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One of my sons recently got married. He, and his bride, wanted their license and the garter (not my idea) framed. One of the brides maids works at a professional frame shop and offered to matte and frame it for them. My son asked her to matte it, but said that he wanted his Dad to frame it because he says I make the nicest frames. Now, he didn't tell me this. I was told of this conversation in private from the girl who was supposed to matte it when she delivered the matted piece that was to be framed to me.
Well, after being told this, I set out to think of a way to make a frame that was especially more nice than I normally make.

I am sure this is not original. I just can't remember if, or where I may have seen it at. I have seen splines in plenty of frames. That was the original idea for the contrasting splines nearest the corners on all four joints. After doing that though, I had the notion to put two more splines at opposite corners, running across the corners of the glass. I didn't know how it would turn out, but I knew it would either look real nice, or it would make for some real fancy firewood.
I am happy with the way it turned out.
The dark frame is sapelle. The contrasting splines are box elder.

I want to especially thank a good friend, Marty, who sent me the box elder for a different project that never actually got off the ground. Thank you Marty. I never started the train because of an equipment failure that I haven't been able to finance a repair for. As you can see though, a small section of one of the boards went to a real good cause.

It is all finished with two coats of Minwax Gloss Polyurethane, and then two coats of Johnson's Paste Wax.

Gallery

Comments

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Cool idea William.
The extra splines like that make it pop.
Kids are sure good at communicating aren't they?
 

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nice twist to a frame

makes it personal

well you heard it on the grapevine
which works
when talking doesn't

the best to them both
 

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Another job well done William. The splines look great, but what about the leg that came out of that garter???
 

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Thank you Bags and David.
Actually Bags, my kids communicate about as well as that chair sitting at the other end of the table.
David, I didn't tell him I was told what he had said. It made me proud though that he said I do nice work. I don't get many compliments from my loved ones. With the exception of my wife (who compliments me constantly) I think my loved ones just assume that I can read their minds sometimes.

I forgot to say in the original post, my wife has already put in requests for ten frames just like this one for family portraits.
 

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I like it! I think the Sapelle is a really good choice, and the contrasting splines give it a simple elegance. Whether you might have seen it before, I wouldn't know (obviously), but I've never seen anything quite like it… very unique design. You're son has a really great dad!
 

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A very cool job,looks great.
 

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Thank you Marty.
Let's just say that is a healthy girl and leave it at that. That leg is my son's business.
By the way, by healthy, let me explain. Look how big that garter is in relation to the license. That is an extra large size.
 

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You'e outdone yourself again!!!

The unique spline detail really makes this a one of a kind piece. This will surely be admired and "ohh'd & ahh'd" at for years to come. It is simply beautiful. Well done!!!
 

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Thank you Randy.
As for the "years to come" part. That is another advantage I see to splines like this. I think you could probably drop this frame from a pretty fair height without it coming apart. Those splines make it about the sturdiest frame I think I've ever built. I might have to build an ugly one sometimes just to test it's strength from falls.
 

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Very cool…..the splines are really unique…...nicely done…
 

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Thank you Jeff.
I'm think it looks very unique. For some reason though, I get the feeling I seen it somewhere. I just can't remember where. If anyone has seen this style frame before, please let me know so I can go see if I'd seen the same ones. I'd like to give credit where it's due if I could.
 

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Nice, I had to do a triple take on the splines. Pretty damn cool.
 

· In Loving Memory
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Love that frame! Those splines are extra cool and unique. I may pirate this idea. By "healthy" do you mean warm in the winter and shade in the summer healthy?
 

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Well put Andy…..
 

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I guess that is a nice way to put it.
We'll go with that one.
 

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Pirate away gfadvm.

I cut the slots for the splines using my Incra sled on the table saw. since it was just an idea, I did not bother sitting up a dado set. I just cut a kerf on all four corners, then moved my stop block a tad, and went around to all four corners again. I kept doing this till it looked like a nice size to me. For the spline, I cut them a tad over sized on the table saw. Then I made very light passed through the planer until the fit, but tightly. I spread glue in the slots, and drove the splines in with a rubber mallet. After the glue dried, I sawed the ends off all the splines with a fine hand saw. Then I sanded it all smooth.

This worked, but since I think I'm going to make more of these frames, I soon make a jig for this technique where I would use my dado set or router bit to make things easier and more uniform. If I do, I'll be sure to write up a blog for ya'll on it and let you know.
 

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This frame has little special tidbits that really make it pop. The lines and joints are crisp and clean. It is not to busy and right on the money.
Thumbs UP!
 

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It really is beautiful! I am sure they will cherish it. Awesome!

Sheila :)
 
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