May 2026 Scrap Frames

[glenn bradley]

Surprise visit from the youngest grandchild today. We get to babysit while mom helps a friend move from one place to another. No complaints here but, shop time becomes less effective . Even thought these are scrap frames I cannot control my CDO (that's the same as OCD but the letters are in the right order) so I dial things in a bit.

Picture frame turn buttons are inexpensive and very useful for making frames. I have a small bottle of turns and screws that I keep in my "project supplies" tackle box.

The turn locations do not have to be precise but I like them to be consistent so I use the drill press and fence.

Final top coat . . . finally.

Same for the outer frame parts.

You can see where the tape leaves some bare wood to allow the PVA glue to do its thing when these components are connected.

I have fitted the glass and art backer boards. Once glued up these will move to the finish line pretty quickly.

 

[glenn bradley]

OK, time to put these to bed. I may have mis-posted or double posted this pic. I was just trying to show how the tape leaves some raw wood available for the PVA glue to bond to.

If you adopt this style of frame making here's a tip. The block of plywood is about 1/8" smaller than the backer board / inner frame assembly.

You run a bead of glue around the inside of the outer frame, bed the inner frame assembly into it, set the plywood block on top and set a weight on it to keep everything gently firm and in position.

20 minutes later you can add the glass, art backer, and the frame turn buttons.

And there you go.

I have done a bit of a mental reset on what goes to the burn barrel after this exercise. All the parts of these frames were pulled from sub-standard stuff that was destined either for the trash or the fire pit. The inner frame backer is actually made from the old backs on the cabinets from a bathroom remodel. Now the assembled bits of "scrap" will go into the plastic bins "full-o-stuff" that I keep in the bottom of the hall closet for "surprise" requests for gifts to friends and loved ones.

 

[Tom Niemi]

Love them

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Great series, Glenn! Thanks for bringing us along.

 

[glenn bradley]

Thanks all. I like taking a break between larger projects. Sometimes these detours take longer than expected . I do like using stuff rather than tossing it so I consider this a win-win; I stay occupied and some scrap gets turned into something else.

 

[Robert Horky]

and .... we all win as well ... our continuing education series marches on. Looking forward to the next episode!!