How would you gear up for custom framing?

[Joe Unni]

Hey all,

I may have an opportunity to create and sell truly hand-made, custom frames for the fine art community in my area. Nothing production or Frame King like, but a limited number of original profiles (not stock moldings), with and without some hand work, and make them to order. I'd also like to offer "once off" type frames depending on the customer and the art work.

Less the hand work, what am I looking at for machinery, accessories and fixtures? To make this profitable, I'll need to create the frames relatively quickly so I suspect the right tools will help this process along.

Any info would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance,
-joe

[Gary Breckenridge]

:p I'd say go for it. Try out one order of frames and figure out your time, money made per hour and the pleasure you get from it. On the down side I'd say that most people don't care about custom one off work except for the bragging elite and rich. Can you beat out a nice frame from a quality shop ? I make my own frames and people notice the art. The tools that I use most for frames are a table saw, router, drill press. clamps and a sander.:D

[Joe Jensen]

When I started in woodworking when as a kid 30 years ago, I had to make a ton of frames for my family. Fastening the corners is critical. For small profile frames, all I found that was totally reliable was splines. Contrasting splines were a nice touch. You might consider that as your "hand crafted" mark. As I think about this, I suspect you will have a hard time making a go of it. The frame stock will cost more to make than you might expect. The material has to be clear and straight. There will be more waste than with furniture.

As far as machines, your miters must be perfect. This means that the sides must be EXACTLY the same size, and the miters must be PERFECT. Back when I had to make all these frames I really lusted after a miter sheer ( I don't know exactly what they are called). This is a tool that uses a knife blade to sheer cut to get a perfect 45. Today I'd lean towards a dedicated crosscut sled with a nice clamping system to hold the stock. It sounds like you will be making your own frame stock. I don't have my own moulding machine, but I'd look for something that won't cost a ton for each profile. Maybe a W&H moulder.

[Per Swenson]

Don't want to be discouraging,

W/H or Woodmaster. Mitre saw and lion trimmer.

Clamping system. Mat and paper cutting system. Wall mounted glass

cutter.

Around here, wholesale picture moulding can and does run from $8 to $20

a foot. Thats right 200 bucks for a 10 foot chunk of picture frame.

Mat cutting is also a art in itself. Glass is glass.

It sounds like you have a ready made client list Joe, that is a big bonus.

I wish you luck.

Per

[lou sansone]

may framers use either a "morso" chopper or a very high quality miter saw. With all wood moldings you can probably get away with a miter saw, rather than a chopper. From what I understand, the choppers are still quite in demand. For joinery, most framers use v nailers. matt cutting is all Logan stuff for the most part. glass is all Fletcher stuff

Lou

[Rick Lizek]

http://www.westartframing.com/professional_picture_framing_links.htm
I would subsribe to a professonal framing magazine...you should be able to find something for free as the ads support it. I used to get one one years ago on framing. I still get half a dozen free woodworking trade journals Learn about matting and archival materials. I would make a good miter sled with a good crosscut blade and not even bother with the lion trimmers or shear cutters. The sled will guarantee consistent lengths and provide a chip free cut.

[Jim Becker]

Chat with Andy London (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=1895)...that's his side business and he does great work.

[Joe Unni]

Sorry for the late reply...

Thanks for the info everyone.

I'll have to test the waters to see what happens.

Happy New Year!!

-joe