Method of holding framing parts square while glue is setting
Systematic Methods Required.—As in the preparation of stock and working it up, so in gluing, system is all important. The hand screws or clamps should be made ready and adjusted to the required width so that they may be quickly placed in position as soon as the glue is applied. The whole process must be managed as quickly as possible because the joints must be tested before the glue has had time to set. A carpenter's large square should be used for testing the right angles, since it is more reliable than the small try squares. It will frequently be found necessary to hold framing pieces square while the glue is hardening. This can easily be done by nailing small strips of waste stock across the parts, as shown in the drawing. A beginner should be cautioned not to attempt to glue up too many joints at one time. Two opposite corners of a framing piece should be glued up separately and left to set before the attempt is made to glue the whole rectangle together. The two remaining joints, however, should be glued and clamped together at the same time.
PICTURE FRAMING
Inexpensive Framing Stock.—Picture-frame stock can be easily obtained of dealers in artists' supplies and in furniture stores in a great variety of styles. Much of it is so well prepared and so nicely finished that it leaves little to be desired. It is, therefore, often best to secure the stock for frames in this way. It is, however, somewhat expensive, so that, when economy is important, it behooves the young woodworker to prepare his own framing stock.
Very satisfactory frames 2 inches in width or less may be made from matched oak flooring, a section of which is here illustrated, by planing off the tongue and cutting away one side of the groove to furnish the inset for the glass. Wider flat frames of any thickness can, of course, be cut out from the ordinary stock. A special tool for cutting the inset is desirable but not necessary. A 1⁄4-inch saw cut may be made with a circular saw or even with a hand saw and the necessary removal of the wood accomplished by means of careful chiselling.
Picture framing stock made from oak flooring
The mitre joint
Mitres.—Frames may be joined at the corners in various ways. A common way is by the mitre joint illustrated in the drawing. To secure good joints of this kind it is necessary that the mitres be cut on an angle of exactly 45 degrees and that the pieces for the corresponding sides of the frame be precisely of the same length. Hand sawing is generally not exact enough to produce angles of sufficient accuracy even when an ordinary mitre box is used. Hand-sawed mitres, therefore, will require a little truing with a small plane. Great care must be exercised also in fitting the corners together. The common bench square is not large enough to prove the work. A better way is to lay a carpenter's framing square on the bench and fit the two pieces of the frame against the sides of the square, testing each corner in that way.