Tabernacle Frame #291

Posted on September 14, 2026 by woodworksbyjohn

I always enjoy it when I’m commissioned to make a Tabernacle frame, it’s a different twist on frame making and allows a lot of creativity. To really get a sense of how the piece will turn out I like making a full size drawing first, to me that’s much easier than having to scale something like a column that’s 1 1/4″ wide down to fit on a smaller scale. I’m sure that many of you may use computer aided drafting but that’s not in my wheelhouse and honestly I enjoy this process. When I taught drafting as part of middle school woodshop starting in the late 70’s my goal was to have my students be able to conceive something in their mind, transfer it to paper, and then build it with their own hands — that’s an achievement!

This frame is for an 11″ x 14″ panel, the first step was making the main section of the frame using haunched mortise and tenon joinery. Once dry the rabbet and 45° chamfer for the sight edge were cut using router bits. These cuts need to be squared off with chisels in the corners. Next are the top and bottom pieces that are both the same size and are chamfered, first with the router bits and then block planed to remove those inevitable chatter marks routers tend to leave. They are attached to the top and bottom of the frame with glue, screws, and plugged holes.

Now comes the creative part, I took inspiration for the columns from the gothic like appearance of the cathedral itself. The columns are 3/16″ thick and about 1 1/4″ wide. After scribing a line down the center a v-chisel was used to create the illusion of 2 columns. The pointed tops were first cut with a coping saw and then pared with a chisel to their final shape. Creating the space between columns was done with a 3/16″ router bit. That was accomplished by setting up stop blocks against the fence to locate the start and stop points of that area. What I’m calling the pillar blocks at the bottom of the columns were made with Lie-Nielsen’s #66 beading tool. They are about 1/2″ in thickness and 4″ tall. The width was determined by the spacing of the beads determined by the cutter. I also cut a bead on the edges. After these blocks were sized and squared I decided they needed a chamfer on the top. This was quick work with a small block plane. These parts are attached to the frame with glue and 23 gauge pins. They leave a slight depression which is concealed with Durham Rock Hard Water putty. This is a product I’ve used for years and always recommend. Unlike other putties this is a powder you mix with water and the advantage is it never dries out in the can. In this small area I used a palette knife to apply the putty. After a light sanding the frame was ready for finishing. I’ve added some pictures below showing the process of making those blocks.

Creating Pillar Block
Sizing and Squaring to Fit
Chamfer on Top Edge

For the finish I begin with Zinsser sealer on all surfaces. After taping off the back of the frame a coat of Dux red burnisher/sealer is applied. This is followed with Ronan Japan paint in Drop Black. These are all brushed on. After the Japan is dry the chamfer on the sight edge is oil gilded and after 24 hours or so lightly burnished (4/0 steel wool) and sealed with wax free shellac. The technique I use to expose the red base coat is to use Liberon wax with a combination of 4/0 steel wool and/or cheesecloth. It’s important to have a few test pieces which I always make; they are finished the exact same way the frame is. Since my shop isn’t climate controlled it’s good to have them to experiment on. Generally I’ll use the steelwool (Liberon oil free) in a circular motion on wider areas and the cheesecloth on smaller ones. It’s a judgement call of where and how much of the base coat I expose. I imagine where the frame may have been handled the most and remove what I think is right. The trickiest areas are sharp edges but if worse comes to worse, a black sharpie is your friend!

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Carving the Frame #290

Posted on August 25, 2026 by woodworksbyjohn

This is the design that I will be talking about and sharing my technique with you. As with the majority of my work the frame is for a painting by my wife, Diane Eugster. I like to take inspiration from her work to do any carving, in this case there was a tree in her painting so leaves seemed appropriate. I want the frame to be contemporary and impressionistic so the carve needs to be subtle; not loud and gold leafed! Diane likes the viewer to discover things in her paintings and I’d like my frame to be the same. The carve is fairly low relief, around 1/8″. My goal is for the background to have some texture so that the viewer knows it was hand carved rather than made using CNC. The transition from the carved area to the rest of the frame needs to be as gradual as I can make it.

Plow plane to cut beads
Completed Profile

Before I talk about carving just a brief explanation of how I create my closed corner frames. They begin with 5/4, rough Basswood. Most of the time I use what I call my 15° profile so it will accommodate a stretched canvas. I lucked out on this piece of Basswood, it was actually 6/4 so my 15° profile method wasn’t needed to fit the canvas. If you’re unfamiliar with that method and are interested in it here’s a LINK to that post. After the machine work is completed I always use my bronze smooth plane to eliminate any marks left by the planer. For this profile 3/16″ beads were plowed to leave a 2″ wide area for the carving. Sight edge has a slight chamfer and is rabbeted to accept the canvas. Once the profile is complete the profile is mitered and assembled using biscuits. Frames are glued and clamped and allowed to dry overnight before any other work begins.

