Timeline Picture Frame

This 4×6 ash frame shows a record of events that occured in my family as I grew up. The wood is from a dead ash tree from my parent’s yard that we felled in early spring. Family events (birth years, marriages, etc) are marked near the growth ring for the year in which they occured. I made a few of these for family christmas gifts.

The wood was carefully rift cut to reveal the center of the tree (the pith) at the bottom and the annual growth rings. From counting the growth rings, the tree is about 42 years old. This tree was just a twig soon after my parent’s house was built.

I’ve been impressed with big cross sections of old trees in museums with dates stamped on the rings which is where I got the idea to try to use growth rings like this, but it took me months to think of doing it this way.

The construction was mostly done with a router. I made an MDF template to route out the space for the picture with a pattern bit and used a chamfer bit on the inside edges. The back is cut out with a rabbiting bit to hold the glass and the inside corners squared with a hand chisel. Outside frame edges are angled with a low profile hand plane to give it faceted edges. I used carbon transfer paper to trace out the numbers before I painted them (arcrylic) as I can’t paint anything for real. I bought 3 cheap frames from the dollar store for the glass and mounting parts. Finish is 2 coats of sanding sealer and paste wax, which seems to be popular for pictures frames. I can see why. It’s really a nice satin finish in person and easy to do.

-- Matt - Syracuse, NY