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So after my first real attempt to make a picture frame, well a shadow box frame but same thing, I have a few questions for future reference.
First is what is the best way to cut the miters? I have a 12" bosch miter saw and a bosch 4100 table saw in the garage that I would think would work best. I've seen the table saw sleds to cut the miters. Would building one of these be the best way for me to cut these miters to get them accurate? The ones I did were pretty close, cut them on the miter saw, but not perfect. If I need to build a sled of some sorts to cut these angles is there some plans or even a picture of one that you guys would recommend for me that will work good?
Second, do you route the edge profiles before you clamp it up or do you do the edge profiles first and then glue up the frame? I tried doing the profiles first and with some of the issues I had I'm thinking it would have been easier to glue up the square stock first and then run the router around the outer and inner edges?
Third, what are some options for the miter joint to make it strong? Is the best way to do a spline? Or are there other options? Today I tried my hand at using my dowel jig. While the jig worked great I couldn't find a way to clamp all the corners and hold them tight while the glue dried. I tried a few different clamp setups I had but just couldn't get the corner real tight and hold it. Maybe it was that my cuts were off just a hair but there has to be a clamp setup that would work nicer then what I was trying. In the end I used some corrugated fasteners that I drove in the back. Not the prettiest but they worked and they were angled so they pulled the joints pretty tight as I pounded them in. But I would like to figure out how to do these "right" so that I don't have to use the corrugated fasteners in the future.
Anything else that I'm not thinking of? I'd like to build some more frames in the future and want to try and make them better then the one I did today!
First is what is the best way to cut the miters? I have a 12" bosch miter saw and a bosch 4100 table saw in the garage that I would think would work best. I've seen the table saw sleds to cut the miters. Would building one of these be the best way for me to cut these miters to get them accurate? The ones I did were pretty close, cut them on the miter saw, but not perfect. If I need to build a sled of some sorts to cut these angles is there some plans or even a picture of one that you guys would recommend for me that will work good?
Second, do you route the edge profiles before you clamp it up or do you do the edge profiles first and then glue up the frame? I tried doing the profiles first and with some of the issues I had I'm thinking it would have been easier to glue up the square stock first and then run the router around the outer and inner edges?
Third, what are some options for the miter joint to make it strong? Is the best way to do a spline? Or are there other options? Today I tried my hand at using my dowel jig. While the jig worked great I couldn't find a way to clamp all the corners and hold them tight while the glue dried. I tried a few different clamp setups I had but just couldn't get the corner real tight and hold it. Maybe it was that my cuts were off just a hair but there has to be a clamp setup that would work nicer then what I was trying. In the end I used some corrugated fasteners that I drove in the back. Not the prettiest but they worked and they were angled so they pulled the joints pretty tight as I pounded them in. But I would like to figure out how to do these "right" so that I don't have to use the corrugated fasteners in the future.
Anything else that I'm not thinking of? I'd like to build some more frames in the future and want to try and make them better then the one I did today!