Laminated Picture Frame
- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I completed my first picture frame in this style. Frame is a laminate of walnut, maple and cherry. I have 1 more to make.
What I learned:
1) it’s easier to laminate larger pieces than doing smaller pieces individually.
2) leave more room for waste than I think I need for sawing to a line (I’m still not that good at it).
3) ALWAYS mark the correct sides and edges to cut the miters. I had to make the frame, mat boards and plexi-glass a bit narrower to correct my mistake.
4) Shooting board is a great tool. Accuracy is important if you want to match up your corners.
5) I love the card scraper.
6) No matter how much you rehearse the glue-up, something can still go wrong.And thanks to the previous posters to the “Picture Frames” forum for the info on glazier points, using the shooting board,etc. I gleaned many helpful hints from your posts.
Marilyn - Lehigh Valley, Eastern Pennsylvania - USA
That looks awesome Marilyn. Your mitres look really good which means your accuracy was spot on.
Did you do the splines to reinforce the corners?
I have some more frames to make and I may look at doing something similar.
Peter in
Biggar SK
"New York is big, but this is Biggar"Great work Marilyn. I think the wood lamination makes it even harder to line everything up perfectly, so well done!
Wesley
@pjgeorge, @weslee: Thanks…
Peter, I didn’t do the splines, and I may go back to do so. I know it will strengthen the joint.
Question: Do you use wire to mount your frames? I used those simple brackets with the teeth and I’m thinking I might change the mounting to wire.. Do you have a preference?Wes, the laminations were hard, but I think I made the process harder by cutting the boards for each piece before laminating. That made the squaring up and aligning much harder, because I had to do it for each piece.
Next time I’ll plane the surfaces for each board, glue them up and then rip the pieces. I won’t have the messy glue cleanup like I did for this project.Marilyn - Lehigh Valley, Eastern Pennsylvania - USA
I’ve used both wire and the saw tooth brackets. I mostly use wire now. It just seems more secure, although I’ve never had a problem with the brackets.
I generally don’t use the splines because I reinforce the corners with V nails after the glue dries. I’ve also used brads. I think the reinforcement is more of a “belt and suspenders” thing. I haven’t had a mitre glue joint fail in a picture frame.
Peter in
Biggar SK
"New York is big, but this is Biggar"One other trick for hanging pictures:
Put a small rubber or vinyl bumper on each of the lower corners. It helps the picture from tilting and keeps it from damaging the wall. I use 1/4 inch dome bumpers from the hardware store.
Peter in
Biggar SK
"New York is big, but this is Biggar"Thanks guys.
@pjgeorge, Peter, I used bumpers on the corners. I noticed them on some custom frames a bought years ago, and followed their example.Marilyn - Lehigh Valley, Eastern Pennsylvania - USA
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.