I want to frame myself!

December 15, 2005 4:51 AM

Why is it so expensive to to frame a print?

I always thought framing a picture involving slapping a couple of pieces of wood together. Upon googling an answer, I found it seems to be more involved than I previously thought.

Has anyone had any experience making their own wooden frames? It doesn't seem to be that difficult if you have the right tools.

posted by phox to home & garden (14 comments total)

i've done this, and it's quite enjoyable. i don't bother with cutting glass myself - there's a local framing shop that will cut glass to size - and i don't bevel-cut the mat. so that reduces the tools needed. also, diy shops will cut hardboard to size, which leaves you just with the frame.

so, to clarify, what i do is:
- decide how big i want things
- get the hardboard back cut to size
- get glass cut to match the back
- make a frame to fit the glass/back
- buy card for the matting
- cut the card
- mount and assemble

exactly what tools you need (mainly how fine a saw and how much help you need cutting at an accurate 45 degree) depends on the frame details. if you're lucky you can buy pre-shaped wood, if that's the kind of frame you want. and it does help if you like quite rustic frames(!) - the first frame i made was large (4x3 foot), for a naive/abstract painting that was rather "crude", and my less-than perfect first frame, in heavy, stained, but otherwise unfinished pine, fits it really well.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:15 AM on December 15, 2005

(i use a hand saw - that article assumes a whole pile of complex electrical machinery that americans who post here about diy seem to find completely normal, so apologies if the above seems way to amateur and crude)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:24 AM on December 15, 2005

Let's see. Penguin poster $14. Large frame (metal poster frame) $16 (wood will cost more). Full sheet of mat board $12. Mounting board for poster, probably $12 or so. Acrylic sheet for "glass" $20. (something that big you probably want to use acrylic instead of glass because of the weight.) Total ~$75 (retail-American Frame) for parts. $140 isn't all that bad for a framed poster, considering that someone has to be paid to do it. It'd cost you more than that you take the poster in and get it framed at a framing shop.

Making your own frame is not *hard*, per se. It's fiddly little work that has to be just right (because the scale is so small), and you need the right tools. A good saw and miter box is really all you need. A router or a joiner to make the rabbet on the back is helpful, as otherwise your artwork will mount behind the frame, not in it.

My dad used to make frames for the art he bought, until he decided that buying frames would be a better use of time and money. He didn't buy any tools specifically for his framing project (but then, he builds furniture in his spare time), and rarely bought wood for the frames, either. I've done some framing of my needlework, and after a couple of frames, I decided that I'd rather spend my time stitching, and buy my frames from a frame shop. I still mount and assemble everything myself, but I let someone else do the frame.
posted by jlkr at 5:49 AM on December 15, 2005

I made a frame in a woodworking class, and it was a lot harder than it looks. If each piece isn't perfectly level, cut to the same length, and contains two exact 45 degree angles to match the opposing piece, it won't fit together right. The bigger the frame, the more the errors will be magnified (mine was pretty big).

Mine came out almost exactly correct, but with a lot of help from the instructor. The few errors got hidden during the gluing phase. Still, I gave it away as a gift, partially so I didn't have to look at it on my wall and obsess about the mistakes.

(This is assuming you want one that looks professionally-made. If you want to go at the thing with a handsaw, go nuts.)
posted by nev at 5:51 AM on December 15, 2005

related to that, if you like having framed art, it's worth keeping an eye open and buying frames when you see them. i picked up a whole pile of simple, clean frames at the local supermarket - some kind of special purchase they'd made.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:54 AM on December 15, 2005

They're charging $53 for the plexiglass, at that size.
posted by smackfu at 6:07 AM on December 15, 2005

A previous thread that might help.
posted by hootch at 6:24 AM on December 15, 2005

If each piece isn't perfectly level, cut to the same length, and contains two exact 45 degree angles to match the opposing piece, it won't fit together right. The bigger the frame, the more the errors will be magnified (mine was pretty big).

Not saying how YOU did it, but all the wood NEEDS to be cut at the same time, or framing will be frustrating. It's basically impossible to set the saw up a second time to cut all the necessary cuts to exactly match up with previously cut wood. I'd set the table saw up and cut a whole bunch of framing wood at the same time and store it if you can, so that it's easier to make subsequent frames until you run out of that batch of wood. Rinse and repeat.

Anyway, that's just an important tip I picked up. I mostly "float" my prints so that you can see the edges of the paper inside, making the matte cuts less important, and the frames easier to make.

And of course, I'd always recommend doing it yourself. It's an artistic thing: knowing that you made the frame is much more satisfying than getting it done by someone else. Unless, of course, you find a great deal...
posted by deep_sea_diving_suit at 6:53 AM on December 15, 2005

If you have an AC Moore or Michaels store in your area, you can buy frame pieces and build you own custom sized frame fairly cheap. They sell them in various lengths, two pieces in a package (you buy one pack for the height, one for the width). They either glue together or if it's metal, have little screws.

I use plexiglass, which can be purchased pretty cheaply at any home improvement store. It's lighter than glass, easy to cut (a cutter costs $3) and if the picture ever falls off the wall, probably won't break and destory the picture.

Of course, I only build my own frames when I need an odd size. If you're doing a simple 8x10, 16x20, etc, it's much cheaper/easier/quicker to just pick up a ready made frame.

Matt board can be purchased for $6 or $3, unless you want a fancy color, then it can cost $20 for a special order. Buy a Logan Matt cutter to get the bevel cuts. I recommend the 40" one if you know you're going to do a lot of bigger stuff.

Logan Team System - DickBlick was the cheapest online source I found last time I bought a cutter.

I learned all this stuff by taking a small three night class at a local vocational school. One of those "adult education" things. The first night the instructer walked us through everything in about an hour. The next two nights, we brought in stuff to mount, most everyone bought their own tools during the week and the insturctor helped everyone when they got stuck.

Simple framing and matting rectangular stuff is not that hard once you've done a couple. Once I got married and had a wife that wanted pictures on the walls, I found it well worth the investment (about $100 for two rulers, a bevel cutter and a straight cutter, plus $60 for the couse). Getting just one $20 print from our vacation framed would have cost $100 at one of those fancy stores. I bought a $15 frame, a $6 piece of matboard and had it cut and hung in under an hour. If you figure you need to make two trips to a framing store to have it done, you probably spend the same amount of time in the process.
posted by inthe80s at 8:42 AM on December 15, 2005

What I found astonishing when I started framing my photos was the amount a lot of places charge for mats, which is just a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in it. And if you order off the Internet most places charge absurd amounts for shipping a few pieces of cardboard. I found Documounts to be reasonable, however.
posted by kindall at 9:08 AM on December 15, 2005

Someone in that other thread recommended americanframe.com, and so do I. It's cheaper than going to a local framery and you get to pick exactly what you want without having to speak to a human. Genius!
posted by nev at 10:16 AM on December 15, 2005

If you're going to go the "buy" route, usually you can find tons of frames at thrift stores for cheap -- they won't be custom, but if you get some skill with mat cutting, they're be close enough.
posted by fishfucker at 10:50 AM on December 15, 2005

I framed 5 posters with frames I bought online which I assembled myself. They look ok now, but if you examine them closely they do not look professional, and it was a total pain in the ass. But it was about 1/2 of the price of having someone else do it, so there you go.
posted by falconred at 10:53 AM on December 15, 2005

I like art.com. Not as expensive as frame stores, and they often have discounts they'll let you know about if you register with them.
posted by Amizu at 12:16 PM on December 15, 2005