Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.

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Not your average framer
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Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.

Post by Not your average framer »

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!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
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Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.

Post by Not your average framer »

I have not done this yet, but the wider flat bare pine moulding which I mentioned in the previous post is perhaps suitable for me to make some smaller frame mirrors with a little pine shelf as well. It needs to be lower cost to make and significantly quicker and easier to make. The shelf would be fixed on to the bottom edge of the frame from underneath and the shelf wold extend beyond the sides of the frame as well. The shelf would be cut to length initially on my sliding mitre saw with two cuts from each side meeting in the middle to avoid splintering either face, followed up by sanding the edges on the disc sander which is part of my bench top belt sander. The front corners of the shelf would than be marked out to be roulded by drawing round a suitable coin and trimmed back on the Morso, to remove much of the surplus, before finishing to the line on my disc sander. The shelf would then be glued and pinned under the bottom edge of the frame. After hand finishing some fairly basic hand finishing, the frame would have the piece of mirror glass and backing board fitted and that's it! Job done!

Hopefully, items like this might sell to those looking for birthday presents if priced right! I've got about two hundred feet of this particular moulding at present and several fairly large pieces of the mirror glass, which cost me nothing! So some good potential for a worthwhile profit, I think.
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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IFGL
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Re: Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.

Post by IFGL »

I just purchased a 3D printer mainly a toy for me to play with, but I did think object clips or cradles would be something that could be designed and printed.
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Creating cradles and supports for object framing using waste moulding.

Post by Not your average framer »

It make sense to me!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
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