Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.
Posted: Sat 16 Oct, 2021 10:08 am
Having got various useful wood working workshop power tools it is a simple matter to produce various cradles and supports for use when object framing. Oak is my wood type of choice for producing such things and I like to leave the wood grain clearly visible, but a ittle bit of wood stain and a dead matt coat of varnish is my favorite finish. The stain is useful for creating a uniform colouring between different support elements in one frame and a coat of dead matt varnish seals the wood from any atmosphic effects to the appearance of the wood over time. People like Oak, so this is very helpful. Using left overs and off cuts of wider flat oak mouldings is actually very easy with a band saw and a bench top belt sander it's very quick and easy. I take care not to use pilot holes for screws which are as you would normally choose for most wood types, but prefer a little more clearance for easier fixing of the screws. It's much more of an effort to be able to screw in to Oak and when using thinner sections of oak, I tend to be aware of the potential for the wood to develop stress related splits of time, so a bit extra clearence in the screw holes seems a good idea!
I like to install non acidic barrier behind and mountboard used for mounting such supports inside the frame and behing this I will usually add some 6mm MDF. Having seen that MDF does not fair well over the years, if not treated will a suitable sealer, I prefer to apply a suitable surface sealer all round. This does not take long to do and i then counter sink the screw holes and then cover over the screws after fitting them with tape to prevent anyone opening the frame from think that the will try to tighten the screws and causing problems. The tape is the 75mm wide Sekisui brown sealing tape and is extremely difficult to remove and provides a very useful "tamper evident" indication. I like to keep the design of such cradles and supports reasonably strain forward in design. It is far to easy to think that such relatively small items wll be really fast to produce, only to fing that simple added complications turn a quick, simple ans easy job into something more complicated and less qick and easy. I have as you can imagine, found this out by exerience!
Obviosly off cuts and scraps involve no added cost and as I have many useful bits and pieces in my scrap box, thereis no need to be thinking about ordering anything at all. I scan and print out paper templates which I stick to my piece of wood using double side tape and afterwards remove this tape after heating with my hot air gun. A quick touch on my bench top belt sander cleans up any burrs from the cut edes and also a residual adhesive from the double sided tape. Job done!
I like to install non acidic barrier behind and mountboard used for mounting such supports inside the frame and behing this I will usually add some 6mm MDF. Having seen that MDF does not fair well over the years, if not treated will a suitable sealer, I prefer to apply a suitable surface sealer all round. This does not take long to do and i then counter sink the screw holes and then cover over the screws after fitting them with tape to prevent anyone opening the frame from think that the will try to tighten the screws and causing problems. The tape is the 75mm wide Sekisui brown sealing tape and is extremely difficult to remove and provides a very useful "tamper evident" indication. I like to keep the design of such cradles and supports reasonably strain forward in design. It is far to easy to think that such relatively small items wll be really fast to produce, only to fing that simple added complications turn a quick, simple ans easy job into something more complicated and less qick and easy. I have as you can imagine, found this out by exerience!
Obviosly off cuts and scraps involve no added cost and as I have many useful bits and pieces in my scrap box, thereis no need to be thinking about ordering anything at all. I scan and print out paper templates which I stick to my piece of wood using double side tape and afterwards remove this tape after heating with my hot air gun. A quick touch on my bench top belt sander cleans up any burrs from the cut edes and also a residual adhesive from the double sided tape. Job done!