Want to Build Your Own Unique Picture Frame from Wood?
Building DIY One-of-a-Kind Wood Frames
To make your own unique one-of-a-kind wood frame, you’ll need a few basic tools. Here’s a list of essential and not-so-essential tools and materials:
- Miter Saw or Miter Box with Hand Saw: For cutting the wood at precise angles, typically 45 degrees for corners.
- Table Saw: These are used for cutting the lengths of wood to the required dimensions.
- Clamps: These are helpful for holding the frame pieces together while you’re assembling them. But they are difficult to use with unusual-shaped frames / live edge frames. You can just make sure the frame sides are firmly pressed together by hand. Just be sure they will not get bumped before the glue is dry.
- Brad Nailer or Screw Gun: These can be used to reinforce the joints. A brad nailer can make the process fast and easy, but using screws will be much more solid. Just be sure to pre-drill holes so as to not split the wood.
- Sandpaper and / or Mouse Sander: Sanding is necessary to smooth out any rough edges or surfaces on the wood that you don’t want. Use 3 or 4 different grits, such as 80 grit to start, working down to 120, 220, 280, 320, etc. This depends on how smooth you want to go.
- Tape Measure: A tape measure will be essential for getting the proper lengths for the side pieces of your unique picture frame (or not-so-unique picture frame, if that is your thing).
- Safety Gear: You will probably want to wear safety glasses and hearing protection when doing your table saw work and miter cuts. Additionally, consider using a
- dust mask or respirator when sanding and cutting your stocks of wood down on the table saw. It creates a LOT of dust.
- Dado blade: This is for cutting the Rabbet grooves into the back of each piece for where the glass, backing and picture will sit.
- Chisel: Creative wood frames can be as creative as you want them to be! Also, you may have instances where, once the glue is dry, you’ll have corners where the joints are not flush on the surface. Or you didn’t get your “opening” quite big enough and will have to do a bit of chiseling to make your recess for the glass, etc. wide enough.
- Flex Point Gun: This is an invaluable tool if you plan to continue making creative wood frames. A flex point gun makes securing the glass and backing into your unique wood frames easier than you would believe! It is kind of like a stapler, and makes your glass / backing and picture very easily removeable.
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Materials for Building DIY One-of-a-Kind Wood Frames
- Wood Stain and Finish: If you want to stain or finish your frames, you’ll need appropriate products for this purpose. Sometimes the most unique thing about a unique picture frame is the grain of its wood. With just a subtle coat of lacquer, you can greatly enhance the natural wood grain. Cook Your Own Linseed Oil & Wax Finish
- Wood Glue: A strong wood glue is essential for securing the corners of the frame together. I use Gorilla wood glue.
- Wood Filler: This can be used to fill in any gaps or imperfections in the wood before spraying and / or staining.
- Steel Wool or Scotch-Brite Pads: This is like really fine sandpaper. It is especially good if you want to remove some of the sheen after you spray (or brush) on your clear coat, if you so desire.
- Hanging Hardware: The best hangers for wood picture frames under an 11 x 14 frame size are saw-tooth hangers. You can get saw-tooth hangers that don’t require nails to fasten to the back of your DIY unique picture frame. You just press or hammer them in, and they are easily removeable.
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