QUESTION: Trying to find decent picture frame stock

Hey, all.

I'm teaching myself how to build picture frames, cut matting, cut glass, all that jazz, so I don't have to rely on retailers with high markup.

At this point, the only thing I've found that really works for me is standard 1" moulding from Home Depot. There's no rabbet in there, so I need to line it with small blocks to position the glass and matting in the frame so it's near the inside edge, and to receive the glazing points I use to secure all the layers of backing and matting and such.

I'd love to find a supplier of stock I could use for this endeavor, but I'd want stock that has the 1/8" rabbet, but is still not fully finished material - I'd want to stain/paint it and finish it myself.

So far, I've struck out completely in securing such stuff.

Does anyone know where I might find some variety of unfinished frame moulding that I can buy by the foot?

I'm in Canada, fwiw. ;-)

Thanks!

Reply to
BD
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First, find a good _hardwood_ lumber yard. You'll be wanting to do that in any case--the hardwood stock at the BORGs is pitiful and overpriced besides.

Next, talk to the proprietor about what you want to do--many such yards can produce millwork to order. You'll need to buy quite a bit for this to save you money--there's usually a setup charge and even more if he has to have cutters made--but you'll get _exactly_ what you want.

As an alternative, if this is small volume for a hobby, would be to get a router and router table--then you can make your own out of any kind of wood. Make sure the router takes 1/2" diameter shanks as well as 1/4" if you do that.

Reply to
J. Clarke

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This may not be the answer you're looking for, but I'll throw it out there anyway. :)

Why not just make the rabbet yourself? Home Depot has a combination router table and router from Ryobi[1][2] for about $99. I don't think that combo comes with any bits so add on just a straight cut bit[3] or a small bit set[4] that includes the straight cut bit.

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Reply to
Bob Moos

You can get raw stock in many profiles from any supplier (not retail frame shop) of frame moldings. Most also offer a chop service; i.e., they'll miter it to length for you.

Reply to
dadiOH

Look at the ads in the back of artist magazines. You can buy precut stock with the hardware to assemble quite cheaply. Bob

Reply to
<polkrobert

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and look at their online catalog.

Frank

Reply to
Frank K.

Mainly because I'd have to find somewhere to go in order to do it. I'm in an apartment, and that's way too much noise. With the added pain-in-the-ass factor of having to pack everything up and relocate whenever I want to grind out a frame, it does almost make as much sense to get prefab stock cut to length. I can miter by hand and do all the rest of the stuff quietly enough...

Home Depot has a combination

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Reply to
BD

You could go old school with a Stanley #78...

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would make a lovely rabbit for you with no noise at all :)

BD wrote:

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Reply to
damian penney

I called them and they claim to be a wholesaler, and won't sell to poor insignificant end consumers like me.

Reply to
BD

Call again and get a retailer's name.

Reply to
Frank K.

Eh? I hate to sound dense, but I'm not sure what you're suggesting...

Reply to
BD

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> That would make a lovely rabbit for you with no noise at all :)

I dunno, if you took that plane to a rabbit there might be a lot of noise. KM

Reply to
KERRY MONTGOMERY

Call Omega and ask them to give you the names of some retailers. You can then order what you want through the retailer. I've bought bulk frame moulding through a framing shop.

Reply to
Frank K.

I see. Well, unless they have a retailer in my city, I expect I'm just as well off ordering through a local retailer. If I'm paying retail for stock, I'm paying retail - and at this point I have no particular brand loyalty.

I do have a local retailer who encourages DIY; they will do the work for you if you like, but they also sell full sheets of matting, and (I discovered only yesterday) will provide framing stock, either mitered to length, or in lengths that I could cut up myself.

So now it's just a question of confirming how good a deal I'm getting - which will take some comparison.

Reply to
BD

I have an interest in this too. I see on the Omegas site under catalog request they say "Please note, the catalog costs $25 and it will be credited against your first invoice of $100.00 or more." This is typical. Very often, you don't HAVE to BE a retailer to deal with a wholesaler, just act like one. I've done this in the past with other interests, notably watchmaking. Call yourself "Bill's Framing Depot", order a catalog, then get your $25 back on the 1st order (if you're doing this enough to justify the trouble, you should spend $100 pretty quickly). Occasionally a wholesaler may require a state reseller's tax number, but if you're not located in a state where they would have to charge you sales tax for a retail sale, this probably isn't an issue. Worth a try.

Dan

Reply to
Dan

This is the first thing they asked me for. ;)

Reply to
BD

Interesting. Are you in one of the states where they have an office? You CAN get such a tax number, usually just a matter of filing a form, in my experience (in Ohio, may vary by state) BUT come tax time you generally have to report any activity (or the lack thereof) to your state tax people. Basically, they want you to hand over to THEM any sales tax you've collected. If you've had no sales, (you know, that whole thing about XX% of new businesses failing in the 1st year ;-) you can just report that. All this may be more f'ing around than it's worth for a particular dealer/item of course, depending in your situation, how available the items are elsewhere & at what cost, etc. Which would be the case for me in the case of the framing materials.

BTW if you DO find a good/cheap source for this stuff, please pass it on.

Dan

Reply to
Dan

I'm in Canada. Whole different ball o wax. ;)

Yup. I still don't have a good appreciation for what counts as 'cheap', because all the stock is so different, but yeah, if I think I've found a good deal I'll post it.

Reply to
BD

Kettle o' fish, anyway! ;-)

Thanks!

Reply to
Dan

Here are more links for frame molding. I don't know if they sell retail or wholesale.

Have you done a Google search for "picture frame molding"? That's where I found these. There are many more pages to view. Notice the spelling of molding.

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Reply to
Frank K.

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