Curly Maple Picture Frame
Part II of my mom's Christmas gift, a 11"x14" curly maple, wenge and mahogany picture frame, complete with a picture of Alexa, Jules and I in New Hampshire. The frame was made with the off cuts from the Willow Creek Frame and made in much the same way. However, instead of cutting splines to reinforce the mitered corners, I simply used a staple gun to keep the glue joint from splitting.
Required Resources: 3 hours, $40
Size: 12" x 15" x 1"
Materials: Curly Maple, Wenge, Mahogany, 11"x14" Glass Plate, Matting, Finishing Nails, Heavy Duty Staples
Finish: Natural Colored Stain, 3 Coats Semi-Gloss Polyurethane Aerosol.
Tools: Miter Saw, Table Saw, Planer, Jointer, Router with Rabbeting Bit
New Techniques:
Rabbet, Rabbet: In order to create the recess in the back of the frame that would hold the glass, picture and backing, I used a rabbeting bit with my router, This was the first time I had used this bit before, so I was a little nervous. I have a tendency to go a little to aggressive on the router and thus, eased in the depth for this cut. After a successful shallow pass, I went around again at full depth. The corners of the rabbet were then cleaned up with a chisel. After all the material removal was complete, I set the glass in.... the moment of truth.... perfect fit!
Lessons Learned:
All Staple Guns Are Not Created Equal: I had watched a variety of Youtube videos that depicted bolstering mitered joints with a few staples to the back of the joint. I had a staple gun (and I wasn't about to hand cut in another set of spline, am I right?) so I decided to go for it. Well... it wasn't as easy as the videos made it seem; my staples did not want to go it. Either I was using a harder wood (probably, the curly maple is rather dense and a lot of picture frames are made of softwoods) or my staple gun/ staple combo wasn't quite right (this, definitely this). I was using straight staples (probably needed serrated) and my staple gun was probably more suited for cork board than maple and mahogany. Anyways, I ended up hammering in the staples (which ended up denting my parents hallway floor... Mom and Dad, if you're reading this and you probably are, SORRY!) and called it good. If I were to get into a frame making kick, an appropriate heavy duty staple gun would be a worthwhile purchase.