I use the internet to find my designs and size/modify them until they are what I’m after. After drawing them out, the pattern is glued to a piece of plastic recycled from salad containers. The pattern is then cut out with chisels that match the design as closely as possible. I note the chisels used on a separate piece of paper. The piece that is cut out can sometimes be used as well to locate any interior features like the spaces between the leaves. I want to be consistent on each corner of the frame.

What I like about making the salad container pattern is that it is reversible and can be used on both the left and right sides of the frame. It’s stiff enough to guide the pencil but also flexible enough to conform to the profile if needed. The paper you see has the design enlarged and flipped so I can annotate chisels used for either side of the frame. This takes a bit more time but well worth reducing the chance of making an error when you try to flip the design and its orientation from left to right — you can probably imagine how I figured that out!

Left & Right Chisels Used
Noting Chisels used on Frame

This may seem like overkill and I don’t always find the need to do it. Since there are 4 corners and 8 hopefully similar designs it’s very easy to get confused and …. one wrong chisel cut is all it takes to mess things up! To me it’s worth the time to at least flip the pattern in a Pages program so that I have a left and right to look at, believe me; when you are bent over the bench and it’s 105° in the shop the mind gets a bit fuzzy. Sometimes I’ll write notes on the wood too. After I’ve done two of the corners most of it is in my memory but still; better safe than sorry! Without a doubt, there are some minor mistakes you make that are easy to conceal but in my experience these precautions save time and possible confusion in the long run.

Initial Outlining of Design
Initial grounding out with #2/5

The way I prefer to carve is to first outline the design with the appropriate chisel. I use a a small, 11oz. brass mallet for that initial outline. That is followed up by grounding the design out, generally I only use a #2/5 and start 1/4″ +/- from the outline. Next the chisels are used to outline again but this time only with hand pressure, going all the way around the design. On the second round of grounding out I’ll use the widest #2 , #3, or whatever will work to get the area around the design about 1/8″ deep. The reason I prefer my outlining technique over using a V-chisel is the limited space and grain changes especially by the miter. For me it’s too easy to slip with the V-chisel in tight areas, especially between leaves. Keep in mind that a picture frame; unlike carving a piece of wood that can be repositioned to accommodate grain direction, can only be accessed from the outside edge of the frame.

There’s a lot of wood that needs to be removed at the miter so using the widest chisel that fits is a wise choice. Small fishtail chisels and spoons are helpful as well. I try to get an all around depth of 1/8″. The areas between leaves require small tools, one of my favorites for that is a small Pfeil spoon gauge #2a/3 which allows me to almost “pluck” the insides out after they’re outlined. Chiseling is followed by lightly sanding with 220 grit paper. The leaves and stems are modeled, separated , etc. until I’m satisfied with the overall look of the frame. Wood is a living thing and subject to changes in how it works, cuts, smooths, etc. More often than I’d like to think it’ll happen that one side of the miter works like butter and the other side feels like it’s made of granite!

Sweet Sunshine by Diane Eugster

Here is the completed work. The painting is oil on stretched canvas and measures 20″ x 20″. For the finish I used Real Milk Paint from RMP Finishes. It’s a product I’ve been using for quite some time and I really like it. This is their Arabian Black topcoated with dewaxed Platinum shellac. What I like about it is that it comes in a powder so there’s no waste. Two ounces of powder, mixed with water is plenty for a frame of this size. I apply it with a foam brush and use Mirlon 1500 and 2500 pads between coats to smooth it out. The shellac is sprayed on with a mini airbrush from NoName this little gun will put down a 3″ wide pattern so is perfect for my frames. I allow the shellac to fully cure for about a week and then use a short, stipple brush and rottenstone to reduce the natural gloss of the shellac. The final step is an application of Liberon Black Bison neutral wax.

I realize this got a little bit long winded (no surprise!) but if you were able to get some information from it I’d appreciate hearing from you. Many times I’ve mentioned how my blogs serve to continue my teaching career and sharing but also to remind myself down the road the many ways I’ve conquered a challenge in my woodworking — John

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Furniture Maker Floater Frames Revisited

Posted on June 2, 2026 by woodworksbyjohn

Quite a few years ago I began making floater style frames for my wife’s work and wrote this blog post. Since then, I’ve made a number of them and my methods are different from most of the commercial floater frames available. My goal is to elevate the floater frame from its origin of lattice strips tacked to the sides of canvas to one that has more of a presence. Granted, as a furniture maker I tend to overbuild everything and at this point in my life I have the time to do that. The Picture Framers Grumble has been a place where I can have interactions with other frame makers and I really enjoy that. Unfortunately, here in Las Vegas there isn’t a thriving art scene. This painting is one Diane recently completed, it measures 18″ x 24″ and the frame is about 1″ wide and 2″ deep. The finish is imitation silver leaf which has been sealed Platinum shellac which was toned with French Ultramarine blue powdered pigments.

