18 Comments

  1. Paul,

    I’ve been looking forward to this series most of all. After many failed attempts at making frames with power tools; making complicated jigs, clamping fixtures and other nonsense, I had given up on the task.

    The simplicity of the hand tools shines here.

    I was writing to request a blog post on the lovely rebate plane you used, but as I typed I received the email about the video of just that! Always one step ahead of the game.

    Best regards,
    Joshua

  2. Thanks for this, now I can make frames instead of buying, my Wife likes to give special “occasion” photo’s and is all ways looking for in – expensive frames, this is the ticket. And also give me something to do.

    Steve

  3. I wish I would have had known about the simplicity and effectiveness of a shooting board when I did trim carpentry. It would have increased my productivity and quality of my work. Trying to get a perfect 45 degree angle straight from a power miter box is impossible

  4. Hi Paul

    Making the picture frames has really caught my interest not just because you end up with great frames but that I think the skills are going to be very transferable to adding trim to cabinets and the like too.

    Just one query: it didn’t seem to matter that a substantial portion of the frame was sticking above the shooting board and was therefore unsupported when the plane swept past. I can’t help but think that I’d get breakout if I tried it that way! Is it just that your plane is very sharp indeed or am I missing something?

    Many thanks

    John

    1. Hello John, the plane does have to be sharp and be set very fine, but you also only push a very small amount of stock past for the plane to take off. Then there doesn’t seem to be a problem. Kind Regards,
      Phil

  5. I want to build frames out of walnut and cherry, 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. While I have no problem with pine, the hardwoods are almost impossible to plane on the shooting board. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!

    1. Hi Stefan,

      Paul says:

      I don’t think you should have a problem with a sharp plane as these woods plane easily. It sounds as though you may not have your sharpening technique down perhaps.

      Kind Regards,
      Izzy

  6. @JANSTEFAN I’m uncertain what plane you’re using in your shooting board, but I’ve used as big as a No. 7 if I have a very thick piece. You could give that a shot.

    Otherwise, just scribe a knife-line onto the ends as necessary, clamp them in the vise and plane the endgrain down. Mr. Sellers has used this technique many times on camera. Unfortunately, I don’t have a ready made example for you off-hand.

  7. Thank you Austin. I even bought a low angle no. 62 jack plane for this (before I saw Paul’s assessment on bevel-up planes ;-( ). It weighs (only) 4 ½ pounds. The miter angles are very close, but a bit wavy where the iron keeps getting stuck. So I will clamp in a vise and use a more circular motion with the plane.

  8. Like in all Paul’s video, these instructions are both essential and rich.
    My only mini-complaint is that it would have also been great to see the other side of the mitre gauge when Paul cuts. Seeing one side only makes things a bit less clear for a total newbie.

  9. I love this project and have recently started making my own frames – I’m amazed at how strong they are!

    What I haven’t seen is how the glass, picture, and backer board are held in place. Any suggestions?

    Thank you
    Jason

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