Category: Free Inquiry

So, here I am putting my collage all together. the first clips are of me placing my clippings in place, then it moves on to me gluing it up. There are a couple things I want to explain! First of all, I usually take a picture of the collage once I have dry fitted its pieces, then I glue it all together using that photo as a reference as I often overlap or overlay clippings. the order they are placed in is important! Secondly, I have found that gluing using a paint brush is the best way to evenly distribute the glue! Also, in spaces where there is exposed backboard, I sometimes decide to paint or draw in the blank spaces. this time, i mixed brown and green paint to make an earthy green to fill the spaces, and finished some areas with black sharpie. I personally prefer a fully covered look, but others use great negative space!

Its all over! As I have said before there are a few things I will do differently going forward and some things I was super amped on.

• I loved using the burning technique, I think it gave the wood a great finish, a and the linseed oil made some beautiful patterns in the grain.
• Woodwoking is hard, especially when there is a skill barrier!
• I need more precise tools if I am to get perfect joints. Corner clamps especially.
• It is ahrd to work with inconsistent surfaces. I did a lot of the wpork outside witout a workbench, which masde it hard to keep everything consistent.
• I would love a table saw!!!
• I wonder what opportunities there are for digital collaging! Checking online, it seems like there are numerous resources like Adobe and Pixlr!

Some things I want to do in the future!

• Buy a table saw! Here is a cheap example…
• Practice Practice Practice!
• Secure a better space to work!

Overall, I found this project and course super fun. I have always liked woodworking and persisting with projects. i found myself frustrated on numerous occasions, but was proud that I persisted. I also found that filming and recording the process was honestly quite annoying. I often wanted to focus on doing the project, but then had to be mindful about setting up a camera or taking photos. I have never been prone to recording my life! That being said, it was all super fun!! Thanks for coming along for the journey!

So, here it is!!! Overall, I am satisfied with it! There are a few things I would have liked to change, and I’ll get into that in my next post. I love the way the pictures mesh together, I think there is good continuity and a consistent cowboy/western theme. It still needs a backing board and I am in the process of getting class custom fit! Its a process for sure, but I enjoyed it all!

Step 1 – Separate and sort my piles

• Think back to previous posts, this video shows me sorting through the clippings taken back then, and this is where I begin to make my vision for what I want the final collage to look like!
• Here, I am looking for backgrounds to frame my main peices.
• I tend to focus mostly on words and people.

I am learning lots, like that corner clamps wpuld have been a great investment. My latest struggle is with creating flush edges for my picture frame. With the fasteners I bought at first, they were not giving me enough tension on the joints, and it was a struggle to maintain flush edges and get the glue to stick.

I opted for 90 degree brackets to get more tension on the joint itself, but it still was not perfect. For future frames, I will be investing in corner clamps because that edge connection is so important.

I found myself getting pretty frustrated at this stage of the process. My joints were not well connected and I felt hindered by my lack of equipment and workshop. I had to use tape to get the best wood to glue connection I could and maintain flush joints. It was ugly.

It’s time for Sho Sugi Ban! Here is my first attempt at the Japanese technique. I would be lying if I said it all went swimmingly. I didn’t burn anything unintended (except a few arm hairs) but I did realize a mistake I had made in the process. The video shows my first attempt, and after I noticed some of my edges had become blunt due to the burning, and that i should have performed the burning before cutting down my material. So, I started again! Down below is my first stab at the technique, but not the final product!

Enjoy!

So.. attempt #1 in the books. Some good, some bad. The miter box worked very well, even though the saw was a bit blunt, the angels matched up well, and the cuts were accurate and square. The plan will be changing slightly, for my lumber, I will be using 1″ X 2″ pine now, i think the thinner profile will look better as a frame. That will change the method of fastening, so now I will no longer be using dowels.

In terms of the router, as mentioned in the embedded video, I will be cutting my material to length, cutting the routered edges, and then cutting the 45 degree angels. Im feeling good for my second attempt, now that I am more familiar with the tools and have selected better material for my equipment!

Here lies all the materials and tools I am going top use to complete the project. Most are from my own collection that I have amassed over the years. I bought the router multitool on Facebook Marketplace from a friendly old man, and the lumber from Home Depot.

Fastening the pair of 45 degree joints will be done in two ways, firstly, through dowels. Dowels will be drilled into the end of the wood with a 1/4″ drill bit. The dowel will go into the hole left by the drill, and is designed to create a stronger joint. The dowels will have to be drilled to fit flush once the joint is fitted, so there is little room for error! The fasteners will go on top, bisecting the angel, and further solidify the joint. It may be slightly overkill to include dowels and fasteners, but it feels right!

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Here lies the beginning of the collaging part of my project to build a picture frame. As we know, all good frames must have some art in them. I have amassed a collection of old magazines and books and have complied a number of clippings i am interested in putting together to make a collage. This video shows me sifting through some of the many magazines and showing some clippings I like. this is just a snippet of some of the sourcing I have done so far.

Another note, the song in the background of the video was made by me using Garage Band. As I was hunting for some open source audio to accompany my visuals, I found all of the ones I like were accompanied by garish watermarks embedded into the song that i could not remove. So, using free loops and open source sample sites Freesound and Looperman, I made my own song. There will be a follow up with the song as I am working with some singers to get some vocals recorded, so stay tuned on that front too!

Enjoy the video, thanks for watching!

Game Plan

Howdy,

Welcome to my free inquiry project. My plan is to make a picture frame from scratch and fit a collage inside it when I am finished. I have been into collaging recently, and have always hunted at value village for frames for my finished products. I felt like it would be a fun pursuit to see what I can do in terms of creating a frame myself. I have always been interested in woodwork, and was exposed to it young as my dad was a carpenter for many years. I am super excited to document my progress with this project! Stay tuned!!

The purpose of my first popst is to outline what I will need to to and the materials I will need to make it all happen. To make my picture frame, I am going to be loosely following the basic version of a frame outlines in the embedded video.

Because I do not have access to some of the power tools used, specifically the miter saw, I am going to be adapting the plans slightly. I am also planning to use a derivative of a technique called Shou Sugi Ban.  Basically, instead of using a liquid stain, this technique chars the wood to create a durable finish that I have always liked the look of.Heres a clip of it, for the visual learners out there.

Shopping List

From watching the video, I have made a list of the materials I will need for this project, some of which I have, some of which I do not. 

• 1X2 Lumber (I will be looking at either Pine or Douglas Fir, depending on price and quality) 

• Miter Saw (I have a manual saw and miter box that will be perfect) 

• Glue 

• Clamps/Tape 

• Corrugated fasteners 

• Handheld Router (I will have to look at either renting one, borrowing, or finding a cheap one on Facebook Marketplace)
• Wooden Dowels