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The trick here is building two separate mitered frames — an inner ring and a slightly larger outer ring — and nesting them together rather than cutting one frame from wider stock. That gives the finished piece a stepped, layered profile that a single mitered frame can't produce, and it means any sizing mistake on one ring doesn't force you to redo both.
Cut all eight pieces (four inner, four outer) before assembling anything, and dry-fit the full frame before nailing — a 45° miter compounds any small error around all four corners, so a piece that's a hair long shows up as a real gap by the time you reach the fourth corner. The cut list below is scaled to a 13-1/2" x 13-1/2" finished frame; scale the lengths up or down for other sizes using the same two-ring approach.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Pine, 1x2, 9 ft totalLength needed is roughly twice the perimeter of your desired frame size. | 9 ft |
| Brad nails, 1-1/4" | 1 box |
| Wood paint or stain | 1 each |
Overall cost: $. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Inner frame piecesPineBoth ends cut at 45° miter, ends not parallel — long point measurement. | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 12" |
| Outer frame piecesPineBoth ends cut at 45° bevel, ends not parallel — long point measurement. | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 13 1/2" |
Buy 2 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Cut the four inner pieces to 12", mitering both ends at 45°.
Cut the four outer pieces to 13-1/2", with a 45° bevel on both ends. Mark the pieces to keep track of which side faces out before you move on to assembly.
Dry-fit all four inner pieces first to confirm the miters close cleanly at every corner. Once satisfied, nail through each corner into the perpendicular board to form the inner frame.
Nail the outer frame's corners together the same way. Then nail the outer frame to the inner frame, keeping both frames' faces flush and aligned.
Sand all edges and corners smooth, then paint or stain as desired.
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