Picture Frames? Where To Start?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

My advice has probably already been offered, but I'm too lazy to read the thread.

I bought an Incra miter gauge. Makes 45* cuts a breeze. Or build a miter sled for your table saw or RAS. Lots of videos on YouTube explaining it.

The piece de resistance? Build a sled for cutting spline slots in the corners. Again, lots of videos on YouTube. A spline makes a beautiful, but weak miter joint beautiful and strong. I like to use contrasting woods in my miters for a nice touch.

[Cooler]

I used to own a picture framing shop.  Of the thousands of frames sold I would guess fewer than 250 were wood grained. 

Women are the primary driving force for the sale of picture frames.  They almost  never choose wood, and when they do, it is some dark cherry or similar finish. 

The number one finish was gold.  In most cases this is gold foil, though I also carried a line of genuine 24K gold leaf. 

And while it is nice to hand craft the molding in your shop, I could almost never sell such a frame.  More elaborately milled shapes were much more appreciated.

All of which is to say you only need a miter saw (with a really good blade) and four corner clamps and glue.  I used an underpinner to provide a mechanical fastening, but that was only because I didn't have time to  allow frames to dry in the clamps.  The glue does the work.

Genuine Gold and Burl will sell high end moldings by the length or precisely mitered to spec.  Since this molding is expensive it is probably wise to buy it mitered.
They are very reliable and the product is without peer.

http://genuinegoldandburl.com/CatalogofMouldings.html

There are many molding wholesalers that will sell you either lengths or mitered pieces.  I don't know these people, but they have a nice array of molding:
https://framing4yourself.com/shop/produc...-moulding/

The molding vendor I used to use requires a resale certificate and a tax number before you can make a purchase, so I don't have any other suggestions.

Genuine Gold and Burl will mill Hoffman corners to alloy you to use plastic wedges to hold the frame together while the glue dries.  They are nice because you can make final adjustments for flatness with them in place and the hold very well.

Here the Hoffmann dovetail keys are in action. In the video he does not use glue. Always use glue:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX-qyEJO6Fk

[K. L. McReynolds]

Like BOM, I make the stock first. I have the following equipment:
Table saw
Router table
Planer
Jointer(for rough stock)
V27 Incra miter gauge for table saw
Various strap clamps(fabric and metal bands)
Inherited picture framing clamps(specialty tools I seldom use)
Craftsman shaper kit(mounts on table saw arbor) with home made throat plates.

How you want the frames to look is completely subjective.

    Example of joinery achievable with the less expensive Incra miter gaige and an Ultra fine cut Freud 10" TS blade.

    Maple with bloodwood inlay

    Shaped with the Craftsman TS mounted shaper and router table

    Maple with walnut insert, simple roundover treatment.

I've done frames using pallet wood, weathered wood(no machining), very thin pine or maple.

    Big thick maple frames for trays

To use a strap clamp(with corner inserts or without), assemble the frame, position the clap around the frame, glue, clamp(keeping the corners even, check diagonals for square and tighten(maintaining square).

I seldom use mechanical fasteners, since the glue is sufficient. For large frames, I often add wire stretchers across the centers to distribute the weight.

I use figure 8 fasteners and screws for the retainers and screw eyes and picture frame wire for hanging.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Here is a peek at the band clamp in use.  This of course isn't a picture frame, but a door frame for the potato bin I just made for Tina... but the idea is the same.  You'll note the centered dado with the wire (instead of glass) in place.

   


The doors will remain rock solid for a good while, but because they will hold a lot of weight, they were reinforced with screws as I attached the bins behind them.  YOU wouldn't have that issue with picture frames. 

   


Each of the techniques I use, have multiple applications, makes things much easier.  Note that in the application above, before the glue up, I had rounded the interior edges of the rails and stiles to add some character.

[vernonator]

Good timing - after years doing woodworking I JUST made my first frame. I have an Incra 1000 miter guage and used that for the 45's. IMHO there are two key factors the angle and the length. You have to be able to make a PERFECT 45 cut and the length of the opposing sides must be EXACTLY the same. I messed with making a jig I saw in one of the woodworking mags that used a ruler, stops, blah blah blah. Could NOT get the angle correct. Switched to my Incra, verified it was 90 to the blade and viola perfect 45's. I also got a two-step rabbet bit for my router to make the slots for the art/matte/glass and a backer and that works great as well.

