Woodworking Archives

February 21, 2019February 21, 2019

Frame for Grandma

Recently my grandmother past away. Not knowing how to express my emotions, I decided to express them in my own fashion. I build a custom frame with custom cut matting.

I made this frame out of walnut and put a simple roman ogee profile on it. Granted this was all made during the “Polar Vortex.” With it’s thirty below temperatures and numb fingers I got it down with the two day deadline. Now I did have to complete some steps in the house. I could not feel my fingers at all!

No Plan, Plan

Here we go again! This was supposed to have been a quick project. I was going to use pre-cut glass and mat. But the cold or my lack of every following a plan I made this 11×14 frame 11×14 1/2….. Well now the glass and mat are too short.

What better time to learn how to cut mats. Thirty below is like a summer breeze right? Mat cutting was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Now the glass cutting was anther story. I just recently learned how to cut glass successfully, 25% of the time. Again, this frame did take two panes to get it just right. Also it showed a great lesson, to cut twice, measure once.

Great Smile and Laughter

The photo is from my wedding. It was another cold day in may, 35 and snowing in May. Grandma was in a good mood for the weather and just cracked a joke when the photo was taken. Not only is this a very cherished memory for myself but also the best photo I can remember to better express her laugh.

This completed frame was displayed at the ceremony. By just plain luck, the frame matched the coffin perfectly. Now, it was in great company sitting along her afghans she knitted for all of us.

February 20, 2019February 21, 2019

Cherry Side Tables

Is there a start of a picture frame there?

Starting the Pair of Cherry side tables

This picture frame just wants to be displayed on the tabe.
Picture frame again!
Frame is still there!

Here is a sneak peak at the cherry side tables in progress. I have been working on a pair of them off and on for the past month. I decided to challenge myself with new methods and styles.

These tables are assembled using mortise and tenon joinery. No mechanical fasteners here. I did use floating tenons and these tables required 64 mortises! The mortises took a long time to mark out and complete. I do have to say it was worth it.

Picture frame photo bombing the table again!

No Plan, Plan……Again

While making the mortises I did make a mistake on two of the legs and hogged out the material on the worn side of the leg. However, I did not want to remake these legs as they are compound tapered on two sides. I made them with a tapering jig I received for Christmas but still had a lot of hand planing to get the angles just right.

So with not wanting to remake the legs but had ugly holes to fill and or repair, I was stuck. Then I remembered my desktop organizer I made the week before out of cherry and walnut. I loved the contrast between the two. So I made walnut plugs and added this mistake to all the legs to bring more interest to the piece. I believe the plugs look good.

Tiny loving the shavings from the hand planing. Makes a great cat bed on the cold days.

Next Steps

Now that the case of the tables are complete. I am working through what edge or panel cut I want to add to the tops. The tops are two pieces of 9″ wide cherry. I was very lucky to find such wide nice boards. Maybe a raised panel profile or a roundover for the edge? Or should I use a roman ogee?

One thing is for sure I will be making the drawers with rabbit joints and using full extension drawer glides. Then I was thinking wood slides but being more of a “formal” piece and out of cherry. The glides are the best way to go. Either way, they will look great and be a great addition to whoever’s room.

February 19, 2019February 21, 2019

New Picture Frame Style!

New take on a traditional picture frame

This past month I have been working in the barn. Trying to coming up with new projects to make and post for sale. While working on larger projects, I like to make smaller projects to get a variety uploaded. I made several different frames and wanted to make something new, different. I wanted something to spark visual interest. I wanted a new picture frame style. There was a catch, I did not want to use up too much of my good stock on this adventure. This frame would need to be done of mostly scrapes or at least shorts.

I pondered for a moment to come up with a design I thought was pleasing. Then I remembered that my plans are meant to be broken. With a tendency to alter the plans as I find fit. Mostly because I made a mistake and do not want to scrap the whole project. Then I grabbed two lengths of maple and walnut thinking that one or the other will be the inlay. As I was milling up the boards I realized that I was a couple inches short of both pieces to make a 11 x 14″ frame.

No plan “Plan”

Now this is where my “no plan, plan” works. I thought, what the heck, lets finish milling the stock and put a double inlay into both and I will find more stock in the pile or make a different size frame. Well none of that happened. I inlay-ed both pieces and figured better to make a complete frame instead of two half completed frames. Then I was shocked at how it looked. The alternating style is very appealing.

I decided to carry this look over to the splines. Now the dilemma was, what to do with the splines, alternating maybe?. There are only one corner all maple and another all walnut. The last two are half and half. Alternating the colors on the splines only twice instead of three. This made the transition look good and not washed out.

Perfect lined up miters

Miter joints on the frame had to be perfect. If not then the alternating colors would look horrendous. I took special care to ensure I had perfect lined up miters. each inlay lined up with its alternating color. I put a route a roman ogee profile on the inside to dress up the solid lines. This introduced curves and softened up the sharpness.

This frame is perfect for a color photo that fades into a black and white picture. I am making more of this design but with other colored wood species. This one has a formal feel and I am looking to create a more casual and fun frame to appeal to everyone. The next one will look just as good but will not take as much time. I have corrected the challenges and ready to batch these out.