How (Not) to Make a Picture Frame

[cnsranch]

denny

Bought my Shopsmith in 1986 - aside from a scroll saw and belt sander, that was the first "shop tool" I owned.

Over the years I found a used planer, jointer, etc. for the SS.

My personal opinion is that the Shopsmith is the perfect tool for those with limited space - I worked in my garage for over 20 years before building the shop I've got now.

Its versatility is the real strong point, it'll really do anything you want. Downside, of course is all the set-up you have to go thru going from one function to another.

That all said, I still use the SS for planing, jointing, as a drill press, and lathe.

They're pretty much indestructible, and you can find them pretty cheap on Craigslist here almost all the time.

Al - thanks for the comments - I've got the greatest wife in the world - after 28 years she still lets me play in the shop.

[Chief]

Jerry,

"after 28 years she still lets me play in the shop"??

My wife'll be celebrating our 39 years of captivity in July and I've yet to ask her if I can play in my shop. She gets mad at me all the time for the money I spend on tools but it's better than sitting in a bar all night.

"Lovely sister-in-law??" My wife has 3 sisters, no bros, and none that I would classify as lovely unless you're looking at the youngest one's body. Now that's lovely.

I too suffer from not enough room and bought a SS sometime back in the 70s. I have bought the drill press and band saw but refuse to buy any other. Their prices are higher than similar equipment that has a motor. For many years I've used and abused this machine but it doesn't do much anymore as my Festools do as good if not a better job. At the time that I bought the SS, my woodworking knowledge wasn't that great but with more experience, I got a little irked in that SS never indexed their lathe. I'm sure those geniuses could have found a way.

Chief

[cnsranch]

OK, it's not a mandolin but here's the next in waay too big a series...

Only had a few hours Sunday afternoon, so i got my pieces out of the sled, removed the excess wood from the sides (left the ends for now) with the table saw. This is a little tricky - you really need to nibble away at one side 'till you get all but the frame you get more than that, might as well start over. Once the one side is clean, it's simple to get the other side.

Once the sides were removed, got out the dremel and did a once-over with a stainless wire wheel, followed up with an 80 grit bristle wheel (thanks, MT) prepared to receive the sides to create the depth I want.

[cnsranch]

Where were we? Oh, yeah...

Cut rabbets in the frame sides to receive the 1/4' plywood back, and got the sides glued up to the front pieces. Little bit of warpage on those side pieces, needed a little help keeping them straight while they're glued up. Those ends came in handy letting me put a brad on each end to aid the glue up (now I KNOW I need a pin nailer )

We're almost there, did quite a bit of hand-sanding to remove some of those pesky lines the machine tends to make; next steps will quite likely get me to the point of getting a finish on the frame.

[cnsranch]

Kinda like bad chili - I keep coming back on ya'

Got the frame trimmed, and glued - sorry for the camera pics.

Getting closer.

Considering the tiniest bit of metallic blue highlights on the patterns, what do you think?

[cnsranch]

Thought I'd finish this, for anyone interested....

After 8 coats of spray-on poly, and a 1/4" piece of plywood for the back (set into a rabbet), along with a piece of non-glare glass, I gave the frame to my sis-in-law on the Fourth of July. She took the frame and her butterfly to Hobby Lobby for matting an setting.

Just got this pic from her this am.

[forqnc]

Very Nice Jerry,.
I am pleased you updated this thread since I missed it first time round.

[mtylerfl]

That looks great! Really shows off the lace butterfly!

[Smoken D]

Really a Beautiful Frame for that Butterfly!