Hanging art in your home can get very expensive especially if you are framing art. If you have every done any research on having custom art framed, you will understand that it can get very expensive very quickly. But you don’t have to settle for not having art in your home or not having framed art. If you are willing to spend the time and effort, you can have very attractive framed art in your home that you created on your own.
Many people decide to make their own picture frames and there are many different reasons this is the case. First of all, it is cheaper to make your own frames, especially if you do a lot of it or already have all of the tools needed to make frames of your own. Learning how to build your own picture frames can help save you a lot of money and will also allow you to frame things that you normally wouldn’t have considered before. Another great reason to make your own picture frames is that you can make them completely customized to the art or pictures you have. This can become very costly, especially if you have a lot of art or pictures.
You will need several different tools to make your own picture frames. Having the most expensive tools isn’t necessary, but it is good to have things that are made specifically for the tasks you will need to complete. First of all, you will need good measuring instruments. A tape measure is often enough, but a ruler can also be a good alternative. A miter box or miter saw is also necessary. This may be something that you will need to purchase. A miter box is essential for making the 45 degree cuts required to make a square frame. Without this capability, you won’t be able to have a high quality frame. A corner clamp is also good to have, but other methods can be used to secure the frame. You will also want to have a hammer and a nail set to finish off the frame properly.
One of the most important steps to making your own frames is learning how to measure correctly and accurately. This will ensure that your frames always fit the pictures or art that you plan on putting in them. It is better to take a significant amount of time measuring and only need to cut the wood one time. If you are going to be mounting the photograph in a matte, then you need to make sure that the frame will fit in the matte you use. It is recommended that you use a matte as this will help protect the photography or art from the acids that are found in the wood fibers. Although you may assume that any matte you buy from the store is cut correctly, you want to verify yourself that the matte is square too. This can be done by measuring the matte form one corner diagonally and doing the same in the opposite direction. If the measurements are exactly the same, then you know that the matte is square. If not, then you probably need to do some trimming of the matte as well.
When you finally have all of the pieces cut out properly and you have verified that they are square, then it is time to assemble them. When you do this, you want to take extra care and think about everything before you actually apply glue or nails. Undoing mistakes can be very costly, both in terms of time and materials, depending on the severity of the mistakes.