I’d like to share my process with a series of pictures to illustrate the process. I’d be interested in hearing from other framers who make their own frames and moldings. Basswood begins with 5/4 stock which I try to get at least 7″ wide. A combination of hand planes and a power planer will yield material that is about 1 1/16″ to 1 1/8″ in thickness. I hand plane every surface of the boards after cutting them to rough length and finished width. For this profile I wanted a slight chamfer on the edge which was cut with a low angle block plane.

To support the painting I cut a 1/4″ groove on the inside of the piece about 1″ from the top surface. Plywood (1/4″ thick) is eventually glued into it to support the painting and strengthen the corners. The corners are strengthened further with a face frame sized biscuit. Miters are cut using my shop made jig on the tablesaw and the frame is glued and clamped overnight. In the clamped picture you’ll notice a spring clamp in each corner; there is another piece of plywood on the backside to strengthen that — I know: overkill!

I keep projects glued up over night and check for any misalignment, glue, scratches, etc. before starting the finish process — it is so easy to miss them; don’t ask me how I know!

The first step to the finish process is to use Zinsser Seal Coat shellac on every surface. Once dry I lightly sand with 400 grit paper. Next up is taping off the top edge to apply a flat black paint to the inside of the frame. I tape down about 1/2″ from the top and use latex simply because it’s easy to clean up. Once that’s dry, the black areas are taped off so that the gray burnisher/sealer can be applied. Prior to applying the slow set size the frame is buffed with 4/0 oil free steel wool. In my experience, whenever an area is taped off for gilding it’s best to press the taped area down firmly and remove the tape right after gilding. I used to wait until the size was completely set (24 hours or so) but that could result in a jagged edge. By carefully pulling the tape off before the size has set I find that any leaf that wants to rip off can usually be pressed down while slowly pulling the tape off.

Imitation silver leaf always needs to be sealed to prevent it from tarnishing, my preference for that is Platinum Blonde shellac made from flakes. Since the paintings for both of these frames have a blue palette the shellac was tinted with French Ultramarine Blue dry pigments. To tone down the garishness of the silver leaf it was lightly buffed with 4/0 steel wool prior to airbrushing on the shellac, you can see the difference it makes in the left photo. After the toning was dry, cotton pads and Liberon clear Black Bison wax was used to rub out the shellac and add a slight sheen.

The final step of course is to install the artwork. Holes are located and drilled through the plywood using a 1/4″ forstner bit. I’ve found that the forstner leaves a clean hole which allows for any slight adjustments. Number 6 screws with washers are used, the hole size allows for slight adjustment. My process is to use spacers to center the painting and then locate the holes from underneath the frame. They are pre-drilled with a gimlet and the art is attached with the screws, snug at first to allow any adjustments in case the painting is slightly out of square; this does happen sometimes! One thing I like about the depth of the frame pieces is that the D-ring can be installed so that it isn’t visible from the side. In the picture showing the back view you can see the gusset that is glued into each corner.

So there it is, my process for floater frames which I’m happy with as is my wife and her gallery. Are there any other frame makers that use a similar process? Like I said earlier, Las Vegas doesn’t have a thriving art scene so there are few that I can share frame making with.

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Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Posted on March 18, 2026 by woodworksbyjohn

I’m betting that many of you have heard the phrase so that’s why I’m using it for this blog. It’s a phrase that has been attributed to many different people. This frame showed up on my Pinterest one day and it really appealed to me. It was originally from The Frame Blog which discussed Australian artists work from the late 1800’s. Those frames were made in Japan. The blog showed some of the construction details which consisted of the moldings assembled with miters and cross dowel construction. The framework was covered with paper or cloth. My wife recently completed a 10″x10″ figurative painting and I thought her painting would be a good fit for this style of frame. This work of her’s is going to her gallery, Meyer Vogl in Charleston, SC. It’s for their Ten Year Anniversary show the end of March.

The first part I made was the spandrel. That’s the piece that is inside of the frame; for tabernacle frames they are often curved or arched at the top. From the blog I learned that this frame had a lattice like arrangement of wood which was covered by material or paper. I chose to use 1/4″ MDF for that but still needed to figure a way to support the painting inside of the spandrel. Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of that before cutting it open but milled some pieces of Basswood 13/16″ square which were glued, pin nailed and clamped to the back of the MDF. The reason for 13/16″ is so that I could pin nail from the backside with 1″ nails and not go through the front — that would not have been good!

