Another Picture Frame Build - Warning picture heavy

Rob Damon

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I have never contributed a build project before, so I am posting one that I did for a Christmas present….last year…..talk about procrastination :).

Several years ago I made a couple of picture frames to replace some simple ones I had made 35 years ago using chair rail moldings for some of my wife’s pictures. The wife doesn’t like fancy picture frames so this simplified the project.

I made four picture frames several years ago out of Oak/Redheart and she wanted the new ones to match the existing ones.

I had no reason to document the construction at the time, but I figured since I had some extra time I would snap pictures along the way. She needed 6 more picture frames. This is a fairly simple project for the beginning WW.

The original choice for wood was to match the earlier matt colors, which is why I used red oak for the frame and a Redheart for the inlay at the time.

The first step is to figure out the maximum thickness I could get from the scrap Redheart. I had a left over piece from the original frame project. This will set the width of the inlay and define the width of the dado.

Left over cutoff of Redheart from previous project:
IMG06249.jpg

I milled up the redheart to the finish thickness and jointed two edges. Because of the process I use, it is not necessary to make the edges parallel, so one end is slightly wider than the other. You can see some of the scraps from the earlier frames in the workbench trough. The redheart was almost to pretty to use but that's what it was bought for.

Milled piece of Redheart:
IMG06250.jpg

The inlay creation cycles through 4 stations:

The first station is the router table with a Pointed Cutting Roundover Router Bit that cuts a groove down the center of each edge. I am cutting grooving both sides and I am making two pieces per cycle.

First Pass:
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Second Pass:
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The second station is setup for the larger round over of the four edges with a hand held router with some stop blocks. Route one edge, flip board, do second edge, flip board, do third edge, flip the board and do last edge.

Simple jig to support board:
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Rounding over second edge:
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Finished four edges:
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The third station is at the bandsaw. The blade is set to cut the final thickness of the inlay. Cut off one edge and turn the board and cut off the second edge and you end up with two pieces per cycle.

Cutting off first strip:
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Both pieces cut off:
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The fourth station is at the jointer to remove the bandsaw blade marks and create two new clean edges.

Two quick passes, one on each side.
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Then it is simply a matter of repeating the process until the board is consumed (that gives you extra pieces, just in case.)

>>>to be continued.....
 
The build continues:

And you end up with just a thin strip of scrap left over.

Here is about 90 percent completed:
IMG06270.jpg

Next up is milling up the oak to rough size and letting them rest. Although they have been sitting in the shop for many years and are scrap shorts, once milled, I clamp them together, to force them to stay straight. The main reason for this is some projects have a tendency to get started and not finished for a year or two (I know I am the only one that happens to ) so I don’t like coming back in a year and finding the boards all twisted/cupped/bowed.

Gathered up the Oak scraps:
IMG06226.jpg

I started by flattening one face and jointing one edge on all the boards. Any boards that were more than 3/8” from finish thickness, I resawed the excess thickness off on the bandsaw to save the scraps for a future project. Once all boards were within 1/8” of final thickness, I ran all the boards through the planer to removed saw marks and let them rest.

Cut to rough width:
IMG06229.JPG

Cut to length +3”:
IMG06231.JPG

Clamped and left to rest:
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I then laid out the cuts on a sample board, two groove cuts and one dado. The groove cuts define the transition points for the radius and the dado is for the inlay. I setup the dado cut first and ran all of the boards through and then the changed to rip blade and made second cut and ran all the boards through and finally made the third cut. The board is ¾” thick and each step is ¼”.

Trial piece:
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I generally make just one cut and let the boards rest over night in clamps. Any boards that move (normally they don’t) become a sacrificial/test board.

Setup for Dado cut first:
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For the dado, instead of trial and error fitting, I just use a caliper to measure the inlay that was previously made and then calculate which combination of blades/chippers/shims to use to match from the manufacturer’s booklet.

Dado cuts done:
IMG06271.jpg

First groove cut:
IMG06279.jpg

Second groove cut, all pieces clamped:
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>>>>to be continued......
 
The build continues:

Cutting the flats is done in multiple stages, so I can have consistent usable scraps for future projects. I am using a rip blade in the tablesaw. The blade is set ¼” from the fence and the first section is removed. Magnetic feather boards are used to hold the stock to the fence and a temporary guard is added since the blade is left exposed after the cut is complete. Since this a repetitive cut for dozens of boards I don’t trust a lapse of judgment and getting a “oops”. (My choice on safety when a safety device is removed because of a cut, I try and make a temporary safety device that will partially cover the blade to keep my hands from getting close to the exposed blade so that I can keep all my fingers for the balance of my woodworking days. You guys/gals can do what you want with regards to your comfort. Or just buy a Sawstop and cut away without guards.) The temporary guard is set far enough away from the blade to keep from trapping the cutoff but close enough to prevent my hand from slipping into the gap if the board binds and kick back. There is a riving knife on the saw.

