Tips on making large frames

[Jon van der Linden]

Will - I am not completley familiar with the process I would need to accomplish this. With the frames I build, I tend to route them to put my particular look and feel on them. If I were to route Laminated MDF / Ply, it wouldn't look pretty. I am guessing you mean that they laminate after the routing is done. How is that accomplished?

He's talking about industrially produced mouldings. They are veneered after they are profiled. These are not super high end items, but are quite common, just like foam mouldings are now common for house construction. It's more or less the same process as seen in cheap kitchen cabinets where the whole door can be veneered with a foil. This also limits the complexity and detail of the profiles that can be created.

Frames have been laminated for centuries, even small ones. Most commonly each profile element is made of one or two pieces, and if there is veneer then it has a flat back and profiled face. If you have some older furniture you might even see this on mouldings.

As to the OP's question about flatness, there shouldn't be any problem getting a 60" piece of wood to lie flat. It's a question of wood selection, drying, and proper technique in facing the board. There are a lot of hints on this thread already about that.

[Jon van der Linden]

Another poster made a great point about knowing what part of the tree the wood came from. This makes perfect sense....but not everyone has the luxury of finding such wood. I would think the closer to the center of the main trunk, the least chance of movement? Anyone confirm this?

Wood from the center is not good. What is needed for stability is quartersawn wood with even grain throughout.

[ian maybury]

Sounds like Festool Domino loose tenons might be a decent option for the corners, dimensions permitting...

ian

[Adam Cavaliere]

Oh! I see! Many small pieces laminated (glued) together to make one big stronger flatter piece! Now I get it!!!