Sight edge after removing 3/16″ spacer
Completed spandler

The exact opening in the grid on the back is 10″ x 10″ and was removed on the router table with a pattern cutting bit. However; the opening needs a rabbet for the painting to sit behind. I used 3/16″ spacers which were attached with double sided tape. The first step was cutting the opening with a pattern cutting bit on the router table. Next, a small roundover bit formed a radius. You can see the rabbet in the left picture after the 3/16″ spacers were removed. The picture on the right shows the completed spandrel sealed with 4-5 coats of Zinsser seal coat shellac. There was some debate in my mind about using the MDF for the spandrel since it can be affected by moisture. Since I had MDF in my shop and had success with a very large tabernacle frame commission decided to use it. In addition to multiple coats of sealing shellac the next step will be a yellow burnisher/sealer followed by slow set oil size, and finally imitation gold leaf.

Once the spandrel was made it was time to start creating the molding for the frame. I liked the small, unobtrusive molding on the original piece. I’m imitating that so started out with 3/4″ x 2 3/4″ Basswood. Simplicity was my goal so the top of it has a shallow profile created with a router bit used to make tray bottoms. Knowing it’s almost impossible to center it exactly the insides were marked so that the rabbet is on the same side of each piece. Before cutting the rabbet I took the time to sand a slight radius on the upper edges to prevent the gold leaf from cracking (left picture below). The rabbet was cut on the tablesaw with a rip blade. Marks were made with a marking gauge, the first cut was done flat at the top of the rabbet. Cutting off the remainder of it required careful set up with feather boards and my shop made push stick (right picture below). It took some careful set up and planning but the creating the molding was a success. I know I only need 4 pieces for a frame but cut some extra just in case.

Profile in progress before creating the rabbet
Rip blade for rabbeting

The frame was assembled in the usual way, after cutting the miters it was glued up and clamped with a band clamp overnight.

My usual procedure is to apply a coat of Zinsser seal coat shellac to the frame followed by Yellow burnisher sealer. I use slow set, oil based size and gilded the frame and the spandler at the same time. I wait at least 24 hours then burnish the imitation gold leaf with 4/0 Liberon oil free steel wool. The final finish on both of them is several coats of Platinum Blonde shellac applied with an airbrush. To mellow out the gloss of shellac, Liberon wax is applied with 2500 Mirlon abrasive pad. All that’s left is assembling the frame and spandrel.

This was a bit of a challenge since there is a very limited amount of space to insert a fastener between the frame and the lattice work on the spandrel for attachment. That dilemma was solved by using a piece of Basswood that I had pre-drilled holes at a slight angle. After putting that piece in place the holes were marked with a pencil. A gimlet was used to create an angled starter hole into the frame for an eventual screw. That part of the frame is only 3/8″ thick so very careful to not go through with the screw. Assembly was successful — no screws p

Here’s a better picture of the finished project than the one above in the comparison shot. I concentrated when laying the leaf to keep the lay lines continuous through the cut out area where the painting is. The painting is on panel and was secured with points.

First Light by Diane Eugster
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A bit of Whimsy and Milk Paint: Frame #280

Posted on February 14, 2026 by woodworksbyjohn
Once Upon a Time
Corner Detail

Here’s the most recent frame from my shop and it was fun to create so thought I’d share the story! It’s oil on canvas measuring 12″x16″ and by my wife, Diane Eugster. When I first saw it in her studio my mind went to a wood nymph; whatever that may be! This painting needed something other than a traditional black/gold frame, something more fun and maybe with a bit of whimsical carving to enhance it.

Creating the Profile

Creating the profile began with my typical Basswood sized approximately 1″ thick by 2 7/8″ wide. The process begins by cutting the backside each pieces at 15° to create a profile that angles the frame away from the wall leaving plenty of room to install a 3/4″ thick canvas. I refer to this as my 15° Profile and it’s a way to angle the frame. I wrote a BLOG about it some time ago. I’ve modified the process somewhat since then but that blog gives you the basic method to do it. It took me less than 2 hours to profile this frame, carving took much longer than that.

The process began with cutting the 15° angle on the back of the piece, that’s #1 in the picture, this will become the outside edge of the frame. If you do any beading on the frame it’s important to do that before cutting the outside edge 90° to the angled cut. This makes it easier to clamp when gluing the frame together. For this profile I cut a 1/4″ bead on the outside edge, #2 with a small plow plane. Draw a 90° line (#3) from the angled cut to locate the outer edge of the bead. This piece will be cut off after the bead is complete. For this profile I wanted a flat section at the sight edge for gilding, this is #4 and was created with a skewed rabbet plane. To create more interest to the frame I also cut a cove; #5. This was done with a tablesaw, it’s an interesting process and I wrote this BLOG explaining my process. The final cut is #6, the rabbet. This is somewhat tricky so check my blog on how to do it. Very important to note that I always have at least one extra piece of stock about 10-12″ long to set up the tablesaw for all of these cuts.

Carving

Not exactly sure what these are called, they look like an elongated bead or a sausage but I’ve seen them called either billets or reels. To figure out the spacing it’s easiest to use a set of dividers and step the divisions off once you decide their approximate length. Do that on a piece of masking tape, not your frame because there’s a lot of trial and error involved and your bead would have all the markings from the divider. Once you’re satisfied with the spacing put the markings on the frame. My preference is to start at the center and work to the ends. Any slight error will show up at the ends only. I used a 1F/8mm skew to divide them, then a 8/6mm gouge to create the rounded ends. Finally a 1S/5mm removes the bits between the reels.

Finishing

I’ve been using milk paint from RMPfinishes (formerly Real Milk Paint) lately to finish some of my frames. I like the effect of it and it comes in a powder form. That means I only mix up a small amount as needed and the powder will keep forever unlike paints that come in a can. For this frame I chose Blue Spruce. I mix 2 ounces of powder with 2 ounces of distilled water and that’s enough to complete the frame. I’ve found that the foam brushes they sell work great, much better than those available from my local big box store. I lightly scuff between coats (2 usually) with a Mirka 1500 pad. This frame has a gilded, silver sight edge so that was taped off and applied with quick set size. Milk paint should be sealed and I’ve used wax, OSMO #3043, and also Platinum Blonde Shellac which I spray on with an air brush. That’s how this frame is sealed, the shellac also seals the imitation silver leaf. The final step is rubbing out the shellac with Liberon wax to take some of the sheen off of the shellac and even out the spray pattern from the air brush.

Blue Spruce Milk Paint
Quick set size for gilding

That’s the process for this profile; in my opinion, adding the cove and the carving creates many shadows and patterns that brings interest to the frame.

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Carved Fans: Frame for a Dancer

Posted on October 25, 2025 by woodworksbyjohn
Inspiration and trial piece
Lay out and starting technique

Those of you who follow my work know that I’m often inspired to create a frame when I go into Diane’s studio and see a work in progress. Well, recently I saw a dancer that she was painting and immediately thought Flamenco and visualized the fans I’ve seen Flamenco dancers use. Next thing you know I’m searching the net for pictures!! Once I found a picture of the fan to use the next hurdle was figuring out how to make a pattern and transfer that to each corner of the frame. Adding to the challenge is that the frame has a 15° slant to it so using a compass wasn’t an option. The frames size allowed for a circle with a 2″ radius so the first step was to use the Pages program and print off a couple of circles of that size, that’s the gray piece in the right photo. I’m a big fan of using plastic from lettuce containers to make my templates. The paper is attached to it with spray adhesive then cut to shape. For the circular piece in the center I used a 7/14mm gouge to not only cut the template but also the wood. The outside was carefully cut out with scissors and the location of the frame miter was marked on it as well.

Line the template up with the sight edge and the miter to draw the circle (3/4 of one actually). you need a way to divide the circumference into an even number of parts. The only way I know to do this is to use dividers , if you’re not familiar with these they’re the black tool in the right picture. Set up the dividers on paper, not your wood — you’ll be doing a lot of trial and error work to do this so paper is easier to erase! As a furniture maker I use them a lot to divide a given space into equal sized parts and layout dovetails. To use them you “guesstimate” a size you think would work, adjust the dividers to that size and then “step it off” from end to the other end. The goal is for the last step off to end exactly at the end of the piece. Until it does you’ll need to make very small adjustments spreading the legs more or less until you get equal sized fan blades. Keep the dividers at that setting, you’ll need them for each corner. Note: I’ve tried to explain this the best I could but it is confusing, here is a LINK for a short article I found on the net.

Here are the tools used. After using the template to draw the outer circle and the inner circle on the wood I first used a 7/14mm gouge to outline the inner circle. Start at the sight edge and use the dividers to divide the space, I’d suggest using a pencil rather than the point of the divider as it could show in the carving. Now, use a flexible straight edge lined up with the corner of the miter to draw a line to the marks you made using the divider. See the picture, top right. This line is the high point of the fan blade.

Use dividers to find center of fan blade
Draw arrows to show direction of slope

Once your corner looks like the left hand picture it’s time to divide the fans — I strongly suggest only doing two blades at a time to save confusion. Measure and make a mark at the center on one blade. Use the dividers to mark the centers of all of them, you may need to eyeball and adjust if it doesn’t look quite right to your eye. The right hand picture shows the arrows drawn to remind me which way the slope goes. Here’s the order that worked for me and the tools I used for this project:

  • Use 1F/8mm skew to cut angled line from outside to middle line at the bottom of 2 blades, draw your arrows to indicate slope direction
  • Use 3F/6 to cut to desired depth at end of the blade. I also used a 2/10mm and 2/14mm to blend the carving into the rest of the frame
  • I used what I call my golf ball skew, it’s an old Marples skew fitted with a golf ball which lets me make curved or straight free hand cuts. Make a straight cut down the middle line from the inner circle to the end of the fan blade
  • The goal is to have a tapered cut that slopes to the middle line and down to the end. For me, the best tool was a 3/4″ very sharp bench chisel. Take very light cuts and work from both sides trying to stop your cut before hitting the other side. Definitely practice these, you can’t put the wood back!
  • You will probably need to deepen the cut at the end of the fan blade to maintain a sharp edge.
  • The grain direction changes on every cut due to the miter and to add to the challenge my profile has a 15° angle too.

I needed a lot of practice before I got what I considered acceptable results. The profile is about 3″ wide and what I call my 15° profile. I plowed a 1/4″ bead on the sight edge for a detail and also to create a definite stopping point for the fan. The tool I started with at first was a 1/16mm double bevel skew since that’s a “carving chisel”. Wasn’t happy with how it worked, difficult to create that smooth slope I was after. Then tried a 3/4″ cabinet chisel and it gave a much smoother cut. Also easier to hold and control than the fishtail skew.

Here’s one corner of the 18″ x 24″frame freshly finished with RMP finishes milk paint in Arabian Night Black. I’ve used their product on quite a few frames and like its appearance. You can mix up a small amount so there’s very little waste. To apply it they sell quality foam brushes which leave a nice finish. I usually apply 2 coats and then smooth them out with a 2500 grit nylon pad. To seal the milk paint my preference is OSMO 3043, satin. A thin coat is applied with a chip brush and then wiped dry with blue shop towels. Don’t rub it down too hard, some of the milk paint will come off and you’ll see it on the towel! After 24 hours or so, apply another light coat and since the first coat sealed the milk paint there won’t be any transfer. I’ll post a picture of the completed frame and painting on my Instagram once they’re both dry and assembled.

Posted in Carving, custom profile, hand carved picture frame, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cutting Coves on Table Saw

Posted on October 10, 2025 by woodworksbyjohn
What you need
My cove cutting jig

Cutting coves seems like a job more suited to a shaper or perhaps a very large router. However; did you know your table saw is a great tool for this purpose? When building a piece of furniture you won’t find moldings to match the wood species you’re using so need to make your own. I use the same technique to create larger coved picture frame moldings — let me share it with you. As it happens all too often, an internet search will yield many methods, many of which contradict each other. My method simplifies the process, making it much easier to create coves whether it’s for a picture frame or molding for furniture.

All my jig requires is a straight, sturdy piece of material. Mine is Basswood 1″ thick x 2″ wide and 52″ long — cut-offs from frame making material. About 9″ from one end I centered a hole for a 1/4″ bolt. This is to attach a 3″x 6″ piece of wood; install a threaded insert for that. The purpose of the 3×6 piece is to let the cove cutting jig lay flat on the table; size yours to your saw, mine was a little over an inch thick. To keep it from slipping around while you clamp it down use double stick tape and apply a piece of sandpaper to it. This is the key part to simplify setting the angle for your cove. You will also need a block for the outfeed end of the jig to bridge the distance between the table top and the back rail.

Step 1:

Mark tooth where blade enters and exits
Setting angle with parallelogram

Your first step is to determine how deep your cove will be and set your blade at that height. I use a Tenryu Gold Medal 40 tooth combo blade. I’ve experimented using 8″ dado blades as well but the Tenryu works fine. For reference, these pictures are from the infeed side of the saw. Make a mark where the tooth of the blade enters and exits (I put down a piece of tape). After lowering the blade use a shop made parallelogram set for the width of your cove. Angle the parallelogram until it aligns with the marks you made on the throat plate. Draw a line on the inside as shown by the arrow. Note: a parallelogram is relatively simple to make. Make it from straight material, mine is 3/4″ square material and the pieces are 16″ and 6″ long. Set the measurement between the two long pieces and tighten the screws.

Step 2:

Adjust fence to angle and tighten down
Add the width of shoulder and move fence as required

What really simplifies this process is to using the jig I described above. Most methods have you try to place a clamp at either end of this long piece while keeping it aligned with the line you drew — no way; you’ll need another pair of hands. Align the fence to the line you drew on the inside of the parallelogram and tighten securely while putting pressure against the block to keep it tight against the table — this is where that piece of sandpaper comes in handy! My cove has a 3/8″ shoulder on one side so the fence needs to be shifted away from the blade. If you have set up blocks use them to draw that line then slide the fence to it and securely clamp it in place. You can also just make a mark.

Step 3:

Now it’s time to start the cutting. I always recommend having a short piece of stock to make trial cuts. Mark one edge of each board and make sure that all pieces are run in the same orientation each time. I put a couple of X’s on the edge facing me. For safety use a push stick and it also doesn’t hurt to have a feather board. This process creates a lot of dust so wear a dust mask. It’s safest to make very shallow cuts, 1/16″ or so. It’ll depend too on the species of wood you’re using, I’m using Basswood which is fairly easy to machine. Concentrate on having pressure above the blade to keep the board flat on the table. When you’re almost to depth take a light cut and use a slow feed to get your cove as smooth as possible.

Step: 4:

The final step is to sand your freshly cut cove! Which abrasive you need will depend on the smoothness of your cut and type of wood. For hardwoods a curved scraper might be your best choice but with the Basswood 150 and 220 grit sandpaper was all I needed. As a retired shop teacher I’ve found that old school, chalkboard erasers work the best, these are the last 2 that I have. I’d always ask other teachers for them and an untold number of students used them to sand lathe projects. You can also use round pieces of foam — whatever works!

Creating detail at sight edge
Final profile

The final steps to create this profile was to first use a Veritas skew rabbet plane to add a detail to the sight edge. This was followed by cutting the rabbet for the canvas to eventually fit into.

This is the method I use all of the time and certainly not the only way to go about it. For me, it’s relatively easy and quick for creating the occasional coves I need in my work. To do production runs of this process you may want to consider a more complex set-up. Appreciate any comments if you use this and it works out for you too.

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Wood or Plastic: What’s your Choice?

Posted on September 27, 2025 by woodworksbyjohn
Plastic molded tray (probably imported!) or hand made Steamed Beech?

I’m sure I’m not the only woodworker who enjoys creating something that’s relatively simple and challenging that will serve a purpose. I love the challenge of making furniture and picture frames but this had some techniques not usually used and would be useful — enter the bathroom drawer tray! I have some leftover Beech which was resawn from furniture projects that required 8/4 material, the pieces were approximately 3/8″ and 3/16″ thick.

The first step was making the tray, it measures about 1 1/2″ x 7″ x 12″ and is 3/8″ thick. Hand cut, dovetailed construction and the bottom was rabbeted for a 1/4″ plywood bottom which was glued into place. No pictures on that but same process I always use. To house the lapped dividers the first step is making mitered pieces that fit snugly; these will eventually be slotted for the dividers. Begin by cutting them on the miter saw but slightly over-sized. They are fine tuned for a snug fit with my Donkey Ear miter jig. If you’ve never seen or used one of these I really like it. Unlike a typical miter shooting board this allows you to hold the piece on either edge so that should there be any tearout you can plan for it to be on the bottom. Some time ago I posted a blog about it — here’s a link to that post.

After those mitered pieces fit snugly on the inside of the tray it’s time to cut the slots and ends so the dividers slot together. To figure out how to space them I made a full size drawing and laid the items out on the drawing and took the measurements from that. This picture shows the tools I used. First off was a Japanese Dozuki saw that has an adjustable depth. I used that during my Kumiko building phase — much cleaner. accurate, and quieter than a tablesaw! The depth gauge was set to the thickness of the wood which is slightly less than 3/16″. The 1/8″ chisel was used to remove the waste. A line was first drawn to locate the divider. Next, a scrap of the divider material was lined up to the line with a small square so the other side could be penciled in. Those lines were cut to the depth set on the Dozuki saw and the waste was chiseled out, any needed fine tuning was done with chisels.

Holding and cutting these thin and small pieces isn’t easy. I took a scrap piece of wood and cut in a notch. The notch is slightly deeper than the needed depth and is wide enough so the the depth stop has room. It was clamped between bench dogs and the pieces are held firmly while sawing. As you can see, adjoining divider members are taped together to be as accurate as possible. After all the pieces were cut and dry fit they were lightly sanded and given a coat of Osmo #3043.

There’s a number of parts and they need to be assembled in a specific order. I don’t use glue, if your mitered perimeter pieces are tight it’ll hold together without any problem. To start place #1 in first and lock it into position with #2. Next, slide the short divider #3 into #2 and lock them in place with #4. The #5 piece locks across #1 and now the mitered piece #6 locks everything into place. Follow this with #7 and finally #8 is what could be called the Keystone which locks the entire assembly into the tray. When you put in numbers 6,7, and 8 you’ll find you need to push them into the tray evenly. This is where getting a good tight fit with the miters is important.

That’s about it, fun project to make and helps to maintain my hand tool skills. Used the table saw and planer to rip to width and surface to thickness. I aways use hand planes to remove planer chatter marks. The miters began with a miter saw but were fine tuned with the Donkey Ear shooting board.

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Two Frames: #270 & #271

Posted on September 3, 2025 by woodworksbyjohn

Things have been somewhat disorganized in the shop lately! I needed to replicate a previous frame (#256) to send to Diane’s gallery in Carmel to replace a painting sold there, somewhat confusing but it involved a commission Diane received through the gallery so a frame was needed. Diane sent the commissioned painting separately since making the frame required time, it was shipped last week. We are also getting ready to send 9 paintings to her Charleston, SC gallery so I’m busy with the packing of those. In the meantime these are the two frames recently completed.

Frame # 271

This frame is for a 24″ square, stretched canvas for another painting by Diane. The frame is of Basswood and about 3″ wide. I wanted to carve some type of floral design in the corners so searched the internet for it and this is what I came up with. My process is to screen grab and then use the pages program to size the design to fit the frame. The next step is to glue the pattern onto a piece of plastic; salad containers work great! They are flexible and can be flipped over to duplicate the opposite corners.

It may seem like more work than what is needed but for consistency I make a cutting diagram and annotate the exact chisel/gouge used to cut out the design. It helps me to make a left and right side since the design will be flipped and for me it’s real easy to get confused. At the bench I have the pattern clipped to the tool holder, after doing 3 or 4 of them I start to remember which tool to use but at 75 I like having that pattern to keep on track. For me, using specific tools for each curve helps to keep the design consistent. These pictures below show some of the progress, my goal was to have a consistent flow of the design on all sides. This frame started with what I refer to as my 15° profile and has 1/4″ beads that border the carving.

Plow plane for 1/4″ beads
Beginning carve, small tools needed to remove waste
Progress being made

After the basic design had been carved all around the frame it was time to detail it. You can see the original drawing I found was quite detailed with lots of flourishes. Diane’s work is more contemporary so that wouldn’t be appropriate. My take is more modern and “flat”. The finish is Real Milk Paint’s Blue Spruce, top coated with OSMO #3043 satin finish. The picture shows how the top coat really enhances the color and also seals the milk paint. I experimented with the social media “stuff” and created this instagram Reel to show off this frame — Enjoy! You may be prompted to sign in to an Instagram account but if you X out that box the reel should open.

Frame #270

This profile is for a 1/4″ panel so it can be made from material that is 1″+ thick. The width could be whatever you want but I generally stay about 3″ wide. The first step is to cut a 1/4″ bead on the outside edge which, cut #3. You could use a router but I prefer my Veritas small plow plane with a 1/4″ beading bit. Once that’s done use a 1/2″ dado head to make cuts #2. The depth is roughly 5/16″ and the technique is to leave an area wide enough to support the board when using the dado, it will be removed by setting the board on edge against the fence and creating the recess on the face; cut #1. The final table saw work required is cutting the rabbet. Please note: when creating a profile I always cut one or two test pieces about 12″ long for doing the setups. Lay out both ends of the test piece. After each cut is correct I orient the frame pieces the same way and cut them all before going on to the next setup.

Once the profile is cut it needs to be mitered and joined. I use biscuits and allow glue to fully dry overnight. I used a 8/6 mm gouge to form the peas and the tools shown are needed to lay them out evenly on all sides. I did go into quite a bit more detail in my about initially making this frame. Here is a LINK to that one. The finish for this frame is identical to the original #256; composition gold with my Iced Gold finish.

Hope this blog helps any of you who are discovering new ways to make custom, closed corner frames. When I first started writing these many years ago it came about because of the frustration I had then trying to find information about how to do this “stuff”. Appreciate those of you that read this and the occasional comments and question you ask.

Keep making Sawdust (and chips!) — John

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Have you missed me? I’m Back!

Posted on August 16, 2025 by woodworksbyjohn

Due to some technological mishaps my blog has been “incognito” for the last 3-4 weeks! I didn’t realize it until a couple of my followers told me about it. The problem was with my domain registry but happy to say it’s been resolved — I do have a love/hate relationship with technology for sure!

What you may have missed is the latest project which was my Danish inspired love seat, here’s the link for the first blog about it: https://woodworksbyjohn.com/2025/06/07/danish-inspired-loveseat/

….. and here’s the link showing the completed project : https://woodworksbyjohn.com/2025/06/28/danish-loveseat-finished/

Hope these come through for you; if you feel so inclined I would appreciate a quick note to confirm the the technical issues have been resolved, thanks — John

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