Frame your own crap.
Up late a few nights ago I got bored and decided to draw a thing. It’s actually a copy of a thing I saw and really liked. It’s black and white, pen and ink and I did it while I watched a movie.
Then, another night when I couldn’t sleep I decided to try to make my own frame. The frame actually worked out well, too. So now I’m going to make all my own frames. The materials (wood, plexiglass, mat board, and backer board) was well under $10 for a 14×11 frame. The benefits are that you can make your own custom sizes and often use scraps laying around. A note though, when cutting plexiglass, if you buy the cheaper stuff you’ll be sorry. Plexi and lexan come in 3 grades/thicknesses/prices. The cheapest plexi has a tendency to crack and sheer in places you don’t want to when you’re cutting it. When you cut plexi you basically score it with a plastic cutter and break it off. The middle grade stuff is a little bit thicker and breaks cleanly. Or maybe I was doing it wrong.
Here’s the framed product:
The frame is just mitered 1×2 with thin mitered molding glued to the inside edge to hold everything in. The other option would be to use a router table to cut a rabbet (an L-shaped groove) on the back side. I was lazy though.
