The Framers Forum

Hi all,

Another q! Just had a client bring in a map that is 1390 x 2000mm. They just want frame replaced as it is broken. Currently it is in a 30x35mm aluminium frame and is bowing. Thankfully is has acrylic not glass lol
They want to use a thinner face frame if pos but I'm not sure about this as I think it is too big, but could I do a thinner face if it was deeper? say a 25mmx40mm wooden frame, and then with a subframe and probably cross bars as well?

Please let me know your thoughts! Thanks!

I think you've answered your own question. The subframe will act as the strength of the frame. How you fix the subframe into an aluminium frame would be my first question!

It says "could I do a thinner face if it was deeper? say a 25mmx40mm wooden frame, and then with a subframe and probably cross bars as well?

Anyway - yes! As long as outer frame is deep enough to conceal subframe, and if subframe is meaty enough you shouldn't need cross bars.

Thank you for the correction.

I've posted this a few times but it does illustrate the best way I've found to make a BIG subframe. It's made from pine
tongue&grove cladding with the tongue edge ripped off with a table saw. The timber is only 8mm thick, but gluing/screwing
it together in two layers allows you to form half-lap joints on the corners without excessive woodworking and makes the whole
frame very stable and very strong. You can incorporate cross braces with ease. It needs straight cuts only and no chiselling.
I used my mitre saw but you cold easily do it with a hand saw.

Modus Operandi:
First cut two long sides and two short sides to overlap.
Then lay them out in position align each corner and put one screw (not too tight) in each corner (no glue yet)
Check for squareness (measure diagonally) and adjust until dead-on.
One you have the thing square, take out the screw in each corner in turn and glue. Replace the screw and add a few more.
Then fix any cross pieces.
All you have to do then is fill in the 'gaps' by gluing/screwing in more timber. You then have a solid structure 16mm thick.

My example below the outer frame was quite chunky, but it would work equally well with a skinny frame as long as it a deep
enough to swallow the the thickness of the subframe + mounted item/glazing. The hangings need to be fixed to the subframe.
The outer frame serves only to hold the package together and can be fixed to the subframe with pocket holes/plates/whatever.

* I have a 4'x3' mirror in my bathroom done this way with a ½" Beech moulding around it.

You can even fabricate a 'cleat' system into the subframe with a bit of ingenuity.

This subframe moulding from Wessex is good - it also doubles up as a hanging system. Someone like Rose & Hollis will no doubt have similar and you could also do the same from any suitable sloped moulding.

https://www.wessexpictures.com/res/Sub%20Frame.pdf

HI
What is the poster sitting agaisy? Is it a large sheet of board of some type? An how is it attached? Does the Acrylic sit immrdiately on top of the poster or is there some spacing?

Justintime wrote: ↑Mon 13 Feb, 2023 11:36 am I think you've answered your own question. The subframe will act as the strength of the frame. How you fix the subframe into an aluminium frame would be my first question!

Euro hangers can be manipulated to join aluminium to other materials.
https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/8295/Euro-H ... s-pack-100