2. How to make a painting frame

It's wonderful to have made your oil painting.
But framing your piece of art costs a lot of money.

So why not make you own frames!   
You need 2 pieces of specialist kit, that I couldn't find a work-around for

- the mitre cutter

 

- the v-shaped staple tool

but when you make two or three large frames, you've recouped your money.

~  ~  ~

First, buy your moulding woods, they come in 3 metre lengths.  
The cheapest is £2 - 3 per metre, but it goes into £15 - £20 metres the more fashioned the frame wood 

I prefer to buy the cheapest I can get, and sand, polish and paint it myself afterwards

• always measure in millimetres
• measure the sides of your canvas to the exact millimetre
• measure the depth of your moulding (not inclusive of the routed recess) and double it
• add 2 millimetres for a comfortable fit

Once your 4 sides are cut with accuracy, you need to glue them and staple them:

not too much wood glue

match up the inside angles - and not the outside corners!

wipe any excess

and leave for 24 hours

gently insert v-shaped staples

paint it

I use two coats of Farrow and Ball eggshell paints, 1 part water : 1 part paint 

beeswax your frame

buff to a silky finish

secure your picture to frame

One last tip before we see some frames.
People pay a lot of money for oil paintings, so don't forget the back.  I buy upholsterers' Hessian for a finish to the reverse of my pieces of work

staple and stretch the Hessian

to keep your painting reverse protected

a selection of small frames