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How to make splines for picture frames?

6K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  ponch37300 
#1 ·
There was a post on here a while ago by a very talented guy(don't remember his name) that did a how to on making splined picture frames. He made a jig for his table saw. I really liked the splined picture frames and was playing around in the garage the other night and decided to try and make a spline jig from scrap laying around. Here is what I came up with, be easy on me! I still have some work to do to it. I also took this chance to get my miter saw dialed in for angles.

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So now that I have the jig I'm going to attempt to make a smaller frame for now. My question is what is the best way to get the splines the correct thickness? Most likely will be getting 3/4" thick wood from menards so will have to make it the right thickness. I'm thinking to resaw it on my table saw to two 3/8" minus saw kerf pieces and then run it threw the planner until it's the right thickness to fit the splines? Or is there a better way to do this?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
your splines will be saw kerf thick...?

Which is a little less than 1/8", too thin to run through a planer.
They need not be very long so you could just cross cut them from a 1" x 12" cut off using a stop for the length/thickness.
Use an extended fence on your miter gauge and clamp the stop just the right side of the saw kerf on the fence.


Or if you have one of those thin rip gizmos from Rockler or can make one, you can rip some thin strips.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18056&site=ROCKLER
 
#5 ·
I've been playing with splines lately and I don't have a much better answer. I will say that a zero-clearance insert is important to do this safely if not using a sled of some kind. I have been just ripping along my fence, but that requires some trial and error to space things properly and get the correct thickness. If you have a decent fence, this shouldn't be a problem (I don't :laughing:).
 
#11 ·
I've been playing with splines lately and I don't have a much better answer. I will say that a zero-clearance insert is important to do this safely if not using a sled of some kind. I have been just ripping along my fence, but that requires some trial and error to space things properly and get the correct thickness. If you have a decent fence, this shouldn't be a problem (I don't :laughing:).
That's another thing I've been meaning to make! Someday I will actually get around to doing some woodworking if I can ever get all these jigs made! But I guess that's half the fun and the best part is most jigs are made from scrap wood laying around so it doesn't cost much at all.
 
#6 ·
I rip 8' lumber on the table saw (with feather boards and a push shoe) into spline widths of 7/8" to 15/16"., and a thickness of a heavy ¼". I use a block sander to do a few swipes on each wide face to clean up if necessary. I use the same block sander to put a slight chamfer on the sharp outside corners.

I will use either a ¼" slot cutter (with a bearing) or a ¼" straight faced router bit to make the groove. The depth I leave at ½". When I need a spline, I just cut off what's necessary.





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