I did 5 or so sample frames out of scrap to get my process down and then went for it - no pics sorry. But it turned out well with nice tight corners.

[K. L. McReynolds]

I don't try to do the math, or use stops. I simply use the mat I make for the object to be framed, mark the length on the inside of the rabbett, transfer that to the top side, cut a schosh long, creep up on the right length, mark the second piece, cut and stand the two pieces on end, matching the length. Saves having to set a stop twice. 

I do not get much satisfaction from calculating the correct measurements and cutting to those calculations. I'd much rather nibble and feather to size.
 I did crown molding and other trim the same way.

[jstraw]

I use a similar process. Don’t worry about a ruler, just use the item you’re framing as a guide.

What I have changed is abandoning power tools for cutting the miters. Just mark the line with a combo square, cut by hand with a small saw, leaving the line, and use a plane and shooting board to get a perfect fit. With each pass on the plane being 1/64th of an inch, you can sneak up on a perfect fit without going short.

[Woodenfish]

I am of fan of artist and craftsman Jon Peters. He has made a lot of nice wood picture frames with details and methods on his YouTube channel.

[Big Dave]

Much like John & Mac above, I've made several frames using "scrap" wood gathered over the years. There's no limit to what you can do when you've got a whole bunch of different flavors to play with...
 

I'll make one recommendation, though, that I haven't seen mentioned yet (of course, I may have missed it...), if you're going to be making a lot of frames build yourself a miter sled for your tablesaw. It's quick and can be made to use on both sides of the blade without changing anything. I made one when my wife "suggested" I make frames for all the pictures we have in the house, and after the 3rd one I decided to build the sled. I've re-framed all the pictures, but it still gets used on a fairly regular basis...

Two pennies worth.
Dave

[Cooler]

Where to start?

• The room in which the picture will hang will  give you an idea of the type of decor and the colors in the room.  You would not want to put a craftsman frame in a Victorian parlor; not a ornately carved gold frame in a art deco decorated room.
  
• The wall on which the picture will hang, will dictate the size of the image and the size of the frame (if a single picture is hung), or the fact that it will be part of an arrangement of images on that wall.
  
• The size of the image.  Viewing distance dictates the size of the image.  When I was a portrait photographer I had one portrait enlarged to  8" x 10" all the way up to  30" x 40".  Once we determined where the image would be (over a couch, the viewing distance would be about 36".  If there were a coffee table in front of the  couch, it would be about 5 feet.  Visually all the images are the same size.  So a wallet sized photo which is viewed at about 6" looks the same size as an 8" x  10" views at 16", and looks the same as a 20" x 24" viewed at 5 feet.
  
• Mat size.  I like generous mats; they make the image seem more important.  The mat also provides needed space between the glass and the image.  Traditional photographs with a coated emulsion layer will laminate to the glass if it contact.  Pastels will be damaged by contact to the glass, needle work will be flattened, and oil paintings should not have glass at all.
  
• Mat color:  Your eye will be drawn to the same color in the image as is the mat.  So I would always look for what I considered to be the most important aspect of the photo or painting and I would incorporate it in the mat treatment.  I usually used double mats, so the color was often the  small exposed area of the under-mat. 
  
• Once you have the mat cut you will know the frame size.  At that point I would order the molding and proceed with the framing.  The mounting of the art and the cutting and decorating of the mat boards were always complete before the molding arrived at the shop.  At that point I would cut the molding, assemble it and fit the glass and art to the frame.
  
• Don't forget the dust cover.  It serves little function but to make the frame look "professionally done", but you'd be surprised how important that seems to some people.  Make the dust cover (craft paper) smooth and tight.  A "made by" label with a date is a nice touch.  Make sure your hanging wire is nicely wrapped.  Done right the bound ends will look like miniature nooses, with tightly wound wraps of wire. 
  

That's where I would begin.