solid oak photo frame?

[Jack Price]

hi all, im completely new to woodcraft and my misses asked me if I could make her a photoframe for her parents for Christmas, stupid me agreed and yesterday I felled a 50/60 year old turkey oak so I thought this would be pretty perfect to try with, iv put it by our log burner to season, any tips on how to go about it i.e stop the wood splitting or if it's the right type of would to try with at all!

thanks in advance

[arbmark]

this is a bit optimistic by chrimbo mr. wood seasons an inch a year in the air

plank it

stack it

season it

ripsaw it to width

thickness it to depth

rout it for rebate for glass, pic and backing

mitre it

sand it

wrap it

drying it by the fire is a bit quick! splits all over the place, unless you want to call it rustic

[armchairarborist]

rip a good sized lump into a rectangular box shape with a sharp saw, maybe 2inch thick, and three inches all round bigger than the intended pics, then plunge through to make a picture hole. cut some glass to fit (ask an adult) and screw some offcuts behind to hold the glass in place. you can taper the plunge cuts to hold the glass snug too. i might have a go too!

[wisewood]

I'd have to agree with arbmark, but if the frame is small enough to squeeze into your microwave you might still get it done for chrimbo. There's a recent thread on here about force drying in the microwave.

[Jack Price]

cheers for the feedback! yeah i had a little read earlier about force drying, iv got it into a block, is it best to force dry it while its in its most raw stage?

[wisewood]

cheers for the feedback! yeah i had a little read earlier about force drying, iv got it into a block, is it best to force dry it while its in its most raw stage?

 

How big is it?

Are you planning to do a normal frame from it ? ie four lengths mitred together

or keep it as a solid block and remove the centre to house the picture?

It would dry quicker if you get it close to the finished article first imo.

[Jack Price]

I'm not 100% on the exact size yet it's only gonna be a basic size and was thinking of doing it solid to make it abit more special, would this be harder? here's my start block

[wisewood]

That would look great that size but no way would it fit in the microwave!

Drill a hole in each corner of photo/picture void and jigsaw or coping saw it out.

Router a step around void on rear side to accommodate pic,glass and backing board.

What about saving that one for next Christmas and try to get hold of an offcut from a kiln dried board for this year. Do you know any one who mills nearby?

[tree monkey]

dont forget that if you use oak any ferrous material will turn blue:)

make one out of green wood and let them apprciate the chainge in the wood as it dries out.

if you were nearer i could happily supply some ive got leftovers from wen i made my fireplace.

[Daniël Bos]

I'm not experienced in picture-framing, but I'd avoid using that lump until it's 100% certain to be dry. The frame could easily crack the glass, at any time during the next two years or so.

So maybe the real question is: How well do you get on with your in-laws?