This is the second Louis XIV frame that I am working on at the moment, it is in much worse condition than the previous one. All four splines were broken through and the corners are in a bad way. Like the other one I also had to extend the rebate by quite a lot (3cm each side, 1cm top and bottom), but because the inner part of the frame and especially the sanded panel section of the moulding are very thin, I did the rebate extending on the table saw instead of with the router. The saw allowed me to remove small amounts at a time and is not quite as heavy-handed as the router.
The extending of the rebate on this frame is not ideal as there is now only about 1/8 or less of timber underneath the sanded panel, which makes the whole rebate very weak and care will need to be taken when fitting the painting.
The extending of the rebate on this frame is not ideal as there is now only about 1/8 or less of timber underneath the sanded panel, which makes the whole rebate very weak and care will need to be taken when fitting the painting.