First piece trimmed off:
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All pieces done:
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The scraps can be used for dividers on a future drawer project.

Scrap cutoffs stacked and bound:
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The fence is adjusted for the second cut that will remove two small strips that are adjacent to the dado. Because the bottom section is not being cut, I can use a magnetic featherboard on the outfeed side to keep the bottom section of the wood pressed against the fence.

Second pass removing the next sections:
IMG06293.jpg

These smaller scrap cutoff pieces will be cut into 6” lengths and used for mixing up epoxy on future projects or left long for inlay on future project. For now they are bound together and stored until I can get around to cutting them down.

Small scrap cut off pieces:
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Here is an edge view of the frame at this point:

End view of the frame at this stage:
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The last cut is the rabbit for the picture/matte board and glass/plastic. This cut was made with the dado blade.

Final cut is for rabbit in back of piece:
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At this point the major cutting is done.


>>>to be continued......
 
I am now ready for the final profile work. The first step is to clean up the inside corners at the steps. I used a small shoulder plan to get a nice clean inside corner to work with.

Detail rabbit plane used to clean up 90 degree inside corners:
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Rounding over the steps in the frame is next. I used a small roundover molding plane for this.

Small molding plane rounds over two steps:
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While the board is still clamp to the bench and I hit it with 120 grit sand paper and test the fit of the redheart inlay. I also run the shoulder plane in the dado to clean it up and smooth out the bottom during test fitting.

First sanding:
IMG06330.jpg

I then flip it over and sand the backside with 120 grit sand paper.

The next step is to fit each piece of inlay. On the original frames I setup a fence and feather boards on the Oscillating spindle sander and sanded the backside of the inlay strips. I did not do this for the second round of picture frames, figuring the rough side would give more glue surface on the inlay.

Test fit of inlay:
IMG06320.jpg

End view of test fit:
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The redheart inlay is glued into the dado using full length cauls and some clamps. I clamped it to the assembly table.

Gluing of inlays:
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Once the glue is dried, I trim off any excess inlay that is hanging over.
I miter the frames to the final lengths. I made a clamping jig for the Kapex that acts like a ZCI and keeps the frame piece from moving as well. The jig also allowed me to dial in the cut to dead on what the 45 degree shooting board is setup for so and single pass on the shooting board was all that was needed.

Making mitre cuts using a jig:
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All frame pieces cut to final length::
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I sort and combine the pieces for each from and wrap and let set.

Each frame is separated into the final groupings and wrapped and marked:
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>>>>to be continued......
 
On to the shooting board to clean up all the miters.

Final trimming on shooting board:
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I chose to connect the frames with dominos, so aid in consistency I made a jig for holding/marking/cutting for the Domino’s. I place the frame pieces on the inside of the jig for marking.

Jig for marking:
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Mark first piece for location of Dominos:
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Lineup and mark and transfer lines to second piece:
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I placed the frame on the outside side of the jig for cutting the Domino’s.

Piece clamped to jig for cutting Domino’s:
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I setup the frames in the clamps and did a test fit of each completed frame to make sure everything aligns properly. Unlike most folks, I don’t try to clamp all four corners in one step. If everything is pre-checked and aligns properly, you can glue just one corner at a time. (Yes is takes longer but heck, if it takes me three years to complete, who cares…..). It takes the stress out of trying to glue all four corners and getting it clamped up in one setting and because I wanted to minimize glue squeeze out, I can take more time working on each joint.

Final test fit before glue up:
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Once the frames are dried, I give them one last good sanding and use a card scraper to remove glue squeeze out and flush out any ill regularity.

Joint glued and cleaned up:
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Cleanup of inside corners and final sanding:
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>>>to be continued......
 
Final post:

Finish was just four light coats of shellac with light sanding with 600 grit abranet sandpaper since it is really flexible.

After first coat of finish:
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Once dried, insert picture/matte/glass and secure with picture frame stapler. I added some tape to cover the staples so they don’t catch on the towel the pictures get wrapped in when they get put away at Christmas time.

Inserted glass/picture and backer:
IMG06510.jpg

And project is complete. Now I will have a record of how I did it, so if I need to make some more matching frames 10 years from now.

Completed picture frame:
Picture_frame.jpg

Well that's it. Quick simple project.

Rob
 
I have never contributed a build project before, so I am posting one that I did for a Christmas present….last year…..talk about procrastination :).

Consider yourself redeemed!

The wife doesn’t like fancy picture frames so this simplified the project.

:huh: :rofl: Well then she's surely disappointed because these are fantastic. Simple in concept perhaps but really well done in execution and design :thumb:
 
Great frames. Design and execution all came together. Thanks for taking the time for the detailed ride-along. I hope this will be the first of many. Ride-alongs are one of my favorite parts of the forum.
 
Great looking frame. I like the use of the extra wide matte. I've got a picture that I've been wondering how to make fit the space, that might just do the trick. :thumb:
 
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