So I received a secret text message from my friend Amy saying that she wanted to get her husband, Doug, his own One & Oni piece for Father's Day! She also had the perfect project in mind. Doug has a poster in his office (an awesome poster I might add) that was just that... an awesome poster. It was still in the plastic package, cardboard and everything, propped up against the wall. And I don't know if you've gone shopping for 22 x 28 frames lately, but they are either cheap (and I mean cheap quality, usually made of weak aluminum) or they can get expensive if made of real wood because of the size.
Well, Amy decided to give me a shot at it and I have to say, building a picture frame, especially one of that size and weight, can get tricky. You have to factor in wood joints and angled corners all while making the frame rigid enough to support itself while being suspended on a wall. There are a lot of different directions you can take in accomplishing these things, and I think during the process I attempted them all. But I'll spare you my failures and get to the good stuff.
So this is Doug's office. This is me sneaking into Doug's office. This is me stealing Doug's poster off of his wall. Shhhhh.....
Now I just needed to build a frame for it.
For the wood, I decided to use a plywood board that I had left over from some wood pallets (yes they actually have wood pallets with plywood boards and I was lucky enough to snag one). I went with the plywood because I needed something thick that wouldn't be too heavy. I decided to make the frame about 3 inches thick, so i ripped the board to get my two sides and top and bottom.
Then it was time to cut some 45 degree angles at the end of the pieces. Note: if you ever decide to make a frame, remember that while the length of the frame edge on the inside will be the same length as your picture, the outside edge will have to be longer so that you have enough length to cut your angles. Hopefully that's not a confusing sentence.
Once I hade my angles cut, I needed to sand my pieces to get them all nice and smooth so that I could join them. Speaking of joinery, there are lots of different methods you can take. Joinery is basically "joining" to piece of wood together in a way that is strong, rigid and tasteful. I used glue but knew that it just wouldn't be enough to support the frame, not at this weight and these angles. I just wouldn't be rigid enough. So I needed a joint. Wood joinery CAN be pretty advanced stuff, but there are some things you can pick up from your local hardware store to make things easier on yourself. My new favorite is the Kreg Pocket Hole jig.
This is a pocket hole.
This is my new Kreg Pocket Hole Jig mini!
Basically, it allows you join two pieces of wood by drilling a pocket hole (usually on the underside of the wood or somewhere no one will see it; you can also fill them back in with pegs) and then driving a screw right into the middle of the end grain to screw it to the other piece. This little $19 tool makes my life a whole lot easier. There is also a $130 Kreg Pocket Hole Jig kit that is completely awesome! But let's get real here. But hey, I do accept birthday presents!
Once I joined it and let the wood glue dry over night, it was time to add some style. Now, for this piece, I went with 3 color layers using 3 different treatment techniques. I'll walk you through each. Firstly, from what you can see above, I painted the first layer white. I'm gonna want this white to come through later on in the project. But I didn't just paint it on. I'm using a technique called "dry brush". There's not too much explaining I have to do for what this technique entails. Basically, the brush hardly has any paint on it; it's practically dry. The purpose of this technique is usually to give something and worn, weathered look, almost like the paint used to be there but has been worn off over time. This is what I wanted.
Second is a technique called "white washing" that almost has the same affect as dry brushing but has a slightly different outcome. First off, white washing is usually done with white paint, but I'm using a slate blue. Also, white washing is perfect for times where you want a lot of the wood grain to show through. It still has that very worn look that dry brush gives but it's almost as if you tint the wood or with the paint. You'll want to add water to the paint (about 50/50) and wipe it on the wood. Note: Usually if i'm using both these techniques in one project, I usually white wash first and then dry brush. With this order, I pretty much tented the dry brushed white, which is what I wanted to do. Then hand sanded it a little to let some of the actual white come forth.
The third technique is one of my favorites. Antique glazing! But... I was all out of glaze at that moment and decided to use another technique that works just as well (sometimes better in certain situations). I had a can of dark walnut stain on hand so I decided to use that instead of a glaze. The difference in stain and glaze is that stain soaks into the wood and actually changes it's color; it stains it, while glaze is more like a translucent paint itself. But, with the stain going on top of paint and only staying on there for about 5 seconds, it wouldn't actually turn the frame dark walnut. With the antiquing technique, you are basically adding some purposeful dirtiness to a piece so that it appears old. I wiped the stain on the frame and wiped it back off after a few seconds (leave it on longer if you want it darker). Stain or glaze will catch in the distresses of the wood and in the little nooks and crannies. Above, you'll see where I wiped the stain on and then wiped it back off. The last picture shows its resulted outcome. Boy, I love it! (PS, yes that's a sock I'm using, not because it's some awesome technique, but because it was just sitting there)
While I was letting that stain completely dry, I attached a back to it for more support and to have something for it to hang on the wall with. You can pick up these wall hangers at any hardware store.
Once the stain dried, I need to sand and seal the project. For this one, I'm using a paste finishing wax. You pretty much just rub about 2 or 3 coats (as needed) letting it dry in between coats and sanding in between coats as needed.
And here it is! It's old and dirty, just like the theme of the poster. A rustic feel for a rustic man! Hope you enjoy it Doug!
Have something you need framed?! Just let me know. I'll build it just like you want it. Get your own One & Oni piece today!
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT!!!!
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