The wood used in our picture frames is of several types. The majority of our frames are made from finger-jointed pine, a type of wood in which the lengths of moulding are constructed of smaller pieces that are machine grooved and glued together. Because finger-jointed pine is made from smaller remnants and cut-offs, which would otherwise be of limited use, it is less expensive than solid wood but has the same benefits and characteristics of ‘real’ timber. It is grown on timber farms and is fully sustainable.
Some of our moulding is sourced from medium/soft timber grown overseas, mostly basswood, ramin, obeche or mahogany.
We also offer moulding made from domestically grown hardwoods, Poplar, Ash, Walnut, Cherry and Red Oak. These mouldings can be found in our Unfinished Hardwood Mouldings category.
Our Fully Assembled Ready Made Frames are made of MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is an engineered composite of sawdust, wood shavings, small wood chips and resin, compressed together to form picture frame mouldings. It has the advantage of being inexpensive yet still workable.
The colored surface coating on many of our mouldings is layered gesso. It is durable, vibrant and resists scratches and abrasions. The wood used in our picture frames conforms well to this gesso overlay and cuts cleanly as one piece.