DIY PHOTO FRAME CARDBOX Made out of Oak & Oak Plywood

The dimensions of my frames were 15-1/8“h x 12-1/8“w x 6/8”d, and they held an 11”x14” picture. My completed card box ended up 17“h x 13-5/8”w x 13-5/8”d (does not include base). Here is a picture of the finished box. The pop can is there to provide a point of reference. All dimensions are based on the frame dimensions listed above. Your dimensions may vary depending on the dimensions of your frame. If you have any questions, email me at westie2448@yahoo.com.

We cut 1”x1” (which is really 6/8” x 6/8”) oak to the length of the frames. We then screwed the frames to the 1x1. We pre-drilled the holes for the screws. We also drilled into the frame with a bit bigger than the screw head, so the screws are countersunk. The dimensions for the box are 13-5/8” x 13-5/8”.

For the top, bottom, and base we used oak veneered plywood that was ¾” thick. We cut the plywood to 12-5/8” x 12-5/8”. To hide the edge of the plywood, we used quarter round trim that was ¾” (thick) x ½” (width). We cut the trim to the proper dimensions using a miter saw (to get the 45° cuts). We then nailed the trim to the plywood using a nail gun.

To put the slit in the top, we used a table saw. Mark the dimensions of the slit on the top. Set the guide on the table saw so that the blade will cut where you want the width of the slit to start. Lower the blade to below the table. Put the top on the table saw, turn it on, and raise the blade until it comes through the top. Then run the saw back and forth until you get the right length of the slit. Move the table saw guide one blades width, then follow the same steps above. Repeat the movement of guide and sawing until you reach the width you want.

The base can be any dimension you want, but we cut ours so that the diagonal dimension is 13”. This includes the trim. So when you spin the box, no part the base sticks out. The dimension of the plywood for the base is 8-1/8” x 8-1/8”. See next page on how we got these dimensions. We then cut the trim and nailed it to the plywood. The base is attached to the bottom by a lazy susan gasket (shown below). We had to drill holes in the base to attach the gasket to the bottom.

Length of slit

Width of slit

I covered the bottom with felt.

To figure out the dimensions of the base:

Assembly: I stained and protected all the pieces before putting it together. We nailed the box to the bottom through the frame. We attached the top to the box with hinges. Nailed Here

(all the way around)