Posts Tagged With: Mission Frame

I’m still working on the Greene & Greene cabinet, but I made a side trip to build a Mission-style frame for the guest room.  The size and design were constrained by the left over white oak I had on and and the picture my wife wanted to display.  The frame is mortise-and-tenoned together, with the top being 7/8″ thick, the sides 3/4″ and the bottom rail 5/8″ thick.

Mission picture frame, dry fit

Once the frame was roughed in, I shaped a subtle peak in the top (it tapers off 1/4″ to each side) and rounded the top corners.  I chamfered the edges and glued it up.

(there was an intervening trip to the ER for some stitches in between, but I won’t bore you with that).

Meanwhile, the square punches my wife got me for Father’s day arrived, and I immediately putt them to use.  Since the frame was already sanded and glued up, I didn’t want to layout the locations for the ebony plugs on the wood.  Instead I printed out full scale templates, and made patterns.

Full scale printout of plug locations

I glued the printouts to some 1/4″ MDF, and cut them out.

Templates ready

This made it pretty easy to position the square punch where it belonged.  I just flipped the pattern over to the the left side of the frame.

Punching mortises for ebony plugs

Then I made a batch of ebony plugs (I’m getting this down to a science now) and glued them in.

Ebony plugs glued in

I used the same finishing schedule as the cabinet and sconces in the room — Brown Mahogany TransTint dye, Candlelite gel stain, linseed oil, garnet shellac and dark brown wax.  This picture shows just the dye and stain coats applied so far.

Starting to build up the finish

I wrapped up the project this morning with a couple of coats of shellac, a quick rub with 0000 steel wool and brown wax.  I used “single strength” glass, which they cut slightly oversize (grrrr!) and I had to cut 1/8″ off the edge.  If you’ve ever cut glass you know that’s not a great situation, but I pulled it off.

In retrospect, I should have made the rebate deeper than 3/8″ or used thinner backer material because there wasn’t much roll for brads to hold these parts in the frame.  It looks great in the room.

Apparently I need to hurry up and finish the Thorsen cabinet so I can make a bookcase for the room next.

Finished frame, assembled and hung

I got back from my visit to the Thorsen house this afternoon, and started making the back panels for the cabinet.  While I was at it I decided to blank out the parts for the picture frame too.  I ended up cutting the top rail a 1/2″ narrower (top-to-bottom) than I’d planned, but it isn’t a big deal, I think it will still look great.  I got all the parts dimensioned, the mortises cut and the tenons fit.

I spent a few minutes picking the best sides and orientation for the boards.  The sides have a little streak of sapwood that I put on the bottom inside edge, and the figure in the top has a slight arc down at both ends.  I’m not sure how visible that will be in the finished part, but I think it will work out nicely.

Still to do is the rabbet for the glass, the bevel on the top, and the ebony plugs.  I love quick projects, I can finish this in a few more hours.

Mission picture frame, dry fit

Mission picture frame, apart

I’m still working on the Greene & Greene cabinet — in fact after my visit to the Thorsen house today I’m hoping to pick up some copper bar stock to to make the surround for the stained glass panel that will go in the door.  I have probably a half a day’s work of details on the cabinet construction left, plus finishing.  And maybe a day to do the stained glass panel.  Ish.

So I’m thinking ahead to the next projects, and I think there are two.  A picture frame for a print my wife likes, to match what we’ve done in the guest room (mission style) and a bookcase for the same room.  So last night I started doodling ideas for the picture frame.  It has to fit a print the is 18″ x 24″, and it has to come out out one scrap of 4/4 White Oak I already have, the that constrains my design.

Design for a Mission Style Frame

It’s nothing crazy, simple mortise and tenon construction with a rabbet for the glass.  I may need to make the rabbet a little deeper to allow for the glass and a backer board, I can tweak that in the shop when I figure out what I’ll use for those two items.  The way I laid out the mortises the rabbet won’t interfere.  I drew up a quick set of plans to use in the shop, you can download them from this link, or by clicking on the preview image below.

I’m on the fence about the 1/8″ round-over on the edges.  I may do a 1/8″ chamfer instead when it comes down to it.  I do like the different thicknesses in the frame parts, that creates a nice shadow line at the joints.  I’ll use the same finish recipe I used on the Byrdcliff cabinet and the Dragonfly sconces, so it should match and look nice in the room.  I also need to think through how to hang this — I’ll have to look at the hardware store for some convenient contrivance.

My buddy Ron will be here at 9:00 to drive up to the Thorsen house with me, if I get a move on I can probably get the stock for the frame cut to size before he gets here…

Exploded view of the frame