Create elegant frames with simple tools and techniques
As a woodworker, it’s tough to buy pre-made picture frames or shell out big bucks at the custom-framing shop—especially when you have so much nice wood lying around. Making frames yourself not only saves money but also lets you personalize your pictures.
Despite the seemingly simple joinery, however, picture framing can be intimidating in its own way. The decorative aspect is easy, as there are lots of wonderful details you can create on a router table, table saw, or even bandsaw, and the miter joints carry them beautifully around the frame. But perfect miters are trickier to make than they might look. A picture frame puts them on full display, so they need to be dead-accurate and chip-free. To make that happen, you’ll need a reliable way to cut and assemble them.
Then there’s the contents of the frame. Everyone knows what they want to display, but may be less familiar with how to incorporate the mat board and glass, how much room to allow for them in their rabbet, and how to hold them in place. Last, there is a variety of ways to hang the finished frame. Not to worry; in this article, I’ll provide some straightforward solutions using basic tools, ensuring perfect picture frames that can be made by any woodworker.
Order of Work
- Mill frame stock
- Rabbet the back
- Cut molding details
- Miter ends
- Assemble frame
- Fill and hang
onlineEXTRA
- Free project download: Frame with Piping
Anatomy of a picture frame
You can make picture frames from any wood. To accommodate the back rabbet, your frame stock should be at least 5⁄8" thick. For deep molding profiles on the front face, increase the thickness. The width of the parts is up to you, but should be at least 1" wide for sufficient glue surface.
Rip and rabbet at the table saw
Rip stock that will be long enough to wrap around your artwork and mat, making all the parts from the same board for the best look. After milling the stock to size, rabbet the back edge. The fastest way to do this is using a dado head on the table saw, as shown. You’ll need to attach a sacrificial facing to the rip fence using clamps or double-stick tape, and then raise the spinning dado head into the facing, being careful to avoid your rip fence.
Efficient rabbeting. Using a dado head partially buried in a sacrificial fence facing lets you cut the rabbet to full depth and width in a single pass. For safe feed control, use a push pad and push stick.
Save money on glass, mat, and backer board
You can buy glass (or acrylic), mat board, and backer board at a frame shop, but they are also hiding in plain sight at your local dollar or department store inside very inexpensive frames that are made to fit standard photo sizes. Chuck the frame, keep the contents, and save significant cash. If you dive deeper into picture framing, you can also cut your own mats, glass/acrylic, and backer board.
Three decorative details
You can cut any number of profiles on the face of your frame stock using various tools. The following are just a few approaches. Whatever profile you create, make sure your frame stock is thick enough to leave at least 1⁄8" of wood above the back rabbet.
Face rabbet. This detail creates a nice transition between the wood and the artwork. To cut it, slightly bury a standard table saw blade in an auxiliary fence facing, and feed the stock on edge.
Simple saw slotting. For a retro look, try making a series of evenly spaced slots using a standard 1⁄8" blade set up for a 3⁄16" deep cut. Move the rip fence 3⁄8" after each pass.
Easy texture. To create a rustic-looking frame, prepare your stock by resawing it at the bandsaw. Then use the sawn surface as the show face on your pieces.
Perfect miters at the chop saw
Frame miters can be cut with a variety of tools, but a miter saw offers the most straightforward approach. However, this contractor’s tool needs some prep to cut clean, accurate joints. First, outfit it with a high-quality crosscut blade. Then adjust the saw for a perfect 45° angle, and cut a small sample frame to check its accuracy. To ensure that opposite frame sides match exactly in length, use a stop when mitering the second end of each sample piece.
After establishing a perfect miter setting, use double-stick tape to attach MDF panels to the saw’s base and fence. Saw through the panels to create zero-clearance support surfaces, and then adhere sandpaper to the fence as shown. You now have a clean-cutting machine that can stay locked to the right like this for all your miter cuts. For cleanest results when mitering, plunge the blade slowly and steadily into the work, especially when the “show” face is oriented downward.
Saw prep. To minimize exit tearout, tape 1⁄4" MDF panels to your saw table and fence to serve as zero-clearance workpiece supports. Adhere fine sandpaper to the fence to prevent workpiece shift that causes errant cuts.
Three basic miter steps
Miter parts to final length. When sawing the second miter on each workpiece, use a stop to ensure that opposing frame sides are cut to the exact same length.
Assemble, fill, and hang your frame
There are lots of products sold for clamping miters, but I prefer to use a basic band clamp. It’s nothing more than a length of nylon webbing with a ratcheting handle that draws it tight, pulling the miters together while aligning their tips. The clamp won’t automatically flush up the front faces, but it leaves room for additional clamps to do that if necessary. After applying glue and clamping, let the glue dry for a few hours, scrape off the excess, and reinforce the joints if you like (See box below). Sand everything flat and smooth, apply finish, and fill and hang your frames.
Thirsty joints. The end grain of miters drinks up a lot of glue, risking starved, weak joints. So spread glue liberally on both faces of each joint, and add a little more on any dry areas right before assembling the frame.
Band clamping. Before you start spreading glue, have a band clamp already set up just a little looser than necessary. As you tighten the clamp, press the joint faces into alignment, using traditional clamps if necessary.
Glazing point retainers. Place the glass, mat, artwork and backer board in the back rabbet, and secure them by installing inexpensive glazing points. You’ll need specialized pliers for the job, but they’re cheap too.
Simple hanging. You can hang all but the largest frames with a sawtooth hanger that nails into place at the top center of the frame. For larger, heavier frames, use eye hooks and picture-hanging wire.
A call for reinforcements?
If frame miter cuts are accurate and glue-ups go well, I don’t generally reinforce the joints, and I’ve never had a frame break. However, it’s never a bad idea to incorporate splines of some sort, especially if the frames and/or cargo are large or heavy, or if they might get knocked from the wall. Splines can also add a decorative accent, particularly if made from contrasting wood. When I do reinforce miters, I glue small “key” splines into slots sawn into the corners of the assembled frame. (See OnlineEXTRAS for a project that addresses the whole process.) Also, if you have a biscuit or Domino joiner, you can easily add strong, hidden reinforcement to frames with wide parts.
About the Author
Asa Christiana is a former editor of Fine Woodworking magazine, and the author of the “Build Stuff with Wood” book series, designed to take beginners “from zero to hero.” The second volume, “Build More Stuff with Wood” (Taunton Press), goes on sale in September 2022. Like book one, it’s packed with stylish yet straightforward projects, and will appeal to woodworkers of all skill levels. A third and final book is planned for 2024.
