Large-ish picture frame?

[Ben Fleis]

I am setting up to do a small job, making a couple picture frames. One is 12x24", and the other is 16x44". I do not yet know whether these are portrait or landscape.

I suspect that the 16x44" span will be landscape, and I wonder: will that width need structural reinforcement? I am looking to do a straight forward mitered-corner, probably with loose tenons connecting. I could conceivably add a couple of vertical "ribs" to be screwed into place in back of the picture backing.

Anybody have any experiences with this kind of thing? I have never made a frame of this sort, so I'm shooting from the hip...

Thanks,

ben

[Chris Tsutsui]

I'm no picture framer or expert, but I'll share what worked for me...

I made a very large picture frame for a wedding photo once. Don't know the dimensions, but I knew the miter joints were going to need to be severly beefed up.

So what I did was install some "L" shaped steel flat brackets that attach with staggered screws. It adds a great deal of strength to the miter joints. They fit into a mortise so it doesn't push the frame away from the wall. 2 years and the picture is holding up fine. The frame was made of oak.

I have a 5' long vanity mirror frame that has no reinforcements spanning the long lengths of the pine frame. I don't think the lengths will need reinforcement though the miter joints for sure will need something. Perhaps your loose tenon will be enough but it should depends on the size of the frame.

[Lee Schierer]

I've made a number of picture frames and none have corner reinforcement. Here's one large frame (24 x 48):


See my web site for more examples Picture Frames.

The trick if there is one is to get perfect fitting miters and use lots of glue. A miter joint is an end grain joint and most woods will suck up the glue. Many folks advocate priming the surfaces witha watered down mixture of glue prior to actually gluing the corner. I generally make sure I get glue on all areas of both surfaces and clean up the squeeze out.

[Joe Scharle]

I've made mirror frames as large as 3 X 5 (maybe it was 4 X 6) using mitered half lap joints. There's plenty of room to mess up with these and hard to explain, but this fellow has a good pictorial. The only thing I did differently was, I routed the finished edge first and then cleaned out the waste. The joint is very strong with all the gluing surface provided. I've also made a bunch using L braces too!

[dan mahler]

I have made several large frames for my son's movie posters. Here is one method I use quite often to reinforce the joint using a Dowel. LINK (go to the bottom of the page).

[Jerome Hanby]

I've made mirror frames as large as 3 X 5 (maybe it was 4 X 6) using mitered half lap joints. There's plenty of room to mess up with these and hard to explain, but this fellow has a good pictorial. The only thing I did differently was, I routed the finished edge first and then cleaned out the waste. The joint is very strong with all the gluing surface provided. I've also made a bunch using L braces too!

I saw that pictorial during my search for information on making that joint. I dismissed it because I was never going to make anything that wide. Looking at it again, it dawns on me, that I could have used that process on a wide piece of material, then ripped my side pieces out of it. I ended up putting together a sled like gizmo from an old Woodsmith issue. My biggest problem, I think, was not producing good 45 degree cuts. Next try, I think my Incra 1000se will take care of that.

[Jerome Hanby]

I saw that pictorial during my search for information on making that joint. I dismissed it because I was never going to make anything that wide. Looking at it again, it dawns on me, that I could have used that process on a wide piece of material, then ripped my side pieces out of it. I ended up putting together a sled like gizmo from an old Woodsmith issue. My biggest problem, I think, was not producing good 45 degree cuts. Next try, I think my Incra 1000se will take care of that.

Ignore that post. Having a premature senior moment

[Jay Jeffery]

A frame for something nearly 4 feet across seems pretty big. Whether that requires a brace in the middle will depend on what material you will be using and its size. The weight of the glass and picture will also come into play. How it is held to the wall will also affect the frame. A cable running between the vertical members won't cause the frame to sag as much as one supported by a cleat or two in a horizontal member.

In my opinion (not that you asked, but you will get it anyways, free of charge), wider wood on a frame looks better than narrow. If you are going through the trouble of making it yourself, you should make it dramatic. Use some reasonably wide stock, apply some sound joinery of some kind at the miters (ideally not just a few brads or a squiggly metal thing), and don't worry about pushing design limits or extra support.

[Nissim Avrahami]

About 11~12 years ago I made some mirror frames (the biggest was 32" x 48")- mitered corners and floating tenons - still no problems...

About one year ago, I made a frame for a glass table (26" x 26") and re-enforced the corners (actually, the floating tenon) with two small nails on the back side as on the pic below...(you can screw a 90° iron on the corners).

Regards
niki

[Ben Fleis]

Lots of good things to consider -- I had been considering a mitered bridle joint of some sort, and that pictorial might be just the way to approach it. Good glue surface and a couple small pegs from the back would make it exceedingly strong. And the idea of putting mounting wire on the vertical members makes a ton of sense as well.

To be honest I would rather avoid L-brackets -- they're just not within my philosophy unless necessary.

I suspect the material will be hard maple, since the customer wants black finish. I have it on hand, and figure it's plenty strong. Once I talk to her a bit more about her needs, I will settle on a design, and share it here.

Thanks!

-b