Into the fire...

This piece of Russian Olive wood has been floating around my shop for a while, awaiting the perfect project. 

Luckily for me, that project presented itself last week, when someone came to my shop looking for a picture frame. But not just any frame!

This one is special!

My customer explained that she wanted a rustic live edge picture frame to hold a photo of her firefighter boyfriend. He fights fires for the BLM, and she has an amazing photo of him in front of flames, fighting a blaze. 

Bam! 

I knew there was a reason I held onto this board for so long. 

But the truth is - I don't love making picture frames - they're cranky, and they make me cranky when I build one. But this was a project I couldn't turn down!

Working with live edge boards complicates everything, as frames have to be square and accurate so that the mitered corners fit together and look good. So I sat with a sketch book and came up with a method to ensure that I would mill the slab up correctly. One mistake and the frame components would be ruined. 

Since the frame was going to be roughly 3" wide, I cut some scrap MDF to the rough size I needed, and laid them on the slab to choose the best parts of it. 

I was dodging splits and cracks, 

and even this bullet! 

Luckily, that didn't make it into the planer!

Some planing and cutting of the rabbets gave me some flat edges, and once everything was milled,

I added some Dominos for strength. 

They also hold the miter together while clamping, so I didn't have to worry about one piece slipping. 

These boards were a little warped, nothing bad, and the warpage added to the character of the frame, although I had to clean up a few areas with my shoulder plane, to ensure that the glass would sit correctly. 

The Olive wood is relatively soft, and though I thought it would be stringy like Elm, it was very easy to work. 

In fact, it planes like buttah!

A dry fit and ...

time to clamp!

Time to sand! 

Did I mention that this customer asked me to add a bit of char to the frame, in homage to her firefighter? I pulled out a plumbers torch, and charred the top corner, adding just a bit of color to it. 

It was so tempting to really give it some char, but... hey, if you're paying the bill, you get to call the shots. 

A bit of oil and this is ready for the glass and photo.... stay tuned!