DIY Custom Framing—No Power Tools Required!

Hey all! Mandi right here. Customized framing is so nice for that oddly-sized piece of art work or a deep canvas, however man, oh man, is it ever costly!

I’ve just a few canvases round my home that I’ve been eager to have framed, however relatively than saving up for a customized job, I believed I’d simply take a day to border them myself!

I designed three completely different kinds of canvas frames with three completely different mounting strategies, they usually’re all tremendous easy to construct.

All you want are varied items of wooden and the instruments proven under, and guess what? None of them are energy instruments!

So for those who’re somewhat leery of wielding an influence drill, router, or chop noticed, don’t fear! You don’t want ’em. This low-fuss technique will get the job finished.

Provides:
–varied items of wooden
–wooden glue
–ending nails or wire brads (dimension is determined by depth of wooden)
-paint or wooden stain
–sandpaper

Instruments:
–miter field noticed
–band clamp
–varied clamps
-hammer
-tape measure
-pencil
-paint brush or rags

To start, you’ll have to resolve which fashion of mount you need to your body and the way thick and detailed the body will likely be. For a wider, chunkier body, you’ll want spacer wooden for between the canvas stretcher and the sting of your body.

You may convey your artwork with you to the lumber yard (or simply dimensions for those who’re shy about toting round your artwork) and take a look at stacking collectively completely different items of wooden, sq. dowels, and molding to get the look you need.

Try my body profiles under to get concepts to your personal body, and in order for you extra element in yours, don’t be shy about including molding too!

Mounting Strategies

A recessed mount is a standard framing approach the place the artwork sits behind the body and the very fringe of the artwork is roofed by the lip of the body.

A float mount, probably the most troublesome to construct, is usually utilized in canvas framing to offer much more dimension to the piece by creating an ornamental hole between the canvas’s edge and the body’s edge. 

One thing that you simply would possibly see extra regularly on bigger items of canvas artwork is the flush mount, the place the body is solely hooked up to the sting of the canvas stretcher, with no lip on the entrance or again.

Flush Mount Body

The flush mount body I designed is mounted comparatively flush with the floor of the canvas and is nailed on to the sting of the canvas stretcher, with out assembling the body first.

It’s the best body to make, for my part, and I believe it appears good with bigger items of art work.

Step One: To start, I bought two 8′ lengthy items of cedar 1x2s, calmly sanded them, after which stained them with my very own grey combine of those three stains pictured above: Rustoleum Driftwood, Rustoleum Willow, and Minwax Golden Oak.

Step Two: Somewhat than measuring the sting of my body and transferring these measurements to the lumber, I simply laid my 1×2 in opposition to the body and marked the size of the canvas instantly onto the lumber.

Step Three: I lower every of my items of lumber a bit longer than I wanted, in case I made a mistake and lower them too quick.

To chop the items, use a miter field noticed, which clamps the lumber into place and has guides that guarantee you’re slicing to the precise 45-degree angle that you simply want.

It’s fairly useful, although it does take extra elbow grease than an electrical miter noticed. After making the lower, chances are you’ll need to calmly sand down the corners when you have any splintering.

Step 4: Utilizing a band clamp* or a ratchet strap, do a dry match of the body to verify it matches. If any items are too lengthy, lower them down appropriately.

When the items are lower to the suitable size and the dry match reveals a pleasant match, loosen the band clamp across the free items of the body and dab paint into the corners the place the items meet.

Use your finger to unfold the glue round a bit earlier than clamping once more. Some glue will ooze out if you clamp the body collectively, so you’ll want to have a rag useful to wipe away any glue instantly.

Step 5: Use ending nails or wire brads to connect the body to the canvas stretcher, ensuring to additionally drive nails via the mitered joints within the nook, giving the wooden glue some further power.

Wooden glue isn’t very robust when utilized to finish grains of wooden, so the nails are a obligatory step except you utilize a stronger adhesive like Gorilla Glue.

*When utilizing a band clamp on delicate wooden, you’ll want to use a chunk of scrap wooden as a buffer between the clamp and the wooden so the clamp doesn’t go away an imprint on the wooden.

Recessed Mount Body

The standard recessed mount body makes use of a rabbet, or inset, for the artwork to take a seat nestled in behind the body. It hides a small border of the artwork, which works out nicely if the sides of your canvas aren’t completed.

This body is assembled previous to attaching the art work, versus the flush mount body which is constructed instantly onto the canvas stretcher.

The supplies you’ll want to construct this specific body are as follows:

-outside edge piece: 1/2×3″ lumber
-middle piece: 1/2×2″ lumber
-inside edge piece: 1/2″ lumber
-top edge piece: 3/8×2″ lumber

I began with stained wooden, as a result of it was my purpose to have two tones of stain in my completed body and determined it might be greatest to stain first.

The stain didn’t take in very nicely on the pine I used, although, so it won’t have mattered. You may stain your body earlier than or after assembling it.

Step One: Glue collectively the 1/2×3″ outdoors piece with the center and inside edge piece as listed within the provides above and proven within the above proper picture. You’ll want to make use of clamps to carry collectively the wooden because the glue dries. Remember to wipe away any seeping glue with a humid fabric earlier than it dries.

Step Two: After the sting and backside items have dried, connect the highest piece, which needs to be a bit wider than the wooden stacked under it, with a purpose to create a lip which can overlap your artwork.

Unfold the glue together with your fingers to restrict glue seepage. Then clamp collectively and permit the glue to treatment.

Step Three: Measure the scale of your art work and add about 1/8″ buffer area/error area.

Step 4: Minimize your lengths of wooden with the miter field noticed based on the measurements from step three. I wish to err on the facet of longer than obligatory, as a result of you may all the time lower off greater than you want! Lay the parallel boards in opposition to one another to verify they’re the identical size.

Step 5: Prepare a dry match with the band clamp and your canvas. Make sure that all the pieces matches collectively comparatively snugly. If the canvas is simply too free in there, chances are you’ll have to shave a bit off the lengths of the body items.

After the match is good, unfold some wooden glue together with your finger onto the sides of the body items and match collectively the joints with the band clamp, wiping away any extra glue earlier than it dries.

Step Six: Whereas the body is clamped and the glue is drying, drive ending nails into the joints of the body to offer the piece extra stability. I selected to solely nail on two parallel body items as a substitute of onto either side.

Flip the body over and fix the canvas from the again by driving longer nails via the canvas stretchers and into the body.

Float Mount Body

I personally assume float mount frames look probably the most skilled, however possibly that’s as a result of it was probably the most finicky of my frames to make, so I used to be probably the most happy with this one! Float mounts go away an area between the sting of the canvas and the perimeters of the body.

They supply dimensionality to the framed piece and are an effective way to indicate off gallery wrapped edges of canvas artwork. I personally thought this float mount body can be nice to offer a extra substantial really feel to a skinny, cheaper canvas piece.

For my float body, I used the next wooden:

-1/2×2″ lumber painted white
-1/2″ sq. dowel stained darkish (although I recommend utilizing a 1/2×1″ piece of lumber as a substitute)

I selected to start out with already-painted facet items to save lots of me the difficulty of trimming in with paint and stain with an assembler body. I selected a vibrant white for the skin of the body and a darkish stain to emphasise the float area between the canvas and the body.

Step One: Glue the underside piece of the body to the facet piece and clamp into place. Be sure to wipe away the surplus glue earlier than it dries!

I used a 1/2″ sq. dowel for this, nevertheless it was exceptionally troublesome to later connect the canvas to such a slim area, so if I have been to return in time, I would choose a 1/2×1″ piece of lumber as a substitute.

Comply with Steps 3-5 of the recessed mount body above, however as a substitute of including 1/8″ to the dimension of the art work to your body, add about 1/4″ to create the float area within the body.

Step Six: As a substitute of nailing the body collectively, you’ll safe it by nailing it to the canvas stretcher from behind. That is the tough half! You have to to put your art work into the body, ensuring the gaps are even throughout it. I had a troublesome time getting the gaps to remain at the same time as I used to be clamping it into place.

As soon as it’s clamped into place correctly, flip over the body and drive nails via the again piece of the body and into the canvas stretcher.

Be sure to don’t miss the stretcher and drive your nails into the float area as a substitute! I needed to drive my nails in at an angle as a result of my 1/2″ sq. dowel left me hardly any area.

It was somewhat troublesome attaching the canvas to that little dowel in my float body, however I really like the outcomes! Such a good-looking body prepared for show!

I’m actually happy with the outcomes of my customized framing jobs and will certainly be DIY framing extra sooner or later! Subsequent I would strive one thing somewhat extra ornate by combining molding kinds.

These kits are actually useful when attempting to hold footage they usually make some actually cool devices like this that can assist you hold issues extra simply.

Consider the all the chances. Blissful framing! xo Mandi

P.S. On the lookout for extra wall artwork DIYs?