On Making Picture Frames and Other Miter Joints

January 23, 2024 Meeting

6:00pm - Doors open

6:30pm - Meeting begins

Presenter:  Dan Seachord

Topic:  Making Picture Frames (and Other Miter Joints)

From 2005 -2013 Dan and his wife, Carrie, ran a custom picture framing business and gallery in Newport News, VA.  They grew the business by focusing on building a reputation for meticulously crafted and creative picture framing solutions.  Dan and Carrie won several awards for their picture framing expertise regionally (Washington DC) and internationally (the 2010 International Picture Framing Competition in Las Vegas).  They also framed a picture for Hampton University which was presented to then President Obama.  The picture commemorated the Emancipation Oak and was hung in the White House.  Dan and Carrie worked their business as a team with up to three employees.  They framed hundreds of pictures each year.

In his presentation, Dan will not talk about how to cut miter joints.  He assumes that everyone knows that miter joints are cut with a saw.  He will instead focus on how to cut miter joints consistently and how to join them accurately.  Every framed picture has at least eight miter cuts and four joints.  Each of them must be cut identically and joined accurately for the frame to go together correctly.  And the first one has to be cut perfectly and joined correctly. 

Dan will focus on, and discuss, all of the types of mistakes he has made over the course of cutting and joining several thousand miter joints in his picture framing business.  “Talking publicly about your own mistakes,” Dan says, “is intimidating.  No one likes to talk about their mistakes in public.”  “However, “ he adds, “we learn from our mistakes, and I have had a lot to learn from.  Knowing what to look out for in cutting miters can help other people shorten their learning curve.”

Mitre talk for Guild.docx

mitre presentation.pptx