Decide how big and how wide you'd like the frame. This is strictly a matter of personal preference. After you make your choice, use the saw to rip each of the four boards a few inches longer than the final outside dimension you want. You'll need extra length to make the miter corner.
Safety alert: Before you turn on the saw, put on protective eyewear and a headset to protect your hearing. - With the table saw, cut a slot along one edge of the back of each board to form a ledge that will hold the artwork, and, if needed, the glass. This is called a rabbet. To cut one, raise the table-saw blade to one-half inch and then adjust the fence so that the board edge is one-half inch away from the blade when the board is flat. Lay each board flat and run it through the table saw to make one cut along the edge (figure A). Then adjust the fence so that it's one-half inch away from the blade when the board is on its edge. Feed each board back through the blade, on its side, to complete a half-inch by half-inch rabbet cut.
- Now you'll need to make a 45-degree cut on each of the boards so that when you assemble the frame it will form a perfect square or rectangle. Start this procedure by marking each board so you'll know where each cut should be made. Then set your guide to 45 degrees, double-checking the angle with a speed square held against the guide and against the blade, making sure that there's no space between (figure B). When you're confident that you have a right angle, cut the corners (figure C). The eight cuts should take about 30 minutes.
- Assemble the pieces in a frame shape before you actually attach them with wood glue. Clamp them together with a belt clamp to see whether the corners line up perfectly (figure D). Once they do, go ahead and use the wood glue. Then put the belt clamp on again while you let the glue dry for a day. If your frame is very large, reinforce the glue with small dowels or nails after it is dry.
More questions for Bruce:
Q: What's the best way to hang a picture so it won't fall? Also, what type of finish is best for a frame?
A : The key word for hanging a picture is "strength." I always believe in using the kits that you buy at the store, that come with the eyelets that go in the back of the picture, the heavy-duty braided wire and a nice hefty hook and nail. As far as the finish goes, you won't need a lot of finish -- maybe just a nice coat of paste wax or tung oil.
Q: I want to build a small frame for a stained-glass window. Do I need to do anything different?
A: One key thing: Your rabbet will move from the outside of the wood to the middle (figure E). That's because when you have a piece of stained glass, you want to be able to see it from both sides, so it needs to rest in a groove down the middle of the board.
Web site resources for making picture frames: Picture Frames From Cabinetmaking.com Scroll Picture Frame From Am-wood.com Gluing Picture Frame Miters Picture Frame With Shelves -- NOTE: You'll need Acrobat Reader to see the .pdf file. Perfect Picture Frames Picture Frame Clamps From Benchnotes.com Books: Making Picture Frames in Wood
by Manly Banister
Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. (1982)
387 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-532-7160
Fax: 212-213-2495
Customer Service Phone: 800-367-9692
Scroll Saw Picture Frames
by Patrick E. Spielman
Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. (1999)
387 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-532-7160
Fax: 212-213-2495
Customer Service Phone: 800-367-9692
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