Red Gum Picture Frame


Chestnut

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Recently a friend ask me to make him a picture frame for a large map poster. He was going to get a custom frame at a store but reached out and asked what i could do. We talked and he basically gave me full freedom for wood choice but wanted the frame to be simple. My original plan was to do white oak with a thin walnut outline. When i went to the wood store to but the materials and get started i looked at everything like usual and saw the very small very hidden stack of red gum. There was a 10' piece and i changed my mind and took it home.

Picture frame is HUGE ended up being 59" x 43"

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Comments about the wood. I didn't really do much with it other than rip, sand, and miter but it was enough to know that it's a PITA. It moves a lot when cut and keeping the miters closed took a lot of clamps and two custom made 12" clamping squares. It's really soft which is why i never grabbed it before now. The wood is also very thirsty above pictures are 10 min after the first coat of ARS. My miters turned out OK all things considered. Not worth of approval from Mrr. Green Kool-aide but good for being cut on a miter saw.

Sorry for the terrible pictures to get the whole frame in 1 picture i had to use the worst lens i own.

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1 minute ago, shaneymack said:

Its looks good, nut ! Two questions.

1- what is this new technique "rip, sand,"

2- why don't you make a mitre shooting board?

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Added commas .... i see punctuation police has arrived. :P.

I don't own a plane that is remotely square enough for shooting. That being said it wouldn't have mattered with this wood it had internal stresses and from what i read about it that's to be expected.

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Added commas .... i see punctuation police has arrived. .

I don't own a plane that is remotely square enough for shooting. That being said it wouldn't have mattered with this wood it had internal stresses and from what i read about it that's to be expected.

Not at all. It was a joke.

You misquoted me...

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6 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

Not at all. It was a joke.

You misquoted me...

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Well to answer your question rip sand is where you attach sandpaper to the side of your saw blade so as you rip it sands the board ... ya know getting 2 birds stoned.

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Well to answer your question rip sand is where you attach sandpaper to the side of your saw blade so as you rip it sands the board ... ya know getting 2 birds stoned.

Wow. The miters turned out great for doing it that way! I'm impressed

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looks great Chestnut, i have a small supply of red gum, made a humidor out of some of it, posted here under project showcase if i remember right. it is a little tough to work and it is soft but it sure is a great looking wood when finished, saving the rest of mine for just the right project. I'm surprised that you found it in dakota, i think its mostly a southern wood and not seen much, at least not in the midwest

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18 minutes ago, treeslayer said:

looks great Chestnut, i have a small supply of red gum, made a humidor out of some of it, posted here under project showcase if i remember right. it is a little tough to work and it is soft but it sure is a great looking wood when finished, saving the rest of mine for just the right project. I'm surprised that you found it in dakota, i think its mostly a southern wood and not seen much, at least not in the midwest

Thanks, I looked back and found your post and that humidor looks really good. It looks like the same wood as what i have here. My hardwood guy is always full of surprises, if it wasn't for his shop i probably would have never made it as far down the rabbit hole as i did.

When i get the 3 coats of ARS on it that i plan I'll carry this guy outside and take some proper pictures.

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@K Cooper @wtnhighlander Thanks for your input. I'll try and get a picture of map installed and it hung in place but i can't make any promises. I don't have the map and i won't be doing the mounting. I wish i had taken a picture of the board before i cut it up it had a really nice arc from top to bottom. I had plans for a better cut layout but i can't make a 9' rip in my shop :(.

I'm starting to appreciate all grain patters for their own application this art that we do has a lot of depth.

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3 hours ago, JosephThomas said:

Glad it fits...you might wanna use blue tape and some t shirts or something to wrap the corners and any edges that are making contact with the car...lots of little bumps and rattles on a long drive that you won't notice but the picture frame might.

That's a good idea with the tape. I was going to put some  rags under the corners but taping them in place would make sure it doesn't move.

 

3 hours ago, Lester Burnham said:

Turned out great! Cool patterns.

 

 

That's a whole lot of driving. Safe travels.

Thanks, It's just the beginning leg of a 1,000 mile road trip. Doing some camping/hiking in Wisconsin and Michigan.

 

6 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Must be one heck of a friend! Good luck on the delivery.

Thanks. This red Gum is REALLY soft so I'm hoping to minimize any possible damage.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks Steve.

6 hours ago, Brendon_t said:

Very nice outcome.

You keep saying it is so soft.  What soft are you talking?  Wet 2x4 at HD or butter set to the baked potato setting in the nukerator?

 

 

It seemed to me to be softer then fresh pine from a box store despite Wood database giving it a jenka hardness of 700. There were a couple times that i thought i looked at it wrong and dented the wood a little bit. In all honestly there is enough weight in that frame that if set on edge on a dirty surface it'd dent the wood. I'm probably being melodramatic in hindsight i was used to working super dens woods at the time.

My supplier just got another large shipment of the redgum in and i want to go buy some more the wood has wonderful grain and color variation.

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The finished project looks like the map and frame were made for each other.  Wait . . .  they were ;-)  The frame sets the map off perfectly.  The picture of the frame in the car cracks me up.  Makes me think of a title like "your car also makes a handy measuring device".

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41 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

The finished project looks like the map and frame were made for each other.  Wait . . .  they were ;-)  The frame sets the map off perfectly.  The picture of the frame in the car cracks me up.  Makes me think of a title like "your car also makes a handy measuring device".

LOL car dimensions.

"I'll take 2 WRX frames 1 Honda Fit frame and 3 Peel P50 frames"

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