How to Make Picture Frames (Best of AW)

HOW TO MAKE

Picture Frames

Picture Frames

12 SIMPLE TO STYLISH PROJECTS

from the Experts at American Woodworker

Published by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square St., Mount Joy, PA 17552, 717-560-4703, www.FoxChapelPublishing.com

2010 American Woodworker. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission. Readers may create any project for personal use or sale, and may copy patterns to assist them in making projects, but may not hire others to mass-produce a project without written permission from American Woodworker. The information in this book is presented in good faith; however, no warranty is given, nor are results guaranteed. American Woodworker Magazine, Fox Chapel Publishing and Woodworking Media, LLC, disclaim any and all liability for untoward results.

American Woodworker, ISSN 1074-9152, USPS 738-710, is published bimonthly by Woodworking Media, LLC, 90 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 02140, www.AmericanWoodworker.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009053477

ISBN-13: 978-1-56523-459-8

ISBN-10: 1-56523-459-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

How to make picture frames.

p.cm.

Includes index.

Print ISBN 978-1-56523-459-8
eISBN 978-1-60765-891-7

1. Picture frames and framing. I. Fox Chapel Publishing.

TT899.2.H693 2010

749.7--dc22

2009053477

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

F ew things are as personally rewarding as displaying family treasures with beautiful frames you make yourself. Heres your chance to learn how to make your own frames for family or travel photos, childrens art, samplers, paintingsanything you want to hang on the wall, display on a shelf, or preserve in an album. A variety of styles and woods helps you choose the perfect frame for each photo, piece of artwork, or other image you wish to display.

From relatively simple frames to more complex and highly decorated ones, you will find clear instructions with a wealth of illustrations. Step-by-step photos clearly show the sequence of tasks. Technical illustrations also provide essential information.

Use Featured Projects on to help you choose your projects. You will find ways to make multiple frames, as well as an interesting choice of frame styles. Some have a vintage look. Others have a contemporary or even whimsical style. Instructions for making two distinctive hall mirrors complete the collection.

How to Make Picture Frames is a collection of some of the best projects published by American Woodworker magazine. American Woodworker magazine is committed to providing woodworkers with the most accurate and up-to-date plans and informationincluding new ideas, product and tool reviews, workshop tips, and more.

H eres a fun way to save money, be creative, make something useful, and use up scrap stock: make your own picture frames. You can start from scratch and have finished frames in a day or less, and the only tools you need are a tablesaw and a router table. The challenge is to create unique profiles using the router bits you already have.

The frames and instructions that follow will get you started. You probably dont have all the same bits, but that doesnt matter. Just substitute and experiment. Youll find that a little tinkering yields an amazing range of profiles.

Most frames are made using small stock, so be sure to work safely. Always use guards, featherboards and push sticks. Never use stock less than 12" long. Create profiles on long stock; then cut individual frame pieces from the profiled stock. Similarly, use wide stock to create thin pieces; rout the profile, then cut to final thickness. Rout large or deep profiles in multiple passes, raising the bit or moving the fence in small increments before each pass.

Create unique frames by experimenting. All of the frames shown here were made by combining tablesaw cuts and profiles made with these common router bits.