The wife picked up a picture at an antique shop down in Florida about five years ago. She had wanted to get it framed ever since, however I could never justify the outrages prices of framing. That being said I started the whole husband/wife “I will get to it” cliche.  After five years she has her frame. Although its not perfect by any means what so ever, I did it by hand and I put a ton of time into it. 

The Process
Purchased wood from big box store after looking through all of the oak selection. Brought it home and started the where do I start process. 

I had watched a video by Wood by Wright and used his direction on where to start. 

Set up my Stanley 45 and cut my beading and rabbits. 

Put a chamfer on the inner edge and got ready to start the miter process.
Started cutting the miters and my first slip up happened. One of the cuts was backwards. Screwing up my length on the board meaning I would A) have to start all over again as to not match up the beading or B) try to match the beading on a new board. I opted for option A. 

After going through the process again and successfully mitering the joints it was time for glue up. The joints weren’t perfect nor did I have a shooting board so I block planned the ends to the best of my ability. Gaps were inevitable.

I glued it up and set it aside for a day.

Coming back to the project I cut some splines very, very carefully. Fit them as close as I could with the limited resources I have and glued them up. Waited a couple of hours and flushed them up. 

The next day I set out to fume the project, using a plastic container I added a mason jar of ammonia and let it set for 48 hours. In this time period I went to Lowes to get some glass cut. The dimensions I brought where accurate and precise. Brought my glass home and set it aside. 

After the fuming had taken its course I let the project air out and started setting up for the finishing. 

The finish application was two coats of 100% tung oil with ample drying time in between coats( I did wipe it off after an hour). Applied some of that orange bees wax polish as per the directions. 

It was time for me to place the glass and the Picture. 

Long story short the glass was too big and wasn’t cut to specifications, thank Lowes. Brought the glass back and had them re-cut it. This time they managed to create and angle to that cut so it still didn’t fit. It had to be finished. 

I took my chisel and carefully paired away the excess wood.

The frame was finally finished, the wife was happy and now it hangs on my wall with its flaws. However in the end I know the time and effort I put into this small project and with all of the issues and flaws that it holds. I am still grateful to have it.

Kush

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