joining at home - cheap tools

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emjs181

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Feb 8, 2008
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Okay folks. My training and all of my experience in joining frames has been with gluing and then underpinning. I never needed to learn any other method because it worked for "pretty much" everything I did. But I'm setting myself up at home now, and don't have much money to invest in tools. I'm going to start out with one of those hand-held v-nail tools, which I realize probably won't be sufficient for much other than soft pine. Regardless, that's my budget right now.
So, in your opinion, what's the best way to clamp the miters before setting the v-nails? Should I do each corner individually in a vise? Or get one of those specialty frame clamps that set all four corners at once?

TIA
 
Depends a lot on the type of frame you will mostly be making. If you are doing quite big mouldings I would use a miter vice and a hammer & nails rather than a 'hobby' type v-nailer. Having said that, a good miter vice is not a cheap item. Using a strap clamp is OK, but not so easy on smaller mouldings or reverse profiles.

In the end you could end up spending a lot on stuff that isn't really up to the job. Enough in fact to nearly buy a decent underpinner. You don't need one with all the bells and whistles. A good reliable manual model will serve you well. Worth keeping an eye out for a used machine.
I bought the basic Euro model in 1983. Cost about 180GBP. Still working fine. :D
 
Do not spend your money on "Hobby" tools. If you want to be in the "business" wait until you can afford proper tools. With that said, there was a comment several days ago about a corner vise that will accept 7" moulding for about $90.00 from www.888mfgcorp.com. A real corner vise will last for years and always be usable.
 
Thanks for the comments. I don't intend to be a frame shop, or deal with art work in any way. I just want to build unique frames from reclaimed wood that I'll sell empty, at craft sales or etsy or something similar. Probably no larger than 8x10's. So, I while I do understand the value of investing in quality equipment in order to do a professional framing job - I'm not going to be a "framer", but rather a niche crafts-person. I'm looking at something like the Benchmaster eventually, and have read old threads where this tool has been discussed. Mostly I'm just unclear on other methods, and haven't found much information on how joining was done before the invention of the handy-dandy underpinner.
 
If you look at old frames in the size range you are thinking of, you will see that they were glued/nailed together. And this manner still works today. What an underpinner will gain you is primarily efficiency/speed.

So if you are not going to invest in an underpinner, I would also bypass the "hobbyist" underpinners and use that money to get a set of good vises and quality hammers.
 
You'll most likely ruin more good moulding with those hand held devices. I wouldn't even consider going there. Like most have said, just vice and nail. Save ya a lot of heart aches.
 
If you are making your own frames then I assume you have a table saw. That said then get a good corner clap and forgo nails and underpinners and make splined corners. Make a strong join and is a real nice decorative element, a good selling point for places like etsy.
 
If I were joining at home, I would probably use a strap clamp. Would fastening even be necessary in frames 8x10 and smaller? Perhaps not. This could do it on its own.

edie the keepitsimple goddess
 
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