How To Build The Right Wooden Photo Frames For You

By Clive Leyland

If you're someone inclined toward art, you are aware by now that wooden photo frames are beautiful, and also quite expensive. But what if you made one of those stunning frames for yourself and kept all the extra money rather than chucking it at the cashier?

Here are the steps to building a wooden photo frame. If you follow these next steps, you'll have a full wooden photo frame built and ready for use in no time.

(1)Measure the artwork and the mat of your frame. The most important measurement you're going to need is that of the mat; if you cut your frame to the size of the picture, then you're going to wind up with a frame that is too small to fit anything. This step gets skipped more often than you would think. It's never a bad idea to re-measure, either. If you find an issue with your measurements, it's better to deal with it now than after you've invested your time and money in building a frame.

(2)Buy the corresponding amount of lumber as per the measurements you took in step one. Begin cutting. Make sure to keep those measurements in mind as you go along, because you're not going to get another shot at cutting. The lumber should be divided into four pieces, each section is the complete length added the width of the wood multiply by two.

(3)Trim each edge to a nice forty five degree angle. When you've accomplished this step, you can assemble your wooden photo frame on a tabletop. If it's not looking perfect at this point, don't worry over much. You still have time left to sand down any imperfections that might appear. If it looks big, get your saw back out and start cutting.

(4)Sand down all the pieces when the cutting process is done for good. Try using a belt sander for best results, and remember that you want your frame to be a work of art on its own. Don't settle for a shaggy looking wooden rectangle.

(5) Glue the angled tips of the pieces together and press tight with right angle clamps. This step requires some patience, as it's going to take some time for that wood glue to bind the pieces the way you want them to. Put quite a lot of pressure on those clamps for better binding.

(6)Put some V nails in each side, one going in and one coming out. This should keep your frame together even if the glue fails. It won't be a perfect fix, but it should keep the shape you want in place long enough to get some emergency glue in the mistaken areas.

(7) Take off the clamps and let it dry. Let it sit until tomorrow morning. By then, your wooden picture frame should be dry. This is the last opportunity you'll get to perfect the frame, by the way, so if there are scruffy edges make sure you sand them off now. When you're sure it looks as good as it can, add some stain if you'd like a color other than natural wood.

Wooden photo frames may be expensive in the store, but they aren't particularly expensive to make. Following the above steps will ensure that you'll make a wooden photo frame that's just as attractive as a store bought one. - 33381

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here