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Thread: Do picture frames need splines?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    How would you use that cutter for a typical picture frame, Al?
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #17
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    Jan 2006
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    Paducah, KY
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    I've used this method in the past:


    http://lumberjocks.com/projects/19242

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Hepler View Post
    Dan,

    I doubt that you need splines. Miter joints are considerably stronger than conventional wisdom suggests.



    Doug
    You're probably right Doug, especially for case miter joints if you do the glue size priming like you've suggested. However with a picture frame I think of splines, brads or some other type of reinforcement as an inexpensive insurance policy. Why not do it if you can do so quickly and easily and eliminate the chance that the thing might open up someday?

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Kansas City
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    Just a hobbyist, but done a fair number of frames. I use keys (not splines), but for small frames, I invested in a v-nail driver - quick and easy. For large frames, especially mirrors, I'll go with a half-lap joint, pegged or braced with brass if really heavy. My theory is that all my frames need reinforcement, not just for the weight of hanging on the wall, but for the almost certainty that sometime in their life they'll be handled roughly and/or dropped.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    How would you use that cutter for a typical picture frame, Al?
    Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooops!!!!!

    Looks like I really blew that one. Took the ad literally, but for the wrong application. I was even entertaining the thought of getting one. Glad you caught that bonehead error! You saved me ~$75. Thanks.

    Back to the half-lap miter.
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  6. #21
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    I've had _many_ miter and glue picture frames fail, ranging from 1/2" frames holding an 8x10 to 36x48" monsters. When I rebuild them, or when I build new, I always add reinforcement. I've done biscuits, splined, and lap miter joints or bridled miter joints. . Stopped splines (or biscuits if your tool gives you a tight fit) are best if you don't want external evidence of the reinforcement, the bridle joint is probably strongest if your frame design tolerates the thickness.

    Yes, I'm a strong believer in reinforcement, having spent many "happy" hours repairing the results of not reinforcing.

  7. #22
    I usually use my biscuit tool and position it so the cutter doesn't break through the outside. I then cut the biscuits in half or less so they don't interfere with the glass or picture being installed.

    Or I use my mini biscuit tool that Royobi used to make. Hopefully I can find biscuits for it when I run out someday.

  8. #23
    Lee Valley small biscuits are good for frames - cut the slot on the router table

    http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...50,43217,43231

  9. #24
    I used a biscuit joiner on both the frames I've made. That said, there was a occasion when I needed to turn out a custom sized frame pronto using a pre- existing frame. I took it to a small frame shop, they re-cut the miters on one end, clamped the frame into size and shot a couple of (for lack of correct term) wiggly flat nails into each corner on the back side with an air tool. That was (10 years ago and one of the corners is just starting to pull open. Once they all open up, I'll inject a little TB3 into them and re-clamp.
    Mac

  10. #25
    Dan, Edwin, All

    I got the impression that Dan (the OP) felt time pressure for his picture frames, so I responded tentatively that he might not need splines, depending on the details of the project, if making them would risk not completing the project on time. I do think that splines are often useful to strengthen a miter joint.

    Doug

  11. #26
    Thanks guy, I think I’ll reinforce the joints. Just to clarify, the “splines” I’m talking about some people may refer to as keys. I’m talking about cutting a slot in the corner of each joint with a sliding jig on the table saw. Then gluing in 1/8” strips, trimming and flushing to achieve a “semi” cross grain glue joint. I think I’ll take the extra step. I can’t imagine those joints ever failing if I do so. Forgot to mention, the frames are 13”x15” with an opening of approx 9”x11” using 3/32” glass. Just to give an idea of how heavy the frame will be.

  12. #27
    My experience with gluing miter joints is that they'll hold - until you drop or otherwise put a lot of stress on them. I now put an interior FF biscuit in miter joints and that seems to add enough strength to keep the joint together, even when stressed.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  13. #28
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    Sep 2016
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    Couldn't find real info on the frame but here is how folks who value a painting reinforced there picture . I suppose it goes to show with out splines it will need to be repaired in under 500 years
    Bill

    Mona Lisa
    , oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most-famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519, when Leonardo was living in Florence, and it now hangs in the Louvre, in Paris, where it remains an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century. The poplar panel shows evidence of warping and was stabilized in 1951 with the addition of an oak frame and in 1970 with four vertical braces. Dovetails also were added, to prevent the widening of a small crack visible near the centre of the upper edge of the painting. The sitter’s mysterious smile and her unproven identity have made the painting a source of ongoing investigation and fascination.

    And on frames.... https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fram/hd_fram.htm
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 12-21-2017 at 11:43 PM.

  14. #29
    The glass will weigh about 13 oz. according to this useful site: https://www.dullesglassandmirror.com...ght-calculator

  15. #30
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    Aug 2013
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    Joined frames are usually quite complex, but iirc they also work as the canvas stretcher. Even very basic canvas stretchers are usually pretty strong and joined construction. They are usually supporting very large moldings which are gilded, any crack in the miter presents as s crack in the gilding.

    I join my frames with dovetails and half laps, my simple logic is that anything holding a sheet of glass on the wall aught to be pretty strong,
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

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