New to Framing: Personal Framing

You can start doing your own framing with a few pieces of equipment. With time and practice you’ll get good results using simple moulding profiles and mount designs. As a rule, it’s best to avoid trying to use harder woods such as oak and more ornate / shaped mouldings – you’ll need commercial framing equipment to work with these.

There are six basic processes:

• Cutting the moulding with a hand mitre saw, or ordering it on our Chop Service
• Inserting v-nails to join the moulding to make a frame using a band clamp/vice and a frame joiner, or a foot operated underpinner
• Cutting a window mount using a mountcutter
• Cutting the glass using a glass cutter and straightedge (or shatterproof styrene glazing using a scoring tool and straightedge)
• Cutting the backing board with a knife and straightedge
• Assembling the frame and securing the back in place with a point driver or hand tool.

The materials you’ll need include:

• Moulding to make the frame
• V Nails and PVA wood glue to join the frame
• Mountboard is cut on a mountcutter to make the window mount and undermount.
• Hinging tape to fix artwork to the undermount, or self-adhesive mounting board to stick down posters / photographs. This stops them from going wavy inside the frame.
• Glass or plastic glazing. We don’t supply glass as we can’t despatch it, but you can source it from a local glazier.
• MDF or fluted cardboard as a backing board for the frame
• Brown framing tape to seal the back of the frame to prevent dust and moisture getting in.
• Hangers to suit the frame – options include D Rings and cord, or square sawtooth hangers for easy fixing.

Watch our series of videos for an introduction to the processes – they focus on commercial framing equipment, but the principles are the same.

We don’t offer training courses in the process of framing but listed below are some people who do -

• Mark Higgins - Start-Up in Framing

Learn from a skilled picture framer from the comfort of your own home. Mark's online course includes a total beginner's package, with enough materials to complete your first six frames. There will be plenty left over for practising your techniques. Visit startupinframing.teachable.com.

• Pictureframes.co.uk

Easy to follow how-to videos, take a look.

We offer demonstrations and training on professional equipment in our showroom, but not on personal framing equipment.

Most Logan equipment has very helpful videos showing how they work.

Picture frame moulding is the wooden or aluminium profile used to make a picture frame - We supply moulding in lengths (usually around 3m, but it varies) or mitre cut to size on our Chop Service.

Wood moulding inconveniently doesn't come in standard lengths. Even within the same batch it can vary between 2.5m and 3.5m. When you order we ask you to enter the number of metres you want and we will round up to the nearest whole length. This means you will often get slightly more than you ordered - you will always be invoiced for the exact amount we send you.

Avoid harder woods such as ash and oak if you’ll be joining the frame with a hand-operated underpinner, and also more ornate / shaped mouldings – you’ll need commercial framing equipment to work with these.

The rebate lip is usually 5-7mm wide, although this can vary due to the manufacturing process.

• Order the number of metres you need. We will round up to the next whole length to ensure you have enough moulding for your project.
• We only sell moulding in full lengths; we cannot cut lengths down. Most lengths are around 3m long but they can range from 2.5m to 3.5m.
• If you want moulding cut to size, head to our Chop Service for further details.
• Avoid harder woods such as ash and oak if you’ll be joining the frame with a hand-operated underpinner, and also more ornate / shaped mouldings – you’ll need commercial framing equipment to work with these.

Watch the video below to learn how to professionally mitre cut frame moulding to size.

Our Chop Service will supply you with four pieces of moulding, mitre cut to size and ready to join. We can only supply moulding mitre cut, we can’t cut it square.

Order Chop Service by giving us the ‘glass size’ of your frame in mm – the size of the piece of glass that will sit in the rebate of your frame. This will also be the size of your mounted artwork.

We automatically add 2mm tolerance to your measurements, unless you check the box telling us not to.

To join the four pieces into a frame, you will need an underpinner to insert v-nails. You can’t just bang them in with a hammer! Some hand-operated underpinners will also require a band clamp or vice to hold the pieces together while you insert the v-nails.

If you’ll be joining the frame with a hand-operated underpinner, avoid harder woods such as oak and ash, and also more ornate / shaped mouldings – you’ll need commercial framing equipment to work with these.

Mountboard is a high-quality cardboard sheet with a coloured face paper on the front and a white face paper on the back.

Mount board is used to cut the window mount that surrounds the image and has two functions – to draw the eye into the artwork and space it away from the glazing allowing air to circulate. It is also used as an undermount to mount the artwork onto. Watch below our video on cutting a mount.

• Mountboard comes in sheets approx. 800 x 1200mm.
• To ensure it’s delivered safely, there’s a minimum order of 10 sheets – this can be mixed and also includes a range of other sheet materials.

We supply everything you need to make a frame except glass - we can’t despatch it safely. You can source this from a local glazier.

We do supply shatterproof styrene glazing, in full sheets and standard cut sizes, click here.

Yes, there’s no restriction on who can buy from LION. A few useful points:

• Prices are shown excluding VAT
• If you order online there’s no minimum order value - over the phone or via email it’s £50.
• If you’re ordering mountboard you’ll need to order at least ten sheets.
• Our prices are trade prices for regular trade purchasers. We don’t work on the kind of margins that retailers use to subsidise delivery costs.
• Our delivery charges are higher than you’d get from a retailer. Most of our parcels are big and heavy and we use carriers who have the capacity to deliver them to our trade customers on a signed-for service. We don’t have other options for small orders. -

If our pack quantities / delivery charges are a bit much for you, we have several resellers who offer lots of our products in smaller quantities with retail-style delivery charges.

You’ll find several on Google, Amazon and eBay.

No, we supply the materials and equipment to make frames. If you’re after a complete frame, we can give you details of some of professional framer customers in your local area, of you can find one via our trade association, Fine Art Trade Guild fineart.co.uk

No, we don’t offer a mountcutting service.

We cannot offer advice or help with the repair, but we sell the products that professional framers use. Our best recommendation is to go to a professional framer.