For the wood, I used pieces of mahogany removed from the same FLW home. The stock is true 5/4 X 12 but riddled with nails, coated with a hardened finish, oils and some exterior stain.

As with any project, I started with a pencil and paper. Once I had my design, I ripped to width the pieces (a bit oversize) and set them to the thickness planer. I planed down both sides of the wood but concentrated on making one face the usable side. The oil painting is an inch thick so I could only take 3/16″ from the stock.

After surfacing enough roughly sized pieces to make a frame, I milled the pieces to shape and cut a rabbet on the inside edge to retain the painting. Then came the fun part; making up the design! I cut the top and bottom out on the band saw, filed smooth, sanded and viola – ready for assembly.

I didn’t want to buy anything for this project so I used some stain and new poly I had on hand. I haven’t used stain and polyurethane in ages. I made sure to let each coat dry thoroughly and sanded lightly before the next. It’s really amazing how the third coat really brings it all together. I like it and I’m the one that has to sleep with it.

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The painting is a David Chethlahe Paladin titled: Talking Gods and The Sacred Twins – 1973