build frame out of 1x3's

You could use biscuits in the miter to strengthen the joint. Id be a little worried about 1×3’s twisting up on you though. I might go with a glued and pegged half lap. How big of panels are you talkin? Are they filled in inside the frame?

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

I would make your miter joints so it looks nice and screw a piece behind the visible side across the miter to give it lots of strength.

-- Improvise.... Adapt...... Overcome!

Half lap the dang things with a thru-pin It’ll be strong and look good too

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

Yeah, half lap is the way to go, very strong compared to mitered corners.

-- Bondo Gaposis

Ok, so half lap seems to be the way to go. There will be nothing in the middle, just fabric. I would assume a table saw is the best and easiest way to make the cut? I’ll have to pick up a cheap one. Also, the thru pin – is that just a dowel or two?

Thanks for the great responses guys.

Kevin

Pocket joinery would work good too.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Half lap would be easy to do, certainly a table saw might be the easiest way to do it, but like anything else there are many ways to skin a cat. Miter saw or hand saw to slit the lap, then bust up the chunks and chisel/plane it smooth. Router. I’m sure there are other ways to do it as well, but if your just starting out a half lap might be the easiest

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson

Normally I’d say pocket screws, but for pine (because it’s a soft wood) and because it will be a hard use item, half laps are definitely the way to go. I’d probably go as far as adding 2 or 3 5/8” screws to the bottom of each joint.

Half laps are done easily on the table saw or even with a router.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

Hey,

I own a router. My wife bought me one last year. Only used it once. How would I go about cutting a half lap with a router?

Thank you
Kevin

i would stack all four boards together edge to edge and clamped to a table. Then lay out the half lap on the ends of the boards at either end. The lap will be as long as the width of the board. Clamp a “fence” board on top of the 4 frame pieces so that the edge of your router will ride against it. Set your depth to half of the thickness of the frame pieces and route out the waste.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

Nice. Router is most likely the easiest (well hand saw would be the easiest) for ya. A 1/2” plunge bit with a top beariing, a simple jig to hold the piece flat and stable and clamp a board at 45 degrees to guide the router for the miter…. And clamp the board perpendicular for the top laps. A Porter Cable router was one of my first power tools, and I did this a lot for lap joints. But then I did a few jobs where there was no electric, so I practiced using a dozuki pull saw. Now… By the time you clamp the jig.. I will have finished cutting the laps already. But then I am a hand tool guy… I was taught if you know what your hands do… You know what the power tool is supposed to do.

-- ~ Eric P Jorgenson: Jorgenson Design

However you do the corners, triangular gussets will add a great deal of strength/

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.

Here’s a recent post showing the kind of straight-line jig you can use with the method described by chrisstef. This jig doesn’t require a bit with a guide bearing.

http://lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/30968

-- My broker promised me he would treat my money as if it were his own. Trouble is, he did.

What Chrisstef and JJohnston said.

Chrisstef’s is the method I’d use with a jig as JJohnston linked to.

-- He who dies with the most tools... dies with the emptiest wallet.

Unless you have a 3-1/4 horse power router and a $65 carbide up-cutting router bit, you are going to burn your way through the wood after the first few inches. Also, making a jig for this single use will take more time and wood than one could justify.

Do yourself a favor and invest in a tool you will use again and again… a circular saw. Buy a good carbide blade to go with it, as the one that comes with it is probably junk.

Line up the boards like chrisstef suggests, edge to edge with the ends lined up, but then do it a little different. Clamp (or screw) a straight edge (any straight piece of wood will do) positioned so the blade will meet the line you drew 2-1/2” in from the ends. Oh yeah… draw a line 2-1/2” from the ends, or however wide your pieces of wood are.

Note that the straight edge will not be ON the line, it will be however far from the line that your blade is from the edge of the sole plate on the saw.

Set the cutting depth of the saw blade to 1/2 the thickness of the wood, which should be about 3/4” deep. Make a series of cuts about 1/4” apart. They don’t have to be perfectly straight, as long as the last cut you make at the line you drew is straight, which it should be because that’s what the straight edge is for. After making your series of cuts, take a hammer or block of wood or a shoe.. whatever works, and knock off the wafers that resulted from the series of cuts.

Unclamp (or unscrew) the straight edge, and use a rasp to smooth down the inside of the cuts, because the wafers are not going to snap off evenly. Oh yeah.. you’re going to need a rasp, but again, it’s a tool you will probably use again.

Fit the pieces together to make sure they align the way you want them to. Rasp a little more if you have to. If you took too much wood out, go back to the line where I said to adjust the depth of the blade, slap yourself on the forehead and say D’oh! in your best Homer Simpson manner.

Once you are satisfied that the pieces fit the way you want them to, glue them together with Titebond II woodworking glue. Oh yeah, you’re going to need some Titebond II woodworking glue. Don’t worry, you’ll use it again for other stuff. Drive one screw into each corner, pulling the wood tightly together.

Pre-drill before driving the screws so you don’t split the wood.

Now, quickly, before the glue sets up, and it sets up pretty fast… measure diagonally top left to bottom right, and top right to bottom left, to make sure they are exactly the same. That is how you will know the frame is square. Push and/or pull it into square if it’s not. Making sure it stays square, then drive a couple more screws into each corner. Don’t forget to pre-drill so you don’t split the wood.

Anyway, for what you’re doing, that’s what I would do. Note that Titebond II or similar wood glue will be way stronger than any screws, dowels, pegs, nails or anything else. Once it’s cured for 24 hours, you will literally have to break the wood to get those joints apart.

EDIT: I just noticed you said 1×3s.. I thought you said 2×3s. Everything I said but make the cuts 3/8” deep, not 3/4.

-- I'll grow up when ketchup bottle farts stop being funny.