A while back, I asked my husband if he would need any "gift frames" for teachers at his school - he said "no." Well, at the end of last week, he said he would like to give one of the teachers a frame and could I build one. Last week of school so no time to procrastinate...bless his heart...sure. So, Saturday I got this one built (plus an additional one so he could pick his favoriate).
At first I thought this was hickory - but once complete, I'm thinking it is oak. Used a different glueup clamp which worked ok. The splines are a light color wood I had already cut to the right width. The "stand" part needed to have a slight angle, and I decided to try to do this with hand tools. Used my grandpa's spokeshave and was able to get it trimmed so the angle is workable. Getting better at sharpening as I was getting pretty good shavings. Just took some of the school stationary my husband had been given, cut off the part with his name, and put that in the frame as I don't like to give a blank frame. Will hold about a 5x7 picture.
The other frame is white oak with walnut splines. Did a different stand on this one. Will hold about a 4x6 picture. For a temporary picture, I placed the front of a card I had. Plan to give this away later this year at an event.
Splintergroup- thanks! Do you think both look like white oak? I thought the first one I showed was hickory...but once I got into cutting, think it's oak too. Very sure that the smaller is white oak.
Ron -thank you!
Dark_Lightning - thanks! I hope his teacher friend likes hers.
Jeffski1 - thank you! Since these are small, they aren't ideal for on the wall, so I started using various scraps for stands (some prior)
Thanks Pottz!
Jim - thank you!
Ron - thanks! I was actually feeling too lazy to adjust my saw to find an angle that would work for the stand support. Figured I could sneak up better with a hand tool. He picked the first one (for about a 5x7 picture). No reward...well, maybe time to go pick up that oscillating spindle/drum sander. 🤔
Corelz125 - thanks! I need to go back a resharpen all my handtools. What a difference a sharp blade makes.
Oldtool - thanks! I did have to do some "fill" on a few miters, but overall turned out ok (I know...not supposed to point out errors😉). With the splines, corners are solid.
Fairly sure, definitely oak flecks on the lower one. Hickory has smooth grain, but looking at an off-cut end grain would be a sure tell.
The second I'm confident is white oak ("almost" quartersawn).
Not sure why I had the first initially picked as hickory. I'll have to see what pieces I have left to view the end grain. Will post if I can find some as now I'm curious what to look for in the end grain.
Thanks Ryan. I use my sled, and once I'm set with the exact length for opposite sides, typically gives pretty good results. Then a little sanding across the joint, and even better.😉
Splintergroup- wasn't able to find any cutoffs (yet) to give a final answer of oak vs hickory. Here's some closeups of the frame that give some insight.
