[twdant]

Hey all,

I'm beginning woodworking with a set of shop equipment I inherited from my granddad. For my first project, I'd like to salvage some wood from his old barn to make a picture frame for my still living grandma, and put in an old picture of them with the barn in the background. I have my own set of milling tools, but I'm curious to know what the best way would be to go about making the old wood usable without losing the weathered barnwood look. I plan on making a simple 2" wide 8x10 mitered frame. I'd really like for it to be made entirely of the wood from the barn, as I'm a bit of a purist. I have a SketchUp plan done, if there's any way to post it so everybody can check it out.

Thanks in advance for any help y'all can offer!

 

[Dave Paine]

The challenge with weathered wood is that whatever surface you cut will not be weathered.

Do you have pieces of the desired width for the frame so you only need to cut on the back side?

Assuming you have to cut to width and thickness, consider a stain/paint on the cut sides to cover the fresh looking wood.

Also watch out for splinters and especially old nails/screws/bit of metal. Good idea to get a metal detector.

 

[twdant]

I was planning on making it 2" wide, but I don't have any 2" pieces. Would it be better to adapt the project to the size of the available wood? I've got some pieces of siding, probably 6" wide, but it seems like that's a little much for a picture frame.

 

[amckenzie4]

Six inches is a little large, but if you go with a big print (20x24, maybe?) it wouldn't be too unreasonable. With a narrow mat it would probably look fine.

 

[twdant]

The only good picture I have to frame is an old 3x5. I'm thinking I can get away with a 10x8, but anything larger than that will make the picture too grainy.

 

[amckenzie4]

Yeah, 8x10 is a little small for a six-inch frame width.

How about making it a frame for multiple photos? Can you come up with any other reasonable images? If you can, you could do a set of three or so... that might fill enough space.

 

[J Thomas]

Could you go with a boxed frame similar to this idea?

This would leave any cuts on the back and the miters where they wouldn't be seen & keep the "old board" look.

..Jon..

 

[FrankC]

You can try to stain the fresh cut edges to match the face of the aged wood.

Soak steel wool in vinegar overnight, add an equal amount of water to the solution, if too dark add water, if it needs to be darker let it soak longer.

This is an acid solution you are adding to the frame so it should be sealed to prevent damage to the print.

You may want to go over the edges with a wire brush to add some texture before staining.

 

[Gotspiccoli]

Hello and welcome, I too am new to this hobby and I also have been getting into reusing old barn wood for my projects. Something I have dealt with is that its difficult to really clean down the wood and maintain the old look. However you will probably be absolutely amazed at how great the wood can turn out looking. I have also started reading up on using the Steel Wool and Vinegar method. This only works on certain types of wood so make sure to try it out first on a small piece of scrap. You take apple vinegar and you soak 0000 real steel wool in the mix for about 48 hours. Then you strain the solution through a coffee strainer to get the metal out. Now try that solution on a piece of wood. You can also google Steel Wool and Vinegar wood finish for some pics to show you what it can look like. Let me know how you are doing on your projects. We can prob learn from each other. Also, I recently did a shadow box like the one shown in the picture before. It came out very nice but it is a bit difficult to run so many 45% angles and have them all come out perfect. Like I said I am a noob so thats just my opinion.

 

[twdant]

Could you go with a boxed frame similar to this idea?

This would leave any cuts on the back and the miters where they wouldn't be seen & keep the "old board" look.

..Jon..

I like this idea. What joint would you suggest to attach the box to the back panel? Also, would it work to plane the back face of the back panel with the rough side down?

 

[MissionIsMyMission]

If you rip everything with @ 45° and glue it up you won't see any "New wood and can Make 2" strips from the 6" pieces. Like this...

 

[twdant]

I went back to the lumber salvage site last night to look some more and found some interior wall panels that I think will work better. They're not weathered as much as the exterior panels I have, so I think a traditional mitered frame will work. After milling some last night, here's what I came up with.



So, the plan is to rout a rabbet in the back edge of this stock to the depth of the glass and picture, and then make some rails on the back of the frame for the backing to slide into and keep everything in place. Any suggestions or opinions?

 

[FrankC]

Make the rabbet 1/4" or so deeper than the glass and picture, then pick up some points from a framing shop to hold the backing.

 

[twdant]

One thing I did have a little trouble with: the boards above were interior wall panels that were tongue and grooved together, so I didn't have anything straight to run against the table saw fence for ripping. The raw boards were too wide for my jointer, so I ended up ripping off the tongue side and going from there. I wanted the detail in the middle of each board to wind up in the exact middle of the frame stock, but due to the weathered and uneven sides, it ended up crooked. On one end of the stock, it's lined up in the middle, but it slants to one side as the length progresses. Is there any way, apart from drawing a straight line the entire length of the board and cutting it with a bandsaw, to mill boards like this perfectly straight?

 

[FrankC]

Best way to handle uneven edges on a table saw is to make yourself a carrier, which will also double as a taper jig when the need arises.
http://benchnotes.com/Taper and Straight Edge Jig/taper_and_straight_edge_ji.htm

 

[J Thomas]

TW.. Sorry for the late reply.. Been busy makin firewood..
I had to mount a piece of artwork so I chose the shadow box design.
My backing was made from masonite set into a 1/4" dado about halfway into the depth of the box.
There was no glass in the front but this could be done with another dado.
The only downside here would be.. if the glass gets busted you'll need to disassemble the frame to replace it.
Since this artwork was a water color on canvas & mounted the art to the back with a few brass screws.
If you're working with photos they could be held in place with matting.
Any framing shop will have a supply & will cut to your dimensions.

Also, would it work to plane the back face of the back panel with the rough side down?

Not quit sure what you mean here.. can you elaborate a bit??
Hope this helps.
..Jon..