Carpentry and Woodworking - making picture frame for $$$$ paintings

My stepfather, Bob, is a friend of Bob Timberlake, a famous painter.

Well, Bob (my stepfather) gave us recently a numbered and autographed lithograph of one of Bob's (the painter) superb paintings. It's value is in the hundreds of dollars, not to mention the pricelessness of the gift to our family by Mr. Timberlake.

I am a cabinet maker and would like to make my own frame for this picture (and it would tickle my mother to death for me to spend that much time on it) but I've never made a picture frame before. I want to make it out of walnut, and I want the frame to have very little profile--- merely an inside and outside 1/4" bevel with, say, 2 1/4" syles/rails.

Anyhow, the frame MUST be built to also have a folder slot in the back to contain the painting's original folder and cert of auth.

I can't find any plans for such a high-end frame. Anyone have any links or suggestions?


Here is the painting, from Mr. Timberlakes website. You should see this thing in person.

http://www.bobtimberlake.com/BTPHOTOS/1NC3446G.JPG

Mako,

That's a cool painting.

Since your going to go with such a basic profile, why not just make a frame just like you would make rails and stiles for a cabinet door. Use whatever your preferred joinery method you like, then rabbet the back to accomodate the painting.

I'm assuming that the painting is on canvas stretched around a frame, so the walnut you use will need to be thick enough for that. How big is the painting?

If you have the tools to work with and have made frames before, you can do this, but with such heirlooms, you may want to consider a frame shop, which has specialized saws and fastening methods that will compliment the paintings.
Don't get me wrong, this is a DIY forum, and if you want to attempt it, we can help.