Mahogany Door Jamb to Picture Frame hand tool build

[Tate Harmann]

This was a project to come out of my urban laundry closet workshop:

A friend gifted me a mahogany door jamb that was going to otherwise be thrown away:

400191

It was full of staples/nails and was mostly painted white. I dimensioned it and made it into a 18"x24" picture frame. I started the pics after the rough dimensioning with a saw and try plane. I don't have shots of the whole process, but I do have a lot of it here:
Doing the rabbets with a J. Kellogg 1 3/4" Skew Plane (I used a piece of random long lumber that I flattened to do this because my workmate 400 top is horribly out of flat):
400193400192400194400195
For the miters, I had this old back saw around the shop that I cleaned and sharpened just for this occasion. It turned out to be an Atkin's saw! I used a thrift store plastic miter box with it lol.
400196400197

[Tate Harmann]

I was happy with the sharpening job (not perfect but was my first crosscut attempt) given the surface of the cuts:
400198400199
Testing out the miters and then scraping off the paint (I found a spokeshave was the best tool I found for this?):
400200400201400202
This is what I came up with for the glue up...again...the tile was needed, because my workmate 400 top is like a wet noodle lol:
400203
Made some splines in ash:
400204400205

[Tate Harmann]

400207400206400208400209400210

And here she is with an oil finish and a closeup of the what I considered to be the best spline (the ash had dark spots in it too so some of the other corners didn't pop as much as this one:
400211400213400212

Lessons learned: cut the rabbet at least 3/8'' deep for everything to fit and get rabbets right the first time so you don't have to adjust after it's glued together with a bullnose plane :/
Don't force the splines in and maybe cut them a bit wider.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice work from a piece of salvage, thanks for posting.

jtk

[John Schtrumpf]

Nice work, and another workmate user :D

[Jim Koepke]

Before buying my current bench a Workmate was also my work holder.

jtk

[Christopher Charles]

Kudos to you for salvaging that wood. And for the reminder that I too started with workmate--amazing what can be done with one!

Best,
Chris

[Mark Gibney]

Great work! Make sure to post a photo of the frame when you have it hanging up.

[Tate Harmann]

Nice work, and another workmate user :D
Beauty! Nice dovetails!

[Tate Harmann]

Great work! Make sure to post a photo of the frame when you have it hanging up.
For sure - already done. I used plexiglass that got nice reviews from a local home improvement store and hardboard for the backing. This is a print of the Biblical Paradise as described by Isaiah that's going in the nursery for our first baby coming soon (took this at an angle to reduce glare)!
400454

I also crafted this rattle with the same mahogany, some pine cutoffs, and popcorn seeds haha (again for the new baby):
400455400456

[Tate Harmann]

Jim/Christopher,

I have such mixed feelings on the Workmate. On the one hand it fit's into my shop perfectly and folds up as well. On the other - the top is horribly out of flat (could build a new one for it I suppose - I got it used), it loves to slide around the floor when planing, and it's ultra creaky. I addressed those last two problems with some oil and a rubber mat...but I would love to have a flat top. I will probably do something about that next...either a new top that I can clamp into the Workmate or maybe a whole new bench designed just for my tiny space.

Thanks for